With a really excellent entry for this competition it looked as though we
were headed for a great time, but whilst we romped through the Thursday
evening advanced and unlimited Programme-Q's and the Friday afternoon
Free's and unknowns at these two levels the dreaded UK weather eventually
took over and none of the intermediate pilots was able to fly. Indeed
those present spent a challenging Saturday eyeing the ground-level clag,
and when it finally lifted at around 6pm most made an instant dash for
freedom.
At unlimited it was Nick Wakefield who got it "righter" than
the rest, although during the Free programme Patrick Williams made the
least mistakes and temporarily claimed the spotlight. With more than a few
'hard zeros' on almost every sheet our team for WAC at the World Air Games
clearly have some admin to get in order. Hm!
In the advanced section a solid dozen runners vied for the limelight,
new man Steve Carver giving Scrope et al a good lesson in calm and steady
flying. Once again the figures were good when what was flown matched that
on the judges forms, but more than a few unscheduled figures and the
occasional imaginative leap down two lines on the sequence card spoilt the
plot and the marks suffered as a result. In the end Mark Jefferies not
only flew better than the rest but compiled a worthy 81% to boot, nearly
7% clear of Kester in the triple-two with Steve Carver snapping at his
heels.
And then there was Saturday. Some years it all works, and then there's
2001..... Eric Marsh drove the CD's slot, Steve Greens' judges included
Nick Buck, Ian Scott and Alan Cass, whilst Jen B neatly ordered the
results.
Nick Buckenham
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