The Beaulieu Model Flying Committee (BMFC) was formed in 1985 to represent all the major model flying clubs in the south Hampshire area, and all individual model flyers (who may not belong to any club), for the purpose of negotiating model flying rights at the Beaulieu Heath airfield.
The BMFC is affiliated to the British Model Flying Association (BMFA) as club number 2523. This establishes it as a legal entity in the sense of any model flying club and gives the officers of the committee “third party civil liability” insurance cover in respect of claims relating to model flying activity.
The BMFC negotiates annually with the Forestry Commission (FC) which governs the rights and activities on the Crown Lands of the New Forest (and many other areas, of course). A contract is signed and paid for whereby the FC delegates the management of model flying at the Beaulieu Heath Airfield solely to the BMFC for the current calendar year. Flying elsewhere in the New Forest is prohibited.
The BMFC is empowered to issue permits to prospective model flyers who can then operate at the airfield subject to the Flying Regulations for the current year. Permits may be obtained by personal application at the field, or online application (see Permits page). Permits are no longer issued by post or other methods. Permits must be renewed each calendar year (Several hundred permits are issued each year). Model flyers must abide by the current Regulations and failure to do so can lead to the permit being withdrawn.
The current officers of the BMFC, as approved at the 2023 AGM, are:
Chairman Ralph Arrow
Secretary Mike Urand
Treasurer Robin Thomas
RC Flight Manager Ian Hammond
Co-opted Members – Barrie Lever, Trevor Butcher
The agenda, reports and decisions reached in the 2023 AGM are in this document.
The BMFC has a constitution which specifies the duties of the officers, and the conditions under which changes may be made. There is an Annual General Meeting (AGM) each year, which permit holders may attend, and at which officer’s reports are published, accounts presented, proposal motions are taken, and new officers are elected. All documents are available on application to the committee. The date of the AGM is notified to all permit holders but is usually in October or November. The constitution is specified in the document BMFC Constitution (approved 2023)
Learning to fly:
For those interested in learning to fly model planes the BMFC has instructors with access to the BMFC owned fully equipped training plane with a buddy box. This arrangement lets beginners learn to fly without stress or worry about crashing. For those wishing to take advantage of this please contact the committee via the Contact Us page.
Additional information:
- The BMFC complies with GDPR rules on data protection
- The BMFC has its own club examiners and has a resident BMFA Southern Area Chief Examiner. It enables flyers to take most BMFA Achievement Scheme tests