Contest rules - records
NOTES
World Records
All World records must be ratified by the FAI and they have very stringent regulations which must be followed for the record claim to succeed.
Most importantly, the Official who oversees the event must be appointed by the National Aero Club and there must be two other Officials present as witnesses who must be approved by the National Aero Club.
In the UK this means that they will be BMFA Officials or persons approved by BMFA as the BMFA is delegated by the Royal Aero Club to deal with all model flying matters.
If you are contemplating a World Record attempt, therefore, it is absolutely essential that you contact the BMFA Records Officer before any firm plans are made.
If you make the record attempt without the involvement of the BMFA then there is no chance whatsoever that it will be ratified by the FAI as a World Record.
The requirements of each of the record categories are quite complex and you are advised to read them very carefully. The relevant sections laid out in this book are copied directly from the FAI Sporting Code and are completely up-to-date.
The FAI require that for world record claims all equipment used for recording and / or timing must be calibrated and certificates have to be submitted with the claim dossier.
It is also a requirement that a World Record claim must first have been accepted as a national record (in this case by the BMFA). The time limits for submitting such claims to the BMFA are very tight if you wish the claim to eventually proceed to the FAI as a World Record claim..
Again, if you have any questions you should contact the BMFA Records Officer via the Leicester office (0116 2440028).
UK National Records
The procedures for claiming UK National records are somewhat simpler and are in two sections;
(1) Contest Records
These are records that are broken in the normal course of contest flying. They are controlled by the rules and regulations of the specific contest and are witnessed by the Contest Officials, timekeepers etc. concerned with running the event.
(2) Non-Contest Records
These are records that are broken in the course of specific record attempts.
The rules that need to be followed are, in general, the same as for the FAI World record classes. These are, for instance, 5 kg maximum weight for many of the R/C classes. You should read the relevant section in this book for full details.
There is a difference from FAI regulations, however, in that the documentation, equipment calibration and personnel requirements are much more relaxed.
For such record attempts, the witnesses may be two club officials who are current BMFA members. It is, however, preferable that the involvement of BMFA Area or Technical Committee Officials be sought if at all possible.
Again, the advice and assistance of the BMFA Records Officer wil be invaluable to you should you have any queries about any of these matters and, although not essential, you would be very wise to make contact. You can be assured that all enquiries are treated in confidence.
2a.1 UK and World Class and Absolute Records
The FAI recognises World class records in the categories of aeromodels listed in appendix table (1) and these categories will also count for UK records. The rules in 2a.3 to 2a.13 are based on part 7 of the FAI Sporting Code, section 4a.
Anyone planning an attempt on an FAI record is advised to obtain the current issue of Section 4a and the General Section of the Sporting Code, with any recent amendments, and to check the current record and whether there are any claims pending ratification.