Contest Directors Report
The Breighton Loop day briefing at 9:30 on Friday saw eight
excited and expectant entrants who had travelled from as far afield
as Ireland and Scotland. After the initial briefing outlining the
format of the day and
 what
was expected of them, two flew with Tom Cassels in the Slingsby and
the remaining six with John Dixon in his Extra 300. This loaded John
with much work to do and quick pilot changes became important to
keep things moving. During their twenty minute flights in the
morning, a short trip away from the airfield and a return to the box
to fly the beginners sequence in front of the judges ensured that
there was plenty to talk about during the lunch break. I can not get
over how excited the pilots were after their first flight -
Stephanie had even invited her family to come and give her some
support. They had never seen her fly before, let alone perform
aerobatics. I had the honour of standing next to her Mum when
Stephanie pulled up for the stall turn! “Oh my God” she kept
repeating! Nick Pratt had never flown any aeros before and only had
five hours on his new PPL. Tom carefully put Nick through his paces
and he flew excellently on his first flight. Lunch was called and
Steve Todd and I answered many questions as to the deciphering of
the judges critique notes.
Time was running on and we decided that in the afternoon, the flight
would be as per a “real” competition i.e. no practice, just through
the box once and straight into the sequence. We briefed the
procedures again and  launched
our first pilot. Again, John had to work very hard with the 300,
exchanging pilots as quickly as possible and refuelling and “re-teaing”
only when necessary! A fantastic atmosphere was present amongst all
of the pilots. Stephanie had invited all her house mates and friends
along for the afternoon! The epitome of the event for me had to be
when Laura dismounted after her second flight; she exclaimed, “That
was the most incredible flight ever! I have no idea what went on!”.
Great camaraderie was present
amongst all of the entrants. After everybody had flown, we called a
final briefing and announced the results. Colin, who had spent some
time training with Alan Cassidy, bagged the highest score and won a
Twix bar. Laura proudly took away a Picnic bar and David a Mars bar.
With the lowest score at over 60% some very fine flying was seen. A
truly excellent day was had by all. Thanks to all the BAeA
officials, caterers, and especially to the check pilots Tom and
John.
Paul Tomlinson, BAeA CD |
