Like a lot of us, I enjoy discovering an aircraft registration that I've not seen before. No, not in a spotter sort of way, but you know, the clever ones that make us smile. They might spell a word or name. They are sometimes appropriate to the aircraft type or occasionally a bit rude. Parked outside the Shropshire Aero Club was a Slingsby T67. Its reg, G-OPUB. Was it trying to tell us something?
17 hopeful pilots had entered to fly in the 4th Loop Beginners Day at Sleap airfield on 24th July, a day which dawned with a beautiful clear blue sky and sunshine bathing the lovely Shropshire countryside. Could it last?

In the hour before the briefing, the sky rained aeroplanes, a full compliment of pilots and instructors flooded into the museum briefing room, a deluge of questions were answered and the weather, although now cloudy, looked flyable, so we poured out to let the first few pilots get ready and the rest get bacon.

Loop day veteran, Martin Owen was 1st up in the Pitts S2B with the safe hands of Ron Allan in close formation. Solo entrant David Nock launched next in the firefly with David Crowson
 warming the motor in Paul Stanley's Pitts S2A, G-SKNT (see what I mean about good reg's?). Alan Boast was already strapped into the Decathlon - this was going well! Except it wasn't. Ron called to report cloud in the practice area at 1500ft - drat! David did exactly the same and both returned and landed - double drat! Our turn to join the fabulous bacon boys then. Sleap airfield's excellent catering was to prove very welcome over the next few hours.

We enjoyed a very tasty BBQ, complete with roast pork, no less! Thank you lads. And to the girls up in the restaurant, thank you too.

By 1230hrs the rain that Wales didn't want was dumping on us. Chief judge, Luke Goddard and I consulted the rainfall radar, only to discover that the only blob of rain across the UK, was the patch that was now blobbing down on us! We binned the 2nd box flight in the hope we might get enough sky to still get through the training flights and just one flight in the box, but with 17 entrants, this was going to take time!

We were lucky enough to be treated to a couple of fast flypasts by a resident Yak 11, but after he landed and we had a chat, it was clear that the weather all around was simply duff.

Thoughts were turning from the event to getting home, so at 1430hrs, I called a briefing to, in the words of Basel Fawlty, "state the bleedin' obvious". We were running out of time and the weather was nowhere near good enough. A decision had to be made. It was with great sadness that we had to abandon the event. By 1500hrs, it was raining again.

My thanks go to the very friendly Shropshire Aero Club and to Sleap airfield. As we didn't get any noise complaints, maybe we'll be invited back! To the ever enthusiastic Nathan Cross. Thank you to Luke and his team of judges and assistants. To Jack and Jen with their `puter at the ready. To Andrew Barlow for being on hand to offer tips. To the instructors for their time
and aircraft, but mostly to the pilots, who had trained and prepared, but didn't get to fly. I hope we will see you all at another event in the future.

A little bird told me that at 2030hrs, the sun came out over Sleap airfield, but by then I for one had taken the advice of the club Slingsby and went pub!