Organiser and Contest Director: Matt Hoyland.
Venue: BMFA Buckminster with our thanks to David Phipps, Manny Williamson and all the BMFA members who have laboured to make this possible.
Sponsors of the Clubman competition: Thanks to Bondaero.co.uk for the donation a BJ Craft - F3A Axiome biplane. Aerobertics.be for the Hacker motor and other prizes, and Optipower.co.uk for a host of other valuable prizes.
Clubman podium - First place and winner of the bondaero.co.uk Axiome F3A biplane and Aeroberics.be Hacker motor: Alex Mosley-Ames. Second Place, John Morton Winner of a collection of Optipower.co.uk batteries and accessories. Third Place, Graeme Jones winner of a collection of Optipower.co.uk goodies.
GBR/CAA Intermediate, Philip Lewis -- and for goal keeping abilities to save a model in the pits which took flight in a just of wind.
GBR/CAA Masters: First Place Eugene Anker. 2nd Richard Sharman.
FAI 'P' Schedule: First Place Chris Halgreen. 2nd Adrian Harrison, 3rd Ian Mould.
Championship Title FAI 'F' 'P' and 2 Unknown schedules: First Place Matt Hoyland, 2nd Garry Peacock.

Another fantastic weekend at our Championships held at the new BMFA National Flying Centre. Arriving Friday lunchtime, I would like to thank those who helped and for their patience to set out the field. There was an opportunity to fly but the wind was strong and by the time it had dropped a little the sun was fully in the left hand box and low in the sky which limited the number of practice flights. Our five 'pitches' in the camping area made the camping facilities look enormous. We had the use of the Event Centre and models were assembled and could be left for the duration of the competition, so much easier than keeping space available in our cars. The competition got underway as planned at 09.00m after a pilots briefing at 08:45. The weather was challenging on Saturday with some interruption due to rain but everyone flew with our new competitors in Clubman showing improved performances in every round. Sunday was better with no rain and even better performances for our Clubman pilots. The top pilots put in some good scores but for me to see the top two pilots fly the unknowns was the highlight of the weekend. A battery failed for me on one flight and Garry's rear prop came loose on his last flight. When is came to putting everything away I have to say the help and enthusiasm was fantastic. Everyone helped in very good spirit with a smile on everyone's face. Whoever took all the photographs - thank you.(not all me this time) A special 'well done' to Nick, Richard, John, Alex and Graeme.

Contest Director: Clive Whitwood
Hosts: Our thanks to Ramsey MAC for allowing us to use their site again.
Judges: Alan Simmonds, Adrian Mansell.
Score recorder: Jane Garlick

Despite my silent pleas for a nice sunny calm day only 50% of my prayers were answered. The wind picked up steadily from about 10am to about 15mph gusting above 18mph however it did remain dry apart from a few drops of rain during the lunch break. Despite all this, our 13 stalwarts enjoyed a good day. Our site does cause a few problems in that the end of the field parallel to the flight line is not straight but in fact bends in towards the pilots. This caused quite a few pilots to be boxed on the right hand end. Obviously the blustery winds didn’t help much either. Gary Peacock led from the off in FAI narrowly from Dan Workman (an import from IMAC), with George Drever, Ken Moss, and Steve Plummer vying for 3rd place. It ended with Gary in first, Dan in second and George in third. There were only two in MASTERS and Steve Edwards was more consistent than Eugene Anker and that’s how it finished. INTERMEDIATE saw a three way fight between Philip Lewis, Doug Brittain and John Langridge (who revealed that he was our oldest competitor at 80 years young and had taken part in the first ever comp in 1979, although no-one was old enough to confirm that.) They finished in that order but the scores were quite close. So once again my sincere thanks to everyone and especially our two judges, Alan Simmonds and Adrian Mansell (who treated us to a display at lunch and afterwards with his latest creation. I also want to thank Jayne Garlick who kept our scores and updated the scoreboard continually and to Ramsey MAC and the other members for allowing us to continue to have access to our lovely sire each year.

Contest Director: Brian Hoare.
Hosts: We wish to thank Mansfield and District Model Flying Club for their hospitality and help.
Judges: Alan Simmonds and Garry Armstrong.
Score recorder: Helen Hoyland.
Catering: Val Gascoigne.
It was good to see so much support from the club and all enjoyed the spread put on throughout the day by Val. What a wonderful day. Very light winds sometimes making it difficult to decide which direction to fly, but mostly warm and sunny with the odd black cloud overhead. Heavy rain seen only a few miles away through the afternoon. Today (Monday) we are back to normal with rain and wind. Flying was to a high standard as you would expect at this time of the year with notable performances by Ken Moss, Lee Backrath, Dan Workman and Phil Lewis. At the top of the leader board Keith and Matt shared one 'P' round with a score of 478. Podium: BMFA Team Selection: First Place Matt Hoyland, 2nd Keith Jackson, 3rd Garry Peacock. GBR/CAA league FAI P17: First Place Ken Moss, 2nd Lee Backrath, 3rd Steve Hunt. Advanced: Philip Lewis.

Contest Director: Damien Sartorius. Venue: Château Mauvesin Barton, Moulis-en-Médoc. A very hot 36 degree start to our visit to this impressive venue for practice on Wednesday and Thursday gave way to a thunder storm on Saturday and low cloud on Sunday morning reducing the competition to 3 rounds of 'P' and for the top 20 pilots one round 'F' on Sunday. Whilst Arthur and Ian and our friends Russell and Andrew, who were still on their European tour were in there campers, Adrian and Keith took the Tunnel and we the overnight ferry from Portsmouth. All the results can be seen here: http://abc.f3a.fr/

Organiser and Contest Director: Matt Hoyland.
Host: Our thanks to Rob Davies MBE for the use of his airfield.
Score Recorders: Helen and Kath Hoyland.
Box line painter extraordinaire: Helen Hoyland.
Judges: Peter Cappleman, Nocolas Bleas, Paco Pineiro, Marc Weyenbergh, Danial Leaute.
FAI Jury: Mr Bert van der Vecht (NED), Mr Kevin Caton (GBR), Mr Gerard Werion (BEL). Res Mr Cedric Carayon (FRA).

On the Tuesday and Wednesday during our time setting up the site the temperature rose to 32.5 degrees with very little wind. On the practice day it was lower temperature and more wind and by lunch time we had thunder storm and rain for a short period. Colin took the opportunity to cut the runway and finished it in heavy rain. Friday was the best of the three days although it was windy and blowing around 14 mph over the pilots left shoulder. Two full rounds were completed. Evening practice was not an attractive option as the wind had freshened although Derk had a couple of flights with his relatively new model. Saturday started well but by 11:30 there was low cloud which stopped flying for the rest of the day although several attempts were made by volunteers to test the cloud base. We finally abandoned any hope of finishing the round by 6 pm and the six pilots agreed to complete the round next morning. Our new caterer arrived at 5:50 am on Sunday and it was a much better day. The last six pilots from round 3 completed their schedules and our fourth round was completed without interruption. Presentations started around 2pm and we were able to clear the field in dry weather. I am sure Matt would like me to thank all GBR/CAA members for scribe duties and my thanks to those who helped collect all our equipment from around the field. Congratulations to all pilots and especially those who took podium places.

With our sincere thanks to Derbyshire Radio Control Flyers.
Contest Director: Brian Hoare.
Score recording: Brian Hoare.
Judges: Peter Cappleman, Alan Simmonds, Gary Armstrong.
Although we were not quite as lucky with the weather as in our previous competitions this year the weather was better than expected. We only had one short shower towards the end of the competition when Adrian Mansell had to fly in very turbulent winds and rain. The last two competitors probably had the best conditions of the day. The wind peaked at around 16 MPH but as it was blowing out at almost 90 degrees so it felt much stronger. Pilots flew from right to left.
Podium: Team Selection: First Place Keith Jackson, 2nd Adrian Mansell, 3rd Steve Underwood.
'P' Schedule only: First Place Ken Moss, 2nd Ian Mould, 3rd Brian Hoare.

After having to cancel the first Clubman Event because of strong winds, the second one went ahead in sunny, dry conditions with a gentle wind straight along the runway – amazing! Eleven pilots had entered but one withdrew the night before. We were blessed by having 5 mentors ranging from a current GB Team member to a Masters pilot – pretty experienced therefore! The entrants had a wide range of experience, which is what was intended. We are aiming for Club pilots who wish to progress their flying skills by improving or learning how to fly aerobatics. Some attendees were already flying 2 mtr specialist aerobatic machines but were yet to fly in a competition while we did have one competition pilot coming back after a long layoff from flying. The Club type aircraft included a Splendor, Explorer, an own design (I think), a Monolog 30 and a Calamato. The event began with one of the mentors, Bill Michie, flying the Clubman Schedule to give the participants an idea of what they should be aiming for as well as how far out to fly – further than most expected – and the importance of building up individual manoeuvres before trying to fly them either a few at a time or all together. Like snooker, you need to know where the aircraft needs to exit one manoeuvre to be in the right place to enter the next manoeuvre, all while dealing with a head and/or cross wind and flying the right shape for the current manoeuvre. There’s a lot to think about! However, practice is essential if you are to make progress in flying aerobatics and, as we all know, practice makes perfect. Thank you to the Harlow Club for giving up their patch to host this event. Their Chairman, Garry Peacock, also a current GB Team member, provided the lunch and other members the all-day hot drinks. The Club also provided 3 more mentors (Eugene Anker (GB Aerobatics Team Manager), Eddy Scott and Bill Michie) while none other than the GBR/CAA Chairman, Peter Brett, an experienced aerobatic judge, was the 5th mentor. I made the 6th one. The key point of the day was not, repeat, not to drive people to fly in competition, but to learn how to fly aerobatics. We did, however, ask Garry to fly the FAI P and F Schedule that he will be flying in the World Champs in Argentina in Nov 2017. Some of those present had never seen these schedules flown and I think they were astonished at how complicated the schedule was and how easy Garry made it appear! Thank you Garry. Finally, the participants were: Mick Broad, Eddy Down, Al Williams, Neil White, Mike Rieder, David Beavis, Dave Lewis, Geoff Reynolds, Neil Martin and Ian Barker. All departed well pleased with what they had learned during the day. The photo shows all the participants and the mentors at the end of the day. There are 2 more Clubman Events planned. One on the 17th June at the South Norfolk MFC and one on the 20th August at the Tendring MFC. There are still spaces available if you wish to join the fun. Please contact Peter Jenkins at peterjenkinsbmfc@btinternet.com. For those pilots interested in flying in an event that simulates a competition, we are running a New (to aerobatics) Pilot Open Day (NPOD) on Sat 23rd September. More details later. Front row kneeling: Ian Barker, Geoff Reynolds, David Beavis, Bill Michie and Neil Martin Second row: Mike Rieder, Eddy Scott, Mick Broad, Edward Down, Neil White, Al Williams, Eugene Anker, Peter Jenkins, Garry Peacock and Peter Brett

Contest Director: Adrian Harrison.
Hosts: Plane Crazy MFC.
Score recording: Computer tablets.
FAI Judges: Alan Simmonds, Brian Hoare, Gary Armstrong.
Another sunblest oasis of weather surrounding Hurley for our forth competition of the season to be flown in good conditions. I think many drove through rain to arrive in sunshine. I am so pleased Hurley was a Sunday competition, sat looking through the window on Monday morning it is wet and windy again. It was good to welcome Gary Armstrong to be one of our judges and Brian Hoare who sat in to be our third judge for FAI P and F rounds,joining Alan Simmonds. The breeze which strengthened through the day was blowing out and slightly from the right. 12 entries in the Team Selection competition but with 19 pilots in total so it was a long day finishing around 17:50. Flying was very close at the top of the Team Selection event and in 'P' only Steve Plummer of IMAC fame just piped Ken Moss to a very venerable second place. Richard Sharman and Philip Lewis flying Masters and Intermediate respectivly improved their scores in the last round.
Podium:
Team Selection: First Place Keith Jackson, 2nd Matt Hoyland, 3rd Kevin Caton.
FAI 'P' only: First Place Steve Plummer, 2nd Ken Moss,3rd George Drever.
Masters: Richard Sharman.
Intermediate: Philip Lewis.

CD: Adrian Harrison.
Hosts: Derbyshire R/C Flyers, thank you to officials and members of the club for the use of your field.
Scoring: Computer tablets - Helen and Matt Hoyland
Another excellent completion, our third in 2017 held in excellent conditions, although the breeze freshened to a 'light' wind blowing almost 90 degrees in through the afternoon. Some excellent flying resulting in places 4,5,6 and 7 separated by only 31 points.
Podium: First Place, Matt Hoyland. 2nd, Leslaw Przytocki. 3rd, Gerhard Fehringer.

Contest Director: Mark Pearce. We thank Officials and members of Stansted Model Flying Club for the use of their field. Computer score recording: Matthew and Helen Hoyland. FAI Judges: Peter Brett and Alan Simmonds. Judges: Matt Hoyland, Steve Underwood, Kevin Caton, Garry Peacock. My comments concerning how lucky we are with the weather for our competitions is becoming monotnous, high windas in the two weeks between Skelbrook and Stansted but both competitions providing us with excellent flying fields and weather. Competitors flew from right to left in variable lights winds blowing slightly in at times. So many new models being flown this season which I have tried to cover in the photographs of Skelbrooke and Stansted. Podium FAI Team Selection First Place Steve Underwood, 2nd Matt Hoyland, 3rd Adrian Mansell. FAI 'P' only. First place George Drever, 2nd Mark Pearce, 3rd Jason Woods. Masters: First Place Mark Allen, 2nd Richard Sharman, 3rd Eugen Anker. Intermediate: Philip Lewis.

Contest Director: Ashley Hoyland Judges: Peter Cappleman, and one round each - Matt Hoyland, Brian Hoare, Gerhard Fehringer, Leslaw Przytocki, Adrian Harrison, Chris Halgreen, Steve Hunt, Ken Moss - thank you Gentlemen. Computer score recording overseen by Matt Hoyland. After winds and cold weather leading up to this competition there were forecasts for blue skies and gentle winds and the forecast did not disappoint. A perfect day for flying. How lucky we were as the wind returned next morning and it is still blowing. (CD Prayer book is available to download). The flight order was picked at random for the first round with two different pilot judges joining Peter Cappleman for each round which meant that the 3rd flight for the judges to fly in the 'last round'. Three important points here: I think it is necessary to do the preparation long before the day so that everyone knows what to expect and what they should be doing at any one time. Secondly the cooperation form all competitors to make the plan work and with the computer score recording system working so well this made this one of the easiest competitions to CD, thank you all. It was obvious that pilots had put in the practice through the winter. The standard was high right from the start. Our Senior judge told me afterwards it was obvious that one pilot had neglected his winter practice, I must try harder or pass on all the admin. Podium: FAI P17: First Place Matt Hoyland, 2nd Keith Jackson, 3rd Leslaw Przytocki. Photographs Ashley Hoyland, Steve Hunt.

GBR Team: Connor Stevenson, Steve Schafer, Liam Clayton. Team Manager: Ashley Hoyland. Official Helpers: Jemma Bedford, Alan Clayton, Amber Reeve.