The Tiger Trophy - 2008

As we had planned to fly an Advanced Free programme as well as the usual Friday Beginners, three hours of good weather was needed. Of course, weather in late September can usually be relied on to be, well, challenging, and so it proved, especially that afternoon. Slow-lifting fog prevented all but the most determined arrivals before about 2pm and aerobatic flying conditions were not in evidence for another hour after that. By 3pm, though, we had big enough blue gaps among the puffy cumulus to launch the 6 Beginners and they all successfully completed the sequence. Daniel Bascomb O'Brien proved a worthy winner on 74.46%, showing clearly the benefits of Tom's tuition. This score would have won him the Tiger itself if Beginners had been included the next day!!

From 4pm to 6pm we flew 10 Advanced Free programmes, with Gary Ferriman, Nick Richards and Julian Murfitt establishing themselves in the medal positions by a small margin over Ron Allan, the highest placed Pitts pilot.

Despite the worst fears of a repeat delayed start, I persisted with the 8am briefing on Saturday and was rewarded with clear skies, albeit with a low sun and slant visibility barely above minima. Corinne, in the role of visibility dummy (there being little wind) flew her Free, as she had been absent at a funeral the day before. Omitting one line from a goldfish, however, meant that there were a couple of zeros to delight the judging line.

Then it was time to start the Tiger proper and the curtain was raised by Tom Cassells flying the Unlimited version of the sequence. This somewhat unexpected flight order was determined by Tom's need to go to work at lunchtime, but gave everyone present a thrilling introduction to the day's Unknown flying. After 15 Standard flights we stopped for lunch, then re-started with Intermediate at 1.30pm. Now the sun was higher and behind the judges' right shoulders, so conditions could be said to be a bit better. However, the (partly off-judge) wind had also increased, so framing got a bit more difficult. The remaining 15 flights were finished just before 4pm, giving everyone a chance for a cuppa before the presentations and departures.

Chris Stringer, Sherburn Aero-Club CFI, presented the trophies and medals, beginning with a delayed offering of the new Cavendish Hotel Trophy to Gary for his Advanced win earlier in the season at Elvington. Wickenby having been a wash-out, the Advanced Free and Unknown scores were aggregated to find the 2008 Advanced National Champion. Julian pipped Gary and Nick in the end, thanks to a superior Unknown and so was awarded the National Champion Plate for this year.

The Tiger results proved, for once, that the highest percentages do not always come from Standard pilots. This year it was Tom who set the standard with a famous win at 73.86%. Phil Burgess and Andrew Barlow led ths Standard field, just a hair's breadth apart, to take Silver and Bronze. All very close.

Designing sequences that give all pilots an equal chance of winning is a difficult task. The main issue for the higher levels is the inclusion of rolling turns, which not surprisingly score less well than simple, unadorned turns in Standard. So expect there to be equally fine weather, but no rollers next year!!
Alan Cassidy,
Contest Director