Kettishall National League 7th September 2019

Kettishall National League 7th September 2019

Report on Knettishall National League Competition – 7th September 2019

Thanks to the Bury MFC for allowing use of their Knettishall flying site.

CD: Peter Jenkins

Judges: Ross Donovan and pilot Judges Adrian Harrison and Chris Halgreen

Thanks to Jim Smetherham and Ron Gray for the BBQ, Neville Byford for running the scoring spreadsheet and Mike Rieder for organising the spotting rota.

Photos: Courtesy of Mark Allen and Peter Jenkins

Results:

FAI(P): 1st Chris Halgreen, 2nd Adrian Harrison, 3rd Peter Jenkins

Masters: 1st Al Williams

Intermediate: 1st Mick Broad

Clubman: 1st Mike Rieder, 2nd Graham Gooch, 3rd Richard Clouting

After nervously watching the weather forecast yoyo around between dire and wonderful, we were faced with a coolish day and a 15 mph, gusting 22 mph, wind blowing into our faces. This gradually moved round to be a 90 deg cross wind. The Clubman entrants all did exceptionally well, not only to fly in these conditions, but also to avoid any damage to their aircraft with only one propeller broken!

The FAI flights had to be run at the beginning and end of each round to enable Chris Halgreen and Adrian Harrison to get in their flights and to judge. This was greatly appreciated not least by the CD!

It would be true to say that most of those watching the first flight of the day realised that the wind was going to be a major factor – and it was! Still, those who had never flown in such conditions came away happy that they had proved they could take off, fly the schedule and land. As one Clubman pilot said, he’d never dream of flying in these conditions but now he’d done it he was much more confident of doing so again. It was gratifying for all of the Clubman pilots to see that the only damage incurred was one broken prop. Well done the Clubman boys.

Mick Broad continued to plough a lone furrow in Intermediate but it looks like his days of splendid isolation may be coming to an end with two Clubman pilots indicating they were stepping up to Intermediate next season and possibly later on in this one.
BR> Al Williams found himself on his own in Masters as Greg Butterworth had to withdraw with airframe problems just before the event. This was Al’s first competition since visiting the World Champs at Brescia while he was on holiday in Europe. He’s clearly picked up some tips as his 2nd flight cracked the 300 point. As he pointed out though, there had been hardly any wind at Brescia for most of the competition unlike the situation at Knettishall!

In FAI(P), the two pilot judges, Chris Halgreen and Adrian Harrison, were handicapped as they usually call for each other but did without callers on this occasion. Despite that, they filled the two top places even though they looked pretty cold as they exited their judging seats with Chris taking top spot! Thanks guys.

By one of those coincidences, Mark Allen and Peter Jenkins both scored identical numbers – Mark in Round 2 and Peter in Round 3. That meant that Mark had cracked the 300 ceiling he’d been butting up against – well done to him.

The Bury Club provided the support to set up the gazebo, a welcome shelter during the short sharp rain squalls, the BBQ and hot and cold drinks all day. This time, we were not troubled by any full size aviators dropping in so our spotters were untroubled.

Fingers crossed that we gather at Knettishall again next year when we very much hope that we will see the return of George Drever.

Peter Jenkins.
26 photos
Knettishall National League 6th July 2019

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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UK World Cup. 21 - 23 June 2019

UK World Cup. 21 - 23 June 2019

Host: Our thanks to Rob Davies MBE for letting us use his airfield for our competition for the eighth year. Also to Rob for the fine aerobatic display in his Stearman after the last round prior to the presentations.

Contest Organiser and Director: Matt Hoyland.

Scoring: Notaumatic system overseen by Matt Hoyland.

FAI Judges: Paco Pineiro (ESP), Nico Bleas (FRA), Bob Ailles (GBR), Peter Vanlanduyt (BEL). Henny van Loon (NED).

FAI Jury: Dick van der Vecht (NED) (Jury President), Ashley Hoyland (GBR), Kevin Caton (GBR), Russell Edwards (AUS).

I would like to thank the BMFA for providing the scorers tent and the loan of equipment.

It was reported in the press that there were over a thousand lighting strikes through Tuesday night Wednesday morning and 42mm of rain fell in the Kent area. Kath and I heard it all in the caravan, keeping our fingers crossed that it was 'clearing the air' ready for our weekend.

Wednesday and Thursday were bit windy whilst in between practice flights, we set up the flight line with the help of Ian Mould and Russell Edwards. Thank you for your help gentleman. By Friday morning the weather was improving and although there was a challenging breeze at times the weather just got better and better. The first day was flown right to left but on Saturday and Sunday it was flown left to right in almost perfect conditions.

Thank you to everybody for their understanding when our planned catering facilities did not turn up on any day, and again our thanks to Javad for his efforts to provide a 'pop up' coffee and tea service for everyone on Saturday.
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Association Championships Buckminster 18th 19th May

Association Championships Buckminster 18th 19th May

Contest Director: Matt Hoyland

Scoring: Notaumatic - overseen by Matt Hoyland.

FAI Judges: Nico Bleas, Adrian Mansell, Peter Brett.

Judges: Kevin Caton, Chris Halgreen, Malcolm Balfour, Adrian Harrison

After a windy practice day on Friday, too windy to put up the judges brollies and marquee the forecast was for a calm weekend. Saturday morning disappointingly started with low cloud and showers which delayed the start and meant by the end of the weekend we would lose one round.

At a pilot's briefing later on Saturday it was decided to modify our programme by dropping the 'Unknowns' and making the Team Selection just P19 and F19 with the best of each to count plus the next best flight.

The light breeze throughout the weekend made it difficult at times to decide which was the best direction to fly.

Twenty of us met in the Tollemache Arms Buckminster for a good meal and conversation on Saturday evening. Some even went on to enjoy a pint in the Blue Dog, Sewstern before returning to a cold night in the camp site.

Just like to say thank you to everyone for their help to make the competition run smoothly all weekend and especially to all the first time Clubman pilot's for keeping their nerves under control, I hope each and every one enjoyed their weekend as much as I did.

All the results are on the forum page for the competition.

Podium:

BMFA Team Selection: First Place Matt Hoyland, 2nd Thomas David, 3rd Kevin Caton.

P19 Schedule: First Place Chris Halgreen, 2nd Ian Mould, 3rd Adrian Harrison.

Masters Schedule: Alan Williams.

Intermediate Schedule: First Place Andy Shutt, 2nd John Morton, 3rd Michael Broad.

Clubman Schedule: First Place Mike Reider, 2nd Neil Martin, 3rd Ron Gray.

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Hurley - 28th April 2019

Hurley - 28th April 2019

Contest Director: Adrian Harrison

Scoring: Adrian Harrison

Judges: Bob Ailles and Stuart Mellor

The day was somewhat overcast but that didn't dampen the atmosphere on the day.
The cloud base was just high enough to allow for verticals without the aircraft
disappearing. The slight crosswind was pushing aircraft out and was stronger once
airborne than appeared on the ground. Models appeared to weather cock when entering the
spins, but more on that
here.

Steve and Greg of Plane Crazy MFC put on a great BBQ with super burgers which were rather popular!

Many thanks to the Plane Crazy Model Flying Club for the use of their field for the day.


Results

Clubman: 1st Andy Shutt, 2nd Graham Gooch

Intermediate: 1st Phil Lewis

FAI P19: 1st Kevin Caton, 2nd Thomas David, 3rd George Drever.

Photographs: Mike Wood
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