Knettishall National League 6th July 2019
Knettishall Competition Report – 6th July 2019
It would have been too much to expect the same baking hot weather we had last year and it turned out to be - too much to expect! Nevertheless, 20 pilots were entered, 10 of whom were in Clubman. I do not recall such a large entry list in the 7 years in which I’ve been in the Association.
Within short order, we lost an FAI pilot, George Drever suffered alternator failure in his car and never got to us, and one of the Clubman entrants realised that his wings were still at home! Nevertheless, the remainder cracked on with the job in hand.
Thanks are due in no small measure to Garry Peacock and Eugene Anker for volunteering to judge for the whole day. This turned into a bit of a chore after lunch when the forecast front went through and brought not only a change in wind direction but also rain and eventually low cloud which put a stopper on things when Mick Broad’s Inspire faded from view in cloud! He continued undaunted but no one else chose to tangle with the elements.
In FAI, having had his motor burn out 8 days before in his Agenda, Peter Jenkins was first up with his Citrin but Mike Wood had the edge on him with his AJ Acuity and edged into first place.
Mark Allen continued his improvement in his flying and recorded his highest scores to date. Keep it up Mark!
Masters was down to 2 pilots. Andy Shutt was flying his AJ Acuity in Masters for the first time having started the year in Clubman and moved up to Intermediate before alighting in Masters. He’s clearly got his hand-eye coordination to a high order as he beat returnee Greg Butterworth who was flying a Contra equipped Agenda. Well done Andy and a hint to Greg to get in more practice!
Intermediate had 3 entries and Mick Broad, flying a contra equipped Inspire, and Keith Riel, flying an Allure biplane, had a tussle for top spot with Doug Brittain putting in a consistent performance in 3rd place. As Keith and Doug decided not to fly Round 3, Keith ceded top spot to Mick Broad who, despite the low cloud, turned in the highest score of the day to secure top spot. Mick was also very busy as caller for a number of the Clubman pilots who he has been shepherding into F3A. Well done Mick.
In Clubman, Mike Rieder, flying an Allure, won 2 of the 3 rounds putting in a strong performance in Round 3 to win with a comfortable margin. Neil Martin, flying a Miss Wind 50, won Round 2 but could not close the gap to Mike and took 2nd place. Matt Bacon, flying an AJ Acuity, pushed his score up in each round and took 3rd spot. Graham Gooch is still getting to grips with his recently acquired BJ Craft Fantasista 70 but suffered from being blown in and ended up being caught out by box infringements but managed a creditable 4th. Richard Clouting, flying an Axiome Bipe, has been taking note of his coaching and flew well enough to beat Neal Shave flying the Axiome monoplane. This was Neal’s first competition so well done to him. Ed Down, flying a Monolog 2 mtr, Jim Hitch, flying an Olympus, had a very close tussle with Ed just pipping Jim by 1 point! Better luck next time Jim! Paul Day struggled in all 3 rounds and when he got Mick Broad to fly his Olympus after the competition had ended he found out that he was suffering from a misbehaving receiver! Thankfully, the aircraft survived although it did give the judges a fright at one point! Better luck next time Paul.
The Bury MFC had a few stalwart members who manned the, gate, the BBQ and provided hot and cold drinks all day. They also provided the spotters as Knettishall is a full size airfield. This was brought home to competitors when during a particularly low cloud period, 3 light aircraft decided that “it was better being on the ground wishing they were in the air than the other way around”. After they were politely asked to repark their aircraft at the end of the runway, our proceedings continued.
So, a big thank you to the Bury MFC for allowing us to use Knettishall for this competition and also for their excellent preparation of the site and provision of sustenance all day.
As the Association Chairman was there judging, he kindly agreed to present the certificates to the podium winners. Thanks Garry!
Photos courtesy of Mark Allen and Peter Jenkins
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