The Golding Barrett Meeting - 2010

CD's Report
The grin was broad. Very, very broad. The ecstasy of flight had once again worked its magic, sprinkling everything it meets with glitter. It had touched another life in a permanent and poignant experience that stays forever in the memory. So it was that G-B’s son, Charlie, experienced aerobatics for the first time, many, many years after his father had handed back his earthly licence for a higher, more ethereal qualification. How appropriate that it would be the more recently departed Curtis Pitts’ local envoy, Bob Pooler, who would so generously introduce G-B junior to our noble art, with a fabulous twirl in the T67 after the majority had departed from a most successful 2010 Golding-Barrett Trophy. Before that Veryan Golding-Barrett had graciously presented the award and reminisced with passion of pilots from the Neil Williams era who were regular house guests in times gone by.

Appropriate too, that Bob’s gesture was in keeping with the absolute generosity of everyone at Shropshire Aero Club who made 14 pilots and nearly as many judges so welcome at Sleap and facilitated another fabulous competition at this delightful airfield. If you can find any excuse, please do make a little extra effort to make your way there to support the upcoming Loop Beginners’ Day on Saturday, 24th July. You will not be disappointed.

Of course it helps massively if a competition is blessed with two days of perfect weather, balmy summer temperatures and only ever so slightly gentle breezes. Sleap still won’t admit that they have a hanger full of these delightful conditions, of which they give freely year on year, but we know it is no accident. Thank you! This year’s format concentrated entirely on a war of attrition, with Standard being on the only level flown – four times over. At the outset a few questioned the wisdom of flying the Known sequence twice in one competition ... a test of personal improvement. By the end few questioned anything of the format. They were too tired or too punch drunk with the delight of having survived the test. As usual, there were highs and thanks to excellent discipline very few lows. The spread of scores was impressive. A few picked the wrong runway, Sleap’s perennial challenge, more than a few picked up perfect 10’s and one or two, including our eventual worthy champion, survived those moments when it very nearly all goes horribly wrong.

Those 10’s, and there really were plenty of them, came from a very distinguished panel of judges. Both days saw our international elite judges, unlimited pilots and senior BAeA personnel in abundance. Their support and the invaluable feedback they provided were instrumental to the improvement process for all the pilots, including the "newbies" and a few who had not competed in a while. Good to see that the bug stays with you for life. The fact that there was such a large team, with an equally enthusiastic gaggle of assistants, is testimony both to the whip exercised by virgin CJ Mr & Mrs McCartney and to Brian’s fabulous management style. I have never dealt with a less demanding bunch of judges.

In the end there could only be one winner. From start to finish on this occasion, with a very high and very consistent standard of flying. As alluded to, there were some wobbles, but you can’t really argue with scores in the high 70’s and for one sequence a raw score over 80%. Our winner was a pilot whose father has an equally famous aviation heritage as Charlie’s, as the Squadron Leader who flew a Tiger Moth from the UK to Australia, but Ed Cyster is his own man and we can expect to see plenty more medals heading his way at higher levels in the near future.

Contest Director

There are now two videos taken at this event - use these links: First Video and Second Video