CD's Report
Last year’s British Aerobatic Championships at Sywell was considered to be
one of the best ever: energetic preparations by Graham Hill and Steve Green
followed by two days of perfect weather facilitated a text-book contest with
all programmes completed.So it was
a hard act to follow in 2004, but BAeA management started preparations many
months before with an approach to the proprietors of Sywell Aerodrome.
Delegated negotiator Mark Walden discovered that closer co-operation between
the two parties would be mutually beneficial, not least because Sywell’s
development strategy would gain from an event which would draw the crowds.
 The
event introduced yet another BAeA first, that of prominent sponsorship of a
BAeA contestant by Exxon, whose Bill Dennis attended the contest and further
sponsored some of BAeA’s operational costs. It was pleasing therefore that
Exxons aircraft, flown by Mark Jefferies, won the David Perrin Trophy.
Exxon and BAeA are now discussing the possibility of future sponsored
events.
Every contest contains drama, of which
some impacts on an individual, whilst others have a ripple effect on the
event at large. Last year Simon Cattlin discovered F.O.D. the hard way, and
Cas Smith had a funny turn whilst performing. This year drama started early
~ before arrival even ~ when Gerald Cooper lost a magneto en-route and spent
the afternoon replacing it. Several assisted by providing tools, components,
advice, fluid and medication, and even more assisted by keeping out of the
way. It put Gerald last in the running order for that afternoon’s "Q", but
it did not stop him coming second to Tom Cassells in finishing order, with
Mark Jefferies third. Meanwhile Mark Walden, Gary Ferriman and Tony Maxwell
had filled the top three places in Advanced "Q". In theory this is only a
qualifying sequence in which a minimum score must be achieved in order to
continue, and the result is only used for the Championship in exceptional
circumstances.
It is said that they stopped making wooden
aeroplanes because aviation paperwork had used up all the trees! Quite a lot
of it too is used in compiling unknowns at national contests. The deal is
that each pilot, in an agreed order, submits a figure which he has rehearsed
but which he hopes will slaughter his opponents. All submitted manoeuvres
are combined into a workable sequence by the same competing pilots.
Aerobatic pilots being aerobatic pilots, opinions vary over what constitutes
“workable”, but when all is resolved someone enters it into a computer. That
is a skill in itself, usually undertaken by Mister Freestyle Aviation, the
software’s designer (a.k.a. Alan Cassidy), when everyone else has retired to
the bar.
Next morning gave us the rare combination
of clear heads and a clear sky for Programme 1, which I describe as “pilot’s
own free”. In this sequence the pilot presents his own full sequence, and
scoring is such that he benefits from fewer but more complex figures. Given
that every pilot flies a different sequence and each sequence contains
numerous highly complex manoeuvres, judging requires especially advanced
skills. This year for instance the judging line contained no less than 18
personnel in six groups of three all under the control of Chief Judge Graham
Hill: a caller to translate into plain English the Aresti code due to be
flown, a judge to score it, and a scribe to enter the score and comments in
a log which the pilot will eventually receive. No-one was to know it then,
but the order of the top three at both Unlimited and Advanced after this
flight was eventually the order at the end of the contest, including the
margins of separation.
 After
a brief lunch break, the aforementioned first unknown was flown. In this
programme the demands of judging were less on following the figures but more
on surviving the heat, keeping the water-and-ice-cream shuttle very busy.
Expeditious flying by all allowed the programme to be finished before the
1800 curfew, leaving time for composition of second unknowns i.a.w. the
standard formula. They were still at it when this C.D. retired to the pub at
2000hrs, unfortunately causing an interruption to my fluid intake whilst I
returned to the briefing room to collect and distribute their consensus, by
which time most of them were fortuitously in the pub also.
The weather forecast for Saturday was
marginal i.e. Sywell was in the unpredictable area between clear and cloudy,
and in the event it got the latter. It improved all morning, but in spite of
being willed to clear by an airfield owner, an aerobatic sponsor, judges,
contestants (who even went up to try and disperse the cloud) and 1,500
expectant spectators, the cloud base refused to rise to the occasion. By
lunchtime the natives were becoming restless (some had built a scaffold
whilst others scoured for a noose), so a not uncontentious decision was
taken to abandon the second unknown in favour of the final four minute
freestyle contest, which could be achieved in the prevailing conditions.
There had already been a comprehensive
briefing of all pilots by the Chief Judge Graham Hill and the Contest
Director, in which it was emphasised that any flying which the judges judged
to be in any way hazardous would result not only in disqualification but an
instruction on the radio to “land, land, land”. To further ensure distancing
from the crowd the box was moved 200 yards further away, and happily there
were no anxious moments, other than perhaps in the cockpits. Julian Murfitt,
in collaboration with the Aviator Hotel, provided an entertaining commentary
and kept the crowds ~ now approaching 2,000 ~ a little less puzzled about
the intricacies of competition aerobatics.
Amongst the items Sywell requested be
provided by BAeA as our contribution to the joint venture was some form of
information centre manned by Aresti-speaking personnel and equipped with
explanatory artwork. Steve Green took this seriously and produced large
rigid encapsulated artwork containing illustrations and copy about BAeA and
its pilots, obtained from Alan Cassidy an informative
“All-you-wanted-to-know-about-aerobatics-but were- afraid-to-ask” leaflet,
and from the pilots cajoled a profile on every competitor. Then for a truly
professional finish Steve acquired and erected our own tiny marquee with
table and chairs, all manned with Aresti-speaking BAeA representatives.
So it was there, in the rose garden of the
Aviator Hotel, that yours truly thanked all the generous volunteers for
their contribution to a successful day. Bill Dennis of Exxon presented the
awards to a dozen winning pilots (details below), the proprietor of Sywell
Aerodrome revelled at the prospect of telling local planners that 2,000
happy spectators have priority over 20 unhappy protestors, and everybody
disappeared into the dusk.
Two hours later Steve Green and Graham
Hill ~ "amongst the best in the world as aerobatic judges" ~ staggered back
from the wheat-fields of Northamptonshire with the box markers. The BAeA
should be proud both of it's ground-based administrators and it's pilots.
ERIC MARSH |
