Here is your challenge. Get down to the nearest Advanced judging line with a copy of this year's Known. Find yourself an assistant and a computer. You only get Form B regardless of the competition wind and you are the only scoring judge. Try using some new rules. Then position a box so that it can only be marked by a couple of yellow marine buoys on a beach and a backdrop of grey sky and sea. Add in some light rain, scudding low cloud and brisk on crowd wind and you've just set the scene for Judge Atley's latest trial - the Aero GP Blackpool 2008.

A question for the Advanced pilots. How long would it take you to complete this sequence from wing rock to wing rock without hesitation, deviation or hard zero ? Five minutes ? Four and a half with a bit of cheating ? Hang around for a while, you may be quite surprised. It's amazing what the competitive spirit can achieve.

The Judge and I splashed our way into Blackpuddle on Thursday afternoon, slightly puzzled as to what might lie in store. The weekend was billed as a BAeA competition within the Flying Aces Aero GP event. This was also to include air racing, tail chasing and all round promotion of air sports. It was linked in with the National Veterans' Week celebrations in the resort, which meant uniforms and Dame Veras everywhere. We were invited to act as inaugural CD and CJ for the event, I suspect largely at the request of the pilots competing at Duxford. Their plea - to keep the wet weather in the West. Did I say we splashed in ? Actually we floated almost the entire length of the M55, thanks to the record breaking three inches of rain which soaked the Lancashire countryside that afternoon. It was so heavy it very nearly prevented some of the pilots from getting to their seaside appointments. Fortunately most of them are adept at reading road signs (from a great height, of course), thereby overcoming any challenge set by those troublesome fluffy things.

We were billeted at the imperious Imperial Hotel, home to some of our country's most memorable party conferences - Churchill, Wilson, Callaghan and Maggie had all graced the bar. Tony Blair, remember him ? The slightly faded glory could not suppress the aura of these political legends - I swear I saw the ghost of Ramsay Macdonald shuffling along the corridor one morning. Or was that just our illustrious Chairman walking through his speed sequence ? Flying Aces' Pauline & Mike Harnden made sure that we all had rooms, instructions and a warm welcome along with an introduction to the key people and an update on 'The Plan'. Their attention to detail bodes well for WAC 2009 - they will be the orchestrators of logistics for this event. I dined with Jeff Zaltman, the CEO and the motivation behind the Flying Aces operation. Former motor industry executive and would be media king for air sports, Jeff has a clear vision for the promotion of all aerial competition via TV and the web. He has negotiated worldwide media rights with the FAI and secured sponsorship from Breitling for a second series on Sky Sports covering aerobatics, skydiving, gliding and racing events. Cameras, videos, photographers, interviews and public interaction were are major part of the weekend and an interesting challenge to integrate with the more traditional elements of a BAeA competition.

I rose early on the Friday which was billed as practice day. I paced out the box location, counting my strides to try and establish 500 metres in each direction from box centre. What I hadn’t reckoned with was the attention that a royal protection party was likely to pay to someone wandering the North Shore at the crack of dawn, checking timings and distances adjacent to the war memorial which HRH Camilla was shortly to visit. Beating a hasty retreat, I reasoned that most pilots couldn't keep their flight inside the 1000 metres anyway, so the sacrifice of accuracy for judging position would be quite acceptable. It wouldn't stop them moaning that the box wasn’t marked with millimetre accuracy, but then nothing ever does. Unless you actually do mark it out, in which case they then complain that it can't possibly be the right size, since it looks smaller than a flea's sandpit from above. The dive crew who dropped the buoys to mark the Blackpool box front with Green-Hill accuracy had an appropriate response. It seemed to involve some physically challenging suggestions.

Once the final pilots had arrived the obligatory briefing could take place. This was led by the Air Boss, Mike Wood, a measured and experienced ex-RAF and CAA/air show veteran. Mike's task was to co-ordinate the overall event and to be the safety guru. He did the briefing while controlling a spirited Spitfire display on the seafront for the old boys, largely by mobile phone. His job was also rendered somewhat less complex by the late cancellation of the intended air racing elements of Aero GP, partly because the concept is still evolving under the watchful eye of the Belgrano, but mostly because it had rained solidly for 40 days and 40 nights before we arrived. This had prevented the French racing aces from traversing La Manche and hissed all over any chance for the locals to undertake training or race practice. The Formula Air Racing Association's President, Andrew Chadwick, nevertheless took the time to explain the new Aero GP racing formula and to describe how racing Cassuts against Extras could prove to be the most exciting sport to hit the UK. Having raced dissimilar aircraft at low level in a former life, I concluded that he may well have a point. Later in the day Richard 'Smokey' Young, Andrew's US counterpart gave an excellent lecture on racing US style i.e. Reno F1 rules. Stevie Kirton and JP would have been under whelmed.

At this point it would perhaps be helpful for you to know which of our wonderful air aces was gracing this competition. Bear in mind that there was a substantial opportunity for publicity for both BAeA and the individuals and some small amount of sponsorship, it seems appropriate that some of the Association's high profile characters were in attendance. Mark Jefferies brought the Jade Air Extra, while Alan Cassidy was driving the crowd pleasing Pitts Model 12. Cat and Mouse took time out from the preparations for their imminent EAC appearances to showcase the Cap 232s, while the East Midlands duo of Carver and Ferriman brought the 260 and 230 variants from Herr Extra's stable. Finally, there was Clive. Although already virtually a monoplane sky god, young Butler was saddled with bringing the short, fat, ugly one to the party. The S1T may be a fine filly in the privacy of her own room, but at the debs ball she will never be first to get her dance card marked. All the more reason to applaud G-OSIT and her partner for a fabulous contribution to the weekend's proceedings, which was ultimately recognised in the most appropriate of manners.

Friday afternoon was taken up with translating Alan's outline briefing document into something workable on the judging line, while the pilots had cameras and decals applied liberally to their aircraft. In between all their pampering at Blackpool's luxurious Hanger 3 executive centre, each competitor also had a practice session over the watery box and a chance to refine their sequence and freestyle figures. Well as much as you can between torrential showers whilst attempting desperately to identify where the judges were actually sitting against the drab canvas of seafront B&Bs. Nevertheless each managed to appear fleetingly in roughly the right place, thus establishing the Lycoming footprint on the unsuspecting masses engrossed in the life enhancing arcade culture that is the city's heartbeat. Only Alan actually saw sense and decided that wet sea air was perhaps not the best mixture additive to his Russian tractor engine. Best to save the surprises for show-time! Toys were then put back in the box, heroes removed their overalls and were transformed back to barflys and normal Fawlty Towers service resumed for a chill evening in the hotel lounge.

Any well organised event needs lots of good briefings, so we dragged the flyers out of bed for an 9 o'clock run through. 9 o'clock ! That's virtually lunchtime compared to the Buckenham or Marsh regimes. Well you have to remember that these are the elite, the cream of aerobatic cock fighting. They have to have their beauty sleep or there will be grumpy teddies flying everywhere. Even at this late hour I swear there were at least two still in their pyjamas. Mike Wood gave them a gentle wake up massage with the regulations and timings for the day and then we ran through the formal BAeA brief covering all the usual safety bits and a clarification of the Cassidy rules for the event. Having agreed on the minutiae, we dispersed for feeding, more sleeping and some spanner'ing for the compulsive engineers in the party. First flight was not scheduled until 14.00, so the pace was relaxed to soporific. Time was absorbed by refining the scoring system devised specifically for the event, briefing various media and organisational people and drinking plenty of tea. At least the latter made it feel much like any other BAeA event. Lunchtime saw the arrival of Peter Rounce and Beth to further bolster the support team and the show was ready. Let the crowds roll in !

Judging usually involves reclining in a faded deckchair, assistant perched on the hardest plastic seating device known to man and lots of paper blowing in the breeze. Judge Atley had other ideas and deprived of his mobile chambers, he and Michelle improvised with the command and control unit of the Lancashire Constabulary. Basically a two storey mobile control tower, this had a full PA, radio base station, 240 volts and luxury swivel chairs. The upper penthouse was soon converted to chez Atley. Eat your heart out Scotty ! This was judging luxury. OK, so the stairs up were a bit like the North Face of the Eiger and the location was one large wave short of oblivion at high tide, but this really was a step forward in judging line sophistication. We want more like this !

Having adapted rapidly to their new environs, Judge Atley and his Clerk of Court then faced up to the challenge. Remember that bit earlier about the Advanced Known and the timing ? Well here was the plan: watch each hapless competitor traverse the sequence, modified with a few additional figures, in the shortest time possible, measured from wing rock in to wing rock out. No penalties for line lengths, roll precision or non-round loops. Big penalties for missed figures, wrong figures (eh ?) and especially for lows. Judge's tasks - start the timer, stop the timer and watch the figures for errors and omissions. No hiding place here. You are the only judge ! Gulp. Quickly enlist the assistance of the CD and Bouncy as duplicate and triplicate time keepers, dish out as many copy sequences as possible to anyone with the slightest inkling of Aresti, cross fingers (and toes) and away we go ! CD monitors radio and text messages from support crew at the airport and they're off !

Enter stage left one of aviation's true stars. You may know him as one half of the Unipart Fournier Duo. If you're a Discovery Wings anorak, then Flightline will have made him your hero presenter, pronouncing on all subjects aerial, from Robinson to real helicopter, from Aerocar to Aeronca. If you're privileged to be part of the Tiger Club, if you're a BAeA Indeterminate glider competitor, if you've been anywhere near an airshow in the South East in the last twenty years, here he is. You love him, you adore him, some of you want his babies. You hang on his every word. Legend in his and yours' and everyone's lunchtime. Mr Commentator, Mr Motivator, Mr Aerobatics. Mr Brendan O'Brien ! Microphone in hand, crowd at his mercy, facts to his fingertips, Bend'em launches forth. In time to the beat of Competitor No.1, CooperAce, he, waxes lyrical on the finer arts of competition aeros, on the even finer points of Aresti and on the..., bloody hell... what comes next.... what's he just done...... was that 2/4 or 4/8 or 5/16 or what ? Spin, flick, flicked spin entry. Up, down, up again. Left, right, up, left again. Into wind, downwind, crosswind. Low, high, low again, left, what, where ? Wing rocks - stop the watch !!! Gerald hits 2 minutes 24", but momentarily forgets the briefing and drops below the 500' safety limit. As in any comp it costs him dearly and a 30 second penalty puts him a long way behind the benchmark 2 minutes 20 " which Mark has already set. Already ? Well he did have a display to fly down South so went up much earlier as wind dummy and guinea pig for the concept. Not a bad standard considering.

The others follow in quick succession. Steve Carver - 2 minutes 40". Clive in the fat lady - 3 minutes 13". Rumbling Pitts - 2 minutes 48". Ferriboat a hot,hot,hot 2 minutes 21" and TC in 2 minutes 31". These guys blagged and sandbagged a lot before their flights. Three minutes would certainly be unachievable. Judge Atley was expecting four minutes and a fag break. I looked into his eyes afterwards and they were whirring faster than the big jackpot slot machine on North Pier. Try and judge it ? Not easy, but the crowd loved it. Every flight got a rapturous round of applause. The more Brendan built up the pilot, the more they lapped it up. These were tough conditions. No real features, no runways to align and a stonking wind to compensate for. Yet each of the pilots put up a sterling performance and elicited a rousing response. Maybe, just maybe, we're onto something here ? The Aerobatic Time Trial is born.

There is a break. There needs to be a break. Phil chuffs like the Flying Scotsman. I leg it to the hotel. Everyone thinks I've gone for a pee, but I've actually gone to pee myself. The flying is frenetic, the attention unrelenting. We've had a 172 and a Hawk at 300Kts bust the box already, fortunately without a competitor in the way. I am imitating the one-armed paper hanger on the radio, stop watch, sequence, programme, commentator briefing, judge supporting, crowd pleasing and safety fronts all together. I am trying to co-ordinate a display, manage a judging line and keep pilots in one piece. In addition to that we have microphones, film crews, nervous organisors and PRs, not to mention the police, ambulance, rescue dive crew and manic Glaswegian air enthusiasts. We haven't even started the bit which is unscripted !

Four minute Freestyle is easy. My original brief said it would be upto six and a half minutes. That would be much harder on the pilots and on the Judge. The TV boys decided this was too long and amended back to maximum four and a half minutes. Now how are we going to score this one ? Well, we'll apply some artistic marks for the WOW ! factor and some technical marks for the ' how did he do that then' factor. Then a framing score for the left, left-left and right, right-right bits and some penalties for timing and heights busts and that will give us a total. If we put these in the computer, shut our eyes and count to ten backwards it should produce a fair result. Assuming of course that the single judge doesn't succumb to the halo effect en route. We didn't. Judge Atley scored the technical and artistic scores, supported by Mike Wood and the knowledgeable eye of Brendan. The CD scored the framing and Bouncy checked the watch, so if you thought you were robbed meet us behind the bike-sheds and we'll sort it like men. Eek, eek !

Just a minor interlude. If you've ever been Chief Judge you'll know that marking aside, you really do need to work the safety radio and keep your eyes open for gliders, twins, Cherokees and sundry other injuns. This keeps the competitors largely safe and secure, because it allows you to shout 'Break - Break - Break' on the safety frequency if you see the Starship Enterprise on a conflicting heading or spot impending doom for a height challenged competitor. Hone these skills. If you are CD or CJ for an Aero GP over the sea, you will need to become instant air traffic controller, display co-ordinator and stage prompt to the stars on that handheld. Add to that a film crew in a R44 in the high hover adjacent to the box throughout and you've got some 3D thinking to do. Fortunately the helo driver was exceptionally professional, for which I applaud him. I hope the cinematographic results justify the tension. An Unlimited pilot at +8g or - 5g really doesn't have full peripheral vision for collision avoidance !

In they rocked. GC first and very much to the fore. This was Freestyle at its best. Forget the punters, the pilots loved it. Cooperman sliding G-SKEW across the display area, that huge rudder waggling like a demented tadpole. Unbelievable. Stop, start, slide, twist, turn, reverse - it was all there. Slightly display right if you want a judge's view, but right on for Brendan and the crowd. "One of the best flights I've ever seen", was the stuntman's verdict. All except the timing. Four minutes of value in three and a bit on the stop watch. Penalties costs places and Gerald suffered. The only one, but competition is just that and the judges' scores are what count. The rest piled in one after another with some fantastic flights. Clive gave a spot-on ' in your face' Aresti special, while Stevie Carver showed his display experience and earned the commentator's 'Best of the Rest' award. Alan's modern Stearman routine is already polished, but shows the limitations of a slow rolling machine and a healthy respect for what it might decide to do on a bad day. TC wafted about with consummate ease, but relatively little imagination for him and Gary scored ok with his Country Fair display. Then came The Professional. MJ pitched up after a lengthy transit and a full value display at Hungerford and absolutely nailed it. Almost perfectly balanced in a challenging wind and entirely within the box, he presented a superbly choreographed ballet which had all the major elements. The foresight and vision to brief the helo driver on the high points and positioning of the display during his run-in demonstrated airmanship at its best. On the back of that there could only be one leader. Take a bow Mr ‘Showman’ Jefferies.

As the flying finished we beetled over to the airfield to get some feedback. The film crews had banned us from answering the pilots' anxious requests for timings and scores on the radio so that they could announce them to the opening canopy and capture the surprised/disappointed/ 'gutted, Gary' reactions. Afterwards the competitors formed up in pairs and trios to follow the camera helicopter round Blackpool Tower and get some more close footage for the TV producers. The pilots took this all in their stride. It's what they do. TC then promptly disappeared back over to Yorkshire to set up for a display next day. Our competition leader was also planning a further display for Sunday, yet was more than happy to lead the party through the pleasures of the Walkabout Bar and other dubious haunts on Blackpool Seafront. Commendable team spirit. Whilst the pilots were all in bed within limitations, the same could not be said for the support team. Large veil required for some, with boss JayZee leading from the front.

Sunday dawned wet. I guess it does this a lot in Blackpool. It's why they have all those amusement arcades. We dispensed some more briefings to the pilots, ate some breakfast, drank coffee and waited. We watched the rain with increasing pessimism. Until lunch. We ate again, then waited some more. We talked to the cameras to explain what the event was all about. We read the papers. More coffee. Eventually it was time to dispatch pilots to be with their machines and march the support crew to the judging line. Miraculously, the rain stopped. It was now just damp and miserable. We resumed our positions from the previous day and called up the first candidate. Gary had pulled the shortest straw and was soon on scene, but very much hampered by the conditions. Dilemma. Fly the sequence but risk some zeros for disappearing above the cloud or hang around and mess up the schedule ? More good judgment as Gary waited just long enough for the clouds to roll back and then flew a blinding 2 minutes 13" to set a new target for the rest. Brendan was back on song whipping up the hero worshipping masses and it was game on. Next up was Clive shaving a remarkable 43" of his previous time to become 'Best Improver'. Gerald then edged a mere second off the Ferry Man's record, with Carver and Cassidy both bettering their Saturday scores. This was Red Bull competition, but with real pilots flying real aerobatics ! We paused briefly to let the helo crew get some shots of the crowdline and then came the showdown. Mark blasted through the sequence to set a blistering 2 minutes 7" as the surely unbeatable best time. We reckoned without Yorkshire's finest. Tom pinned the equal time on the watch, setting up an open finale for the second Freestyle.

Then the rain was back with a vengeance. A classic thunderhead had gathered out to sea and headed towards us with the ferocity of an Oklahamo twister. Frantic texts to the airport crew halted the contest in its tracks and sent the pilots and planes racing for the cover of Hanger 3. The Air Boss looked worried - would we have to abandon ? So close, but no Havanas. Would the crowd desert us ? Just as this seemed inevitable, the weather gods smiled, the storm turned abruptly and within minutes the scene was transformed to a blue sky, summer's afternoon. As quickly as that. Disaster averted, our heroes launched off in quick succession to deliver their refined tumbling routines. More applause from the stands, more banter from the MC and finally some composure from Judge and Jury as clockwork performances were delivered on cue. All except the missing hat routine of Tykemeister Tom, who wisely accepted a time penalty, rather than be beaten up any more by his Dave Clarks. In the end two very different but equally enthralling flights by Gerry and Mark were separated only by 0.5 of a point, with the 232 driver edging the Extra jockey into 2nd. Contest complete.

I think it is a great pity when the awards ceremony at the end of a competition attracts just a few of the medal winners, as seems to be so often the case these days. In a sense waiting to applaud your successful fellow competitors is part of the camaraderie of the sport and the 'right thing to do', even if there are pressures to get home that night. Flying Aces solved this problem, by making it contractual on the BAeA to ensure that all pilots attended the podium event. Guess what ? 100 % attendance. Amazing what some sponsor pressure can achieve. Fuel vouchers at awards ceremonies for all future competitions ? In any event, the ballroom of the Imperial was transformed to into a full scale GP stage and Blackpool's Director of Tourism presented the awards to Tom, Gerry and winner Mark as Bronze, Silver and Gold. Much photography, gigabytes of video, press interviews for all. The Blackpool Gazette has never covered a finer sporting event. And the last award of the day ? A stick of Blackpool rock for the gallant wooden spoon recipient, Clive. Only then were the pilots allowed to scarper.

Once the show is over there are always things to tidy, thanks to be delivered and unpaid bills to be settled, (see me after class, Cooper). Slowly we all melt away, completing our dispersal across the country and thoughts turning to the next competition. We reflect on the success of the contest, on what we have learned and on what we could do better next time. This was a trial event. It mixed spectacle with convention, experiment with proven format. It tested pilots and officials alike and found neither wanting. In short it was a credit to the BAeA. There are many other points to debate, many lessons to learn for WAC 2009, much work to do to make that competition and any future Aero GP a success. But overall it worked.

My thanks to Judge Phil and Michelle for stepping up to the plate and hitting the home run. It wasn't easy, guys, but you made it look so. To Peter and Beth for supporting us and to Liz for helping me find a quiet zone to operate in. Mike and Brendan for being the public face of the 'The Show' and Jeff Zaltman and the Flying Aces crew for organising, funding and recording every minute of this event. Alan, your concept was great, but the real tribute is to the magnificent seven who made it happen in the air. Job well done, Aero GP aces.

Steve Todd Contest Director

No pilots were harmed in the making of this production. Any resemblance to real life characters is entirely intentional.....

Photos by Simon Gardiner and Liz

Webs to visit:

http://www.aero-gp.com/blackpool08.htm   http://www.flyingaces.co.uk/   http://www.airsports.tv/