The Junior National Aerobatic Championships - 2011

CD's Report
“Goodbye” I said to Chief Judge Brian McCartney. It was after 7.0’clock on Saturday evening and he was still wrapping up two hours after the contest had finished. “Are you leaving?” he asked.

“No” I said, “You are”. I had just learned that he had a four hour drive to his home in Dorset and was unable to stay overnight because his car was full of BAeA equipment which he did not want to put at risk in a hotel car park. Brian and his partner Julie had arrived four days before, thus sacrificing their music transport business in order to play a vital part in running the BAeA Mazda National Championship. And Brian was not the last to leave: local Ian Scott, standing in for Jen Buckenham, who was working with Nick at the European Advanced Championships, was as scorer still keying his computer to finalise the results in readiness for upload to the BAeA's website by webmaster Richard Jones. And Ian would be back next morning to collect all the considerable equipment, check and top up its contents, then  arrange for it to be transported to its next destination, Leicester, for the Gunpowder Trophy.

I mention this neither to glorify nor flatter (nor even less embarrass!) said individuals but to emphasise that our sport depends on the selfless generosity of such volunteers to man our events. The judging line alone comprised 14 such good folk: I know, because that is the number of cold drinks and ice creams I delivered on just one afternoon! I know too that the majority of pilots realize how much selfless volunteering goes into their each and every contest, but for those few who do not this is a plea for them to volunteer either oneself or ones friend, partner, wife, boyfriend, child, sibling or drinking mate - or ideally all the above - to at least one of our contests during the contest season. It IS enjoyable, honest, for that’s why I do it, but you also get free lunch, unlimited tea and coffee, an ice cream if you are lucky and, ditto, an excellent suntan. Furthermore you are guaranteed to make new friends, who are not always aviation anoraks (though they usually are: the free coffee is to keep you awake). AND, as if all that was not enough, if you do a 'proper job' then you even get a contribution to your travel expenses. So please form an orderly queue and contact the CD of your preferred event.

Now back to the contest. It started with arrivals and registration, then a comprehensive briefing at 1000hrs on Thursday from contest principals Eric Marsh as Contest Director, Brian McCartney as Chief Judge, Ian Scott as Registrar/Scorer and Gavin Forrest as Airfield Operator. The intention was to commence flying at 1100hrs, but not atypically the Weather Gods had different plans and delayed same until 1400. There were nine at Standard Level and 22 at Intermediate (a reversal of the usual mix), so the former completed by 1530 but only 12 of the latter, this notwithstanding a considerate one hour extension by Conington personnel to 1900.

Alas the Weather Gods were still grumpy next morning - Friday - providing low cloud, poor viz and opportunity for extended conversations. It was under these circumstances several years ago that it occurred to me that I might tap and share the wealth of knowledge which was being disseminated around the room. At that time I had convened an impromptu seminar in which pilots were invited to speak for a timed two minutes on a subject loosely titled “I Learned About Flying From That”. It was extremely entertaining and we got a wealth of stories, with tales about throwing a monkey from an aeroplane, chasing butterflies in Africa, a pilot who changed his push-or-pull mind three times on a vertical down, and a toe-curlingly rude joke about a pilot and a stewardess.  I never knew whether the talks were popular or not, but as soon as I thought of repeating it at Conington I realized that we had no room big enough to accommodate the large number of potential speakers. Perhaps at another event?

So we waited. Inevitably at these events there is always a multitude of meteorologists, some of whom shade their eyes and look into the sky, others of whom feel the grass for its moisture, but most of whom look at small electronic devices and predict, albeit in consultation with the cloud watchers and grass touchers , that “it will be flyable at 1400”. And it was. And we got another one-hour flying extension from The Management. So by Friday night we had completed the Standard first unknown and 12 of the 22 Intermediate frees.

On Wednesday I had hoped we might defer the 0800 Saturday redeye briefing to a more comfortable 0900, but with so many flights still to go 0800 it was…only to be followed by another three hours of chat before flying resumed. HOWEVER, this morning we had a visit from not one but two near-celebrities: Gerald Cooper and Eric Vazeille; three if you count their spectacular new Sbach.

The balance of the Intermediate frees and the second Standard unknown was completed at 1330 Saturday, making it uncertain whether the remaining Intermediate group could be finished in the day. Under these circumstances a “cut” is usually made, in which only the ranked top ten pilots fly, traditionally in reverse order, but that might mean that half the pilots would not fly and we might still finish early, so I introduced a novel “Time Cut” by which all pilots flew in rank order (with some modification to facilitate rest), with a cut at the 1800hrs curfew: this would incentivise all to expedite. And it worked, for all did, and we completed at 1715. 

Debrief followed, with awards presented by airfield proprietor Julie Churchill to winners listed below. As Contest Director Eric Marsh thanked all who had made a contribution the event’s success, and with that flyers flew into the sunset, drivers drove down the A1, and those left headed for the bar.

Eric Marsh
Contest Director