The John McLean Trophy - 2010

CD's Report
Competitions in April are traditionally fraught with weather problems, but not this year! This was the first time in three years that there has been blue sky as far as the eye could see and not a cloud in sight all day; the effect of the high pressure that was sitting over most of the country. No reason not to get flying as soon as possible! After the briefing, “no pressure” David Nichols was first up for his first competition flight with the first outing of the 2010 known sequence. For expediency and to reduce the noise footprint, we elected not to use an airborne hold. Lining up and rolling immediately after the end of sequence wing rocks, and establishing that the box was vacated with the judges by a radio call, enabled a finish of the known sequence programme by 11:15.

It was the inaugural competition for no fewer than 6 pilots. Tensions therefore seemed high but under the guidance of some of this years new rules, only David Shutter suffered the consequences of the new “Box Box Box” call in the brisk off-judge wind. He didn’t hear the call as his radio was faulty and he had to retire - the rules state that you can’t fly without a radio. Steuart Walton had obviously been putting in a bit of practice for his first competition and was leading the field. Jez Burgoin was in second place with only a small margin to Paul Elvidge with his well-flown sequence in the Slinger. Another first flight for newcomer Adrian Francis in the 230 saw him in fourth and more ‘”high scoring Slingsby action” for Steve Kirton in fifth. Ed Cyster, another first competitor and flying White Waltham machinery, had dropped his first proverbial in figure 8, thereby collecting another first in the process, an HZ leaving him in sixth.

We were able to run the beginners sequence after a short break for the judges. All three Beginners competitors had attended the Loop Event the previous day. Stephen Evens sorted out his “Loop Event issues” to rise from “last yesterday to glory today” with a very respectable score (and the opportunity to pose in the picture below with his prize). John Firth in second said “I’ll be back” and confusion had reigned this time for Paul Macha in the first figure, the half cuban, leaving him in third.

The judging party returned to the clubhouse for sandwiches laid on by catering Kate and at a little past 13:00 were heading back off into the distant judging plains for more sun tanning and the standard unknown sequence.

The “wing rock and roll” strategy continued to perform well for the standard pilots and we finished the competition at 15:30. It would have been earlier were it not for a short pause for the three microlights who flew in line astern formation through the box before landing. They said they had phoned and nobody had told them .... so much for reading the Notams!

Steuart Walton produced another blinder and won the second flight too. David Nichols put in a very nice performance to come second and Ed Cyster, this time error free, in third. The overall scores saw Steuart Walton take the John MacLean trophy home and gold by a substantial margin. Jez Burgoin had done enough in his fist flight to grab silver and Ed Cyster clawing his way onto the podium for bronze.

Prizes were presented by catering Kate in the glorious mid-afternoon sun. It’s very easy to run a competition when the weather is flawless and everybody is in the mood for flying! It remains for me thank those who put in the usual hard background work - Chief Judge Ian Scott and his judging team: Peter Mac, Nick B, and Bob Oliver.
Judges assitants: Julie Wood, Andra Matthews, Corinne Dennis, Bob Oliver, Stephen Evans and Paul Macha. Scoring Director: Debbie Brown. Airfield and airfield contact: Ian Ross of Breighton Airfield and Corinne Dennis. Catering: Catering Kate and her catering team.

I’d also like to thank all the pilots for providing the flying entertainment and behaving thoughtfully on the airfield. It was truly a day of “firsts” and enjoyed by all.
Paul Tomlinson
Contest Director