Thread: BMFA News ...

I just find it hard to believe, RC heli flying is big part of the hobby these days, and they're honestly telling us that people are just not contributing, even if there isn't much I'd bet there is more than two pages worth nationwide....

I suspect it's more of an editorial decision, the fact that it ALWAYS gets only a couple of pages every issue hints at that, if some months there was no heli section and some months a large one then I could believe it but its always the same size, and look at the layout of the mag in general, when it comes to fixed wing each discipline is separated and given its own section, but helis whether its F3C, 3D, scale, electric, nitro, or turbine its all short segments lumped into one single section.

I would be willing to bet they have more than a couple of pages worth of contributed articles each month, but it has its allotted space and they kick a lot into the trash can.

Originally Posted by debrooker

then why have a magazine at all?

For people who don't have the internet, I think.

Originally Posted by PeteStewardson

I enjoy reading it, regardless of the Heli articles. I also like the F3C coverage. I would like to see more Heli stuff though.

I did offer to write something and contacted the editor. The response I got was along the lines of "I don't know what you could write because you're just a beginner" so I didn't bother after that.

you could do a write up on how and why you got into flying heli's
the issues you had to get one to fly and how you overcame the issues

so yes a begginer can write a very useful article

Originally Posted by electricsceadu

you could do a write up on how and why you got into flying heli's
the issues you had to get one to fly and how you overcame the issues

so yes a begginer can write a very useful article

Indeed I could, and was prepared to do something along those lines, but the initial response put me off. These things take time to write correctly and I didn't want to waste my time on something that would get binned.

I'll write an article about how I decided to try planks, bought a Wot 4, tried to be a smart ar5e and take off in wind and took the nose off it, put in the shed and went back to crashing my helis

Originally Posted by debrooker

I'll write an article about how I decided to try planks, bought a Wot 4, tried to be a smart ar5e and take off in wind and took the nose off it, put in the shed and went back to crashing my helis

Personally I think you should write an article about how NOT to tune engines

Originally Posted by PeteStewardson

Personally I think you should write an article about how NOT to tune engines

.lol.

Can anyone tell me how much the BMFA News costs to produce and circulate ????

Originally Posted by Mark_T

Actually I strongly suspect it really isn't, not when compared to the numbers spread across all the different fixed wing disciplines.

Same goes for the propensity to write material, the other sections have a regular routine to their contributions that they have been following for years in many cases with a significant support group of retired experts in each group who have time on their hands to spend writing for their hobby.

On the heli side it is difficult to get entire words out of people sometimes, let alone an entire article

Those who do write on helis tend to be both employed and busy so I'm always grateful for the amount they do manage to produce.

I'm not trying to wind anyone up or anything, just consider this......

Using the club I fly at as an example I'd say that 1/4 to 1/5 members are either mixed or heli flyers, so that right there as a representation of the hobby is far more than the space dedicated to the whole of heli flying in the BMFA mag, using the last mag as an example all heli flying got was 2 out of 62 pages, even if we discount say a dozen as advert space, that is still not a representitive figure.

Again using the last mag as an example we have for the fixed wing discipline.....

Vintage matters
IMAC UK
Nostalgia notebook
From Xbox to buddy box
Flip Flop
Tubular Versus 'I' Beam wing spars
E2k Pylon racing
R/C, C/L and Scale Nationals Championships 2012
News
Free Flight
Slopeside
Electric column
The plane makers
Eric's Avro
Team Race News
Scaleman

... and I've left a few out as they consisted of either only photos with captions or half the page is adverts, or both.

Heli's

Positive pitch, to cover everything.

Sorry I'm just not buying it, in the real world the heli flyers are a much bigger group than the amount of space dedicated indicates.

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

Sorry I'm just not buying it, in the real world the heli flyers are a much bigger group than the amount of space dedicated indicates.

Totally agree

Well said

Ray

Originally Posted by madgooner99

Can anyone tell me how much the BMFA News costs to produce and circulate ????

Based by the looks of it, about 4.99£

Originally Posted by Rotorhead

Sorry I'm just not buying it, in the real world the heli flyers are a much bigger group than the amount of space dedicated indicates.

Doesn't matter in the least unless they decide to put pen to paper!

You want more heli coverage? Then write some!

Exactly , if 1in4 approx of members in your club fly Helis ask how many of them have submitted an Article to the Mag and i bet you get a big fat Zero . Im in a Heli only club and know for a fact not one of us has ever written anything , on the other hand i was a member of a fairly big mixed club and again im pretty sure no Heli Pilots ever submitted anything whereas a few of the Old Plankers regularily had stuff printed . On the other hand out of all the members here only one to my knowledge actually got pen & paper out and wrote (A very interesting may i add) article , and guess what , Yes it was printed . We have the same argument every month now and it still doesnt seem to get through , if you are unhappy with the Mag do something about it . I for one dont beleive it will be just be dumped in the trash . Unless of course thats where it belongs lol . Rob

So you're saying if I wrote something for example, that would be featured IN ADDITION to what we already get (Positive pitch) not in place of it, or titled positive pitch with a guest writer etc?

You see the thing about the column is it seems to try to cover anything heli related in that one thing, which gives the impression that it's either an afterthought on part of the editor/s or the red headed stepchild of model flying, unlike with fixed wing articles which have their own section for different things, eg IMAC, scale, etc etc, they're not just lumped under "planes", it looks like "Positive pitch" is just trying to get the heli side of things out the way.

I'm sorry but I still just can't accept that two pages worth (every issue, which implies its an editorial decision) is all that can be found without having to go on forums and drum up writers.