The Unlimited National Championships - 2008

CD's Report
Stewart, Hunt, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton. All legends in the world of Formula One racing, all winners at Silverstone and all contributors to the rich motor sport heritage that makes Silverstone recognised as a premier sporting venue throughout the world. When Silverstone agreed to host the 2008 Unlimited British National Aerobatic Championships it promised to be an exciting and memorable occasion.

This was the first time that an aerobatic competition had been held at Silverstone and the contest served as a test event ahead of the World Aerobatic Championships (WAC) that will be held at Silverstone during August 2009. The British National Championships gave Silverstone and the WAC organisers the chance to see how a contest fitted into the normal operation of the racing circuit, to lay-out the aerobatic box and to test out the various judging positions required for an international contest.

Aircraft problems, bad weather en route and work demands reduced the entry list to four pilots flying to win the Neil Williams Trophy, and together with it the title of British National Champion. Three sequences were to be flown, the “Q” programme, a Free Programme and an Unknown. The results of the Q programme were to be included in the final standings, so it was important for the pilots to put in a good first flight at the same time as familiarising themselves to the layout of the box – something which proved quite a challenge!

The Q programme, a technically challenging sequence of aerobatic figures, is published at the start of the contest season, so that the pilots are able to practice flying the sequence ahead of the contest. Tom Cassells posted an excellent score of 75% to win the Q programme in his Cap 232, almost 20% ahead of his nearest rival Mark Jefferies in his soon to be upgraded Extra 300S. Aidan Grimley put in a solid flight in his Cap 231EX, with Nick Wakefield in fourth place .... valiantly campaigning his Pitts S1T at Unlimited level. Tom had thrown the gauntlet to the other three pilots. On to the Free Programme.

The Free Programme is a sequence designed by each pilot to suit their own flying style and the capabilities of their aircraft. The sequence must be designed to include particular types of aerobatic manoeuvres so that each routine demonstrates the same level of versatility and technical difficulty, but the pilot has freedom to assemble these components into their own aerobatic sequence. This is another sequence that pilots practice ahead of the contest – although delivering an accurate flight, under competition pressure, at an unfamiliar venue can be very difficult to achieve.

Mark Jefferies flew the best Free Programme, scored 65% and closed the gap on the leader - largely because Tom Cassells zeroed one of his figures – an expensive mistake. So it was on to the final sequence with everything to play for.

The Unknown sequence is designed from a selection of aerobatic figures submitted by each competing pilot. The competitors are not allowed to fly the sequence before the contest. All they can do to prepare for the flight is to go to a quiet place and think through what they are going to do when they get in the aeroplane – pilots can often be seen “walking through” their sequences, doing a convoluted dance on the ground as they rehearse their flight and visualise what they will do and see in the cockpit. Tom Cassells put in a strong performance in the Unknown to win both this sequence and the National title. In the overall standings Mark Jefferies won silver and Nick Wakefield bronze medals.

The David Perrin Trophy is awarded for the best Four Minute Free flight, a style of flying similar to airshow performances where each pilot has complete freedom to design an aerobatic sequence that will wow the judges, display technical mastery of the aircraft and present a well choreographed flow of figures. Three pilots flew the Four Minute Free programme. Aidan Grimley came third and Mark Jefferies was narrowly beaten by Tom Cassells, who added the David Perrin Trophy to his growing collection of aerobatic victories.

In the "grateful thanks" department, Silverstone proved to be a great venue and our thanks go to Alex Lacey, Graham Lake-Grange and all their colleagues for providing us with excellent facilities and first class support for the contest. Permissions from the local landowners to access their land and mark those parts of the contest box outside the Silverstone circuit area also contributed to the success of the chosen layout. Mazda Motors provided support for the contest and are sponsoring the World Aerobatic Championships and we thank them for their involvement and look forward to working with Mazda in 2009. Flying Aces filmed the contest and broadcast live coverage of the second day of flying on the airsports.tv website, an exciting development for British aerobatics that will help to bring the sport to a wider audience.

Many people put a huge amount of work into making this contest a success, before, during and after the event and I thank everyone for their hard work and support. The Judging and Line Judging teams worked especially hard, with the full CIVA line judging procedures being used during the contest. This proved to be a great success and everyone enjoyed the experience and camaraderie of being initiated into the mysteries of line judging. Special thanks are due to Stephen Madle and Julian Murfitt who flew as warm up and cool down pilots for the contest (by virtue of the fact they were flying the same aircraft!).

The National Championships have opened a new chapter in the story of British aerobatics. In the future Silverstone’s sporting heritage will include both racing and flying Champions. Stewart, Hunt, Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, Cassells. We look forward to meeting again at Silverstone in 2009 for the World Aerobatic Championships.
Steve Green
BAeA Contest Director