The Golding-Barrett Trophy - 2011

Just a breeze......

There is always plenty to do as CD on the final approach to competition day and usually a nervous peruse of the weather prognosis is well up the list. You can’t influence anything of course, but cautious optimism or abject horror alike, it always sets the mood for the transit to the venue. Cognoscenti of our favourite Shropshire airfield will therefore not be surprised that my fingers were tightly crossed that threatened frontal activity would keep our Celtic cousins amused and leave us in peace to play. Given the stunning conditions of the previous two years, I had every confidence that our hosts would once again avail us of their finest. We were not disappointed, but I might be circumspect in seeking the opinion of one or two of our judging team. It’s not very often you see sunburn and early signs of exposure in the same afternoon. The challenge was the wind. You can shine all the sunlight you like upon the righteous of the BAeA, but if you blow 25kts plus consistently for 8 hours across them it can be quite wearing. To suffer the onslaught for two days solid without a murmur says much of the dedication of CJ Brian McCartney and his team and it is to these stalwarts that we are all indebted for another fabulous weekend in the country.

Wind can also be a challenge to even the most experienced competitor’s box positioning, especially in strong on judge conditions. Given our preference not to interfere and impose the ‘Box,Box,Box’ call any more than absolutely necessary it is equally to the credit of our extremely professional field of Standard & Intermediate competitors that the use of this yellow card was virtually superfluous. Equally to their credit our two complete novices showed exemplary airmanship in the face of the Chicago-like challenge, though I am certain that there was the odd injection of adrenaline to one or two of the tail wheel drivers when it came to reuniting man, machine and terra firma in the post-sequence euphoria. Curtis Pitts’ sense of humour really shines when the call is ‘160 gusting 27’ on very short finals. Thanks to some very competent handling and the extremely helpful approach from Sleap’s brilliant tower team all dramas were avoided and we counted them all back safely.

Friday was billed as the day of the Knowns. After a perfect roll call (in all senses, Jen !) our 21 competitors set off to demonstrate their prowess and their ability to get the show rolling with minimal prodding. It quickly became clear that an early finish would be achieved in short order after lunch. The Association has learnt on many occasions not to waste such an opportunity, so a quick rebrief ensured that all competitors were soon dancing their Unknowns. Tyro Standard, Richard Goodwin, showed great composure to defend his lead from Round 1 and lift the G-B Trophy at his first attempt, while David Cowden flew a storming Unknown to rise to second of the Intermediate pile, with the silver medal round his neck almost before the ICO lever had stopped the blades turning. No doubt about the winner though. Last year’s Standard champion, Ed Cyster, consistent over the two before heading off north of the Border to fulfil his duties at a friend’s wedding, thus cunningly depriving us of a demonstration of his handling skills with the improvised trophy. My abiding memory of the day though was our ever popular Yak herder’s ear-to-ear grin at completing a zero free sequence at his new level for the very first time. Pure ecstasy !

Camaraderie, excellent food and a well earned beer or two are the reward for a hard day’s work and so we enjoyed all three at the superlative Burlton Inn, before turning in for a deep and restoring night’s rest, disturbed only by the nagging thought that we needed to find something to amuse our pilots for the next day. All too soon we were reassembled in the briefing room running through the plan for the ‘Jelly Bean Challenge’, with half an eye to the ever present weather and wind forecasts, which in true British fashion were about as clear as surface of the WW runways in the middle of winter. A couple of pilots exercised wise discretion to avoid both fatigue and time pressures, so a slightly reduced, but highly focussed field of competitors set off on a new Unknown, still buffeted by significant winds and then challenged by a lowering cloud base. Patience prevailed though and we were soon able to notch both classes as complete with plenty of time for a second round after another tasty and expeditious Sleap lunch. If only all our venues were so well catered.

Before our break we had the only official element of the day’s competition to complete. Although only two brave souls had stepped forward to contest our Beginners’ Shield, nevertheless this was equally serious business. As if pre-ordained the cloud cover opened to create and stunning CAVOK canvas for the battle. Both prepared diligently, both flew with exceptional confidence and competence and the result was...........an absolute dead heat ! Well not quite, the raw scores deciding that the Bidford Eagle took the spoils by the narrowest of raw score margins, but Fair Play indicated there was nothing to separate the two. Well done Ben and Mark, splendid effort from you both.

All too soon, unless you were one of the brave souls shivering on the judging line, the proceedings drew to a close and with some nimble finger work the combined results of the ‘Such Fun’ sequences were to hand. A close fight between Eagle and Pitts saw Ed triumph by a Yard in the latter at Standard, while the very last flight of the day proved to be a winner for Jez Burgoin at Intermediate, who also snatched the shutdown to medal record set by Mr Cowden on the previous day. With tremendous thanks to all those who worked tirelessly at Sleap  a tired but very happy BAeA team dispersed once again to the four corners of our island and in Jan’s case back over the water to return, we hope, next year to an equally challenging, rewarding and above all fun competition. And the wind carried on blowing.

Steve Todd
Contest Director