CD’s report
As from 9th April 2005, meteorologists have a new
expression of temperature: “cold,” “very cold,” and now “the judging line at
Sandtoft”. But, ever since dawn the sun had been shining, so at least
conditions appeared to be good for the pilots…
It is an interesting fact that no matter how
early I arrive at a BAeA contest venue, someone has  arrived before me.
Usually it is a Buckenham, but this time it was a local instructor (waiting
to ferry a Harvard) who had “accidentally got up an hour early”. Steve
Green, who had got up at 3am, arrived soon after me at 7.30, so by 9am we
were briefing, and by 9.50 the first pilots were warming their Exxon.
The sun may have been shining, but the
wind was blowing hard, 20-30 knots from the north west, disconcertingly
straight across Sandtoft’s narrow runway. There may too have been some
anxious moments in cockpits, but I saw not a single disconcerting landing,
(and I watched most) which is a credit to those responsible.
Perversely that same wind had a more
detrimental effect on their airborne performances: it had obliged the
organisers to locate the box to the south of the airfield, with no
significant line features, which combination challenged most of the entry
and resulted in some atypically low scores. Happily it had no effect on
pilots’ efficiency, for within less than two hours all but two had flown:
they were forced to land because of developing cloud and sportingly agreed
to withdraw to facilitate achievement of the contest.
As CD, I had announced that the “surprise”
element of the contest would be the season’s first flight of the “known”, or
“Q”. Accordingly briefing was completed, judges were positioned, pilots
strapped on their wings, the cloud lowered. We waited a couple of hours, but
evidently it was not prepared to budge, so at 1600 the contest was declared
over.
Julia Cooper presented the awards to those
listed elsewhere. (When I asked if she would do this, she said “No … werris”,
which I was told means “yes” in Australian; I was also warned that “no” does
not always mean “yes” in Oz!). Julia also presented a couple of ‘surprises’
sponsored by the Cavendish Hotel (“set on Chatsworth Estate”!) to the two
trophy winners.
Thanks are due to (in random order), Ian
Berry of the NEW Sandtoft Aviation, Chief Steve Green and his dedicated team
of frozen judges, scorer Ian Scott, and special appreciation to Julie Wood
who was clearly unwell but kept to her post as Registrar and Gofer.
Eric Marsh, Contest Director |
And from your scorer...
The day started absolutely beautifully in bright sunshine and unlimited
visibility (this is at 07:00). Unfortunately there was a strong and
increasing cross wind which was causing various Pitts drivers to purse their
lips and think of alternative landing options.
There was considerable discussion about
possible box positions, the final version being set across the runway just
off the South West end - this was to prove quite a challenge to several
pilots. Eric, as always, got things off to a prompt start with briefing at
09:00 and first flight just before 10:00. Flight plans from Ireland
for Eddie G. and Dave B. had been received but as yet they were still en
route.
 The Intermediate jockeys (to borrow
from the Grand National) were saddled both with orientation and a tricky
sequence, and zeros were pretty common. Nevertheless everyone flew
some sort of sequence, although Mark Davies gave up trying to land G-BTUL
and disappeared off to Sherburn. The Irish contingent arrived and, after a
further thorough briefing from Eric were put into the flying order.
Cloud had been forming for a while but
the Advanced/Unlimited guys managed to work their way through all but the
last two before lowering cloud forced a halt. The pilots were therefore
forced to sit in the coffee bar and tell long tall stories - this, of
course, is the only reason they come to these events. A brief attempt was
made to restart when an improved cloud base was reported but, in the end, it
was only a suckers gap.
At 16:00 Eric called it a day and -
with Dave B. and Kadbury Dave not having managed to fly kindly withdrawing
from the contest - a result could be declared. Corinne Denis (with no
zeros) won the Newbold trophy from Colwyn Darlow and Simon Abbott, whilst
Gerald Cooper topped the Icicle from Tom Cassells and Ron Allen. The results
of the two competitions to give the Icicle Surprise to Gerald Cooper.
That's something like the story of the
day, but there was nothing like the weather for last weekend (at the Dan
Smith). Oh well - you can't win them all. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
Ian Scott |
