Contest Director's Report
 Water, water, every where, Nor any drop to drink. The crew of
Coleridge's becalmed ship bemoaned the irony of their predicament as
they thirsted, surrounded by the very liquid that could so nearly
remedy that thirst. It makes up
nearly three quarters of the
planet's surface and usually most of it holidays in Northamptonshire
around the
 time of the Senior Nationals. Not this year though.
Equipped safely with the knowledge that the met man had guaranteed a
sunny weekend, a dozen or more Ancient Aviators arrived at Sywell to
contend the Advanced Championship, while a small, but select field
of Unlimited neophytes came to challenge grand master Cooper for his
title. In the event the two championship trophies returned home with
their respective guardians from the previous year (or three years in
the Daily Telegraph Neil Williams Memorial Trophy's case). This was
not without some serious competition though and a great deal of
outstanding flying throughout the weekend.
Once the
briefing and welcomes had been dispensed, the first challenge was to
patiently wait out the last of the lower cloud from earlier in the
week. Sywell has its own microclimate where cloud is concerned, so
it never pays to assume, but surely enough the warming sun worked
its magic and flying commenced. By beer o'clock most of the Advanced
 Known was complete and the Unlimited quartet resigned to a long day
at the crease on the Friday. They say that cream rises and so it was
that the main contenders for the splendid Advanced trophy were all
there or thereabouts after the first innings.
Flying
started early on Friday with the Virgin 'weather' balloon kindly
launching around 05.30 to indicate an on judge wind at about 2m/s.
Pete Mac's confirmatory CAVOK briefing at 08.00 actually drew a
rapturous round of applause - a first for the BAeA and
 in stark
contrast to many a doom laden missive in the past. The pace was set
and the judges cast to the mercy of the sun gods until the Known and
Frees were completed and the stage set for the Free Unknowns. Well,
almost. Unfortunately the Maxwell - Allan Edge decided it didn't
want to keep all of its blades attached to the propeller hub, a
fact wee Ronnie determined during his meticulous walk round check.
Cue long faces for the founders of the fledgling Team Edge.
Nearly as painful as the plight of the crew on the poetic ship is
the process of selecting figures for the Free Unknowns. While there
is no doubt that the design and selection of sequences is beneficial
to pilots and to the competition in general, the actual methodology
for getting to that point is excruciating. After two and a half
hours in an airless briefing room and countless reviews we finally
arrived at enough combinations to trip up even the best prepared.
Huddles were formed, software primed (and cursed) and slowly some
flyable (ish) sequence
 proposals emerged to be posted and processed
by the JB number
 cruncher. After much prodding even the most
recalcitrant of competitors eventually made their choice of sequence
and in some cases sealed their own fate. Onwards and upwards.
Upwards indeed. The hot still air caused more than a few anxious
moments in early rounds and with an upward trend on the mercury,
safety reminders were to add extra distance from terra firma. In
these conditions hydration is vital and pilot fitness becomes an
issue. The Unlimited pilots wisely opted to push their third
sequence back a day and copious quantities of water were supplied
and consumed. Oh, how those mariners would have coveted the gallons
of Ochil's finest aqua pura. Highland Spring to sponsor next year's
event?
As with most contests the gotchas usually
surface to sort the best from the rest. At Advanced this was a
P-loop with an 8-point roll, flown with varying degrees of amusement
for the judges, but immaculately by the deserved winner, David
Jenkins. The Unlimited pilots traded blows with Mr Cooper, but could
not fell him, though our Japanese star Tomo in the 200 hp Extra did
manage a moral victory in the tough 2nd Free Unknown. For me this
was the flight of the tournament. Both Simon and Tom flew
impressively with Simon somehow manufacturing surplus energy in his
powerful 330SC. Sadly he was propelled high enough to have to
contend with some errant gliders intruding into the box, spoiling
his final flight. It would be easy to blame
those pilots for poor
airmanship, but I do think the antiquated and cumbersome NOTAM
system operated in
this country has to shoulder some of the blame.
Prizes for a user friendly system that works?
 To bring
the proceedings to a close, the judges decamped to the tower and six
of the Advanced drivers took on the freestyle Masters class,
demonstrating variously their prowess in tumbling and cavorting and
the interesting use of smoke (especially downwind). Pilot's
favourite was Rich Goodwin's Zurabatic cartwheel, but on technical
merit the man taking the Golden Snitch trophy from sponsor Jen
Buckenham was Michael Pickin, to add to his very credible Silver in
the championship. Harry's dad was proper chuffed.
 Our hosts at Sywell must step forward and take a bow for their
immaculate hospitality throughout the weekend, the patience of
resident pilots and instructors and
 the application of each and
every member of staff on the airfield and in the hotel. That the
event ran like clockwork was in no small amount due to their
diligence and professionalism. Becky 'volunteered' on behalf of The
Aviator to present the medals and the event closed with a sea of
happy faces, some slightly more lobster looking than when they
arrived. Factor 50 guys and girls, factor 50.
And so the
albatross of the Sywell weather was finally set aside (for this year
at least).
|
| |
| Advanced
British Champion 2013 |
|
Senior Nationals 2013, Sywell
Aerodrome, 4th - 7th July |
|
Ranked by scores
|
| Rank |
Pilot |
Aeroplane |
Reg'n |
Known |
Free |
F/Unk1 |
F/Unk2 |
Totals |
O/all % |
| 1 |
David Jenkins |
Edge 360 |
G-EDGJ |
2489.56 |
2657.34 |
2728.19 |
2858.36 |
10733.44 |
78.404 |
2 |
Michael Pickin |
CAP 232 |
G-IIRP |
2381.38 |
2716.92 |
2753.40 |
2739.24 |
10590.94 |
77.363 |
3 |
Alan Cassidy |
XA-42 |
G-XTME |
2276.22 |
2530.74 |
2733.66 |
2744.96 |
10285.58 |
75.132 |
4 |
Phil Burgess |
DR-107 |
G-RIHN |
2438.18 |
2615.56 |
2553.03 |
2630.20 |
10236.97 |
74.777 |
5 |
David Kean |
DR-107 |
G-IIID |
2075.11 |
2479.66 |
2343.04 |
1978.62 |
8876.42 |
64.839 |
6 |
Mark Stewart |
EA 330SC |
G-IIIK |
2198.04 |
2314.81 |
2331.60 |
1655.90 |
8500.35 |
62.092 |
7 |
Farrell McGee |
Edge 360 |
G-IIFM |
2079.32 |
2208.49 |
2290.84 |
1744.77 |
8323.42 |
60.799 |
8 |
Peter Rounce |
Pitts S-1T |
N697RB |
2105.95 |
2339.21 |
2005.44 |
1776.40 |
8227.00 |
60.095 |
9 |
Cas Smith |
Pitts S-2B |
G-ICAS |
1805.80 |
2215.70 |
2040.25 |
1995.11 |
8056.86 |
58.852 |
10 |
Adrian Willis |
Extra 200 |
G-EEEK |
2049.70 |
2341.95 |
1541.75 |
1493.63 |
7427.02 |
54.251 |
11 |
Richard Goodwin |
Pitts S-2S |
G-EWIZ |
1362.37 |
2451.17 |
1404.23 |
1402.10 |
6619.87 |
48.355 |
12 |
Tony Maxwell |
Edge 360 |
G-ZVKO |
1782.30 |
2365.75 |
|
|
4148.06 |
30.300 |
13 |
Ron Allan |
Edge 360 |
G-ZVKO |
1835.61 |
|
|
|
1835.61 |
13.408 |
 |
| Contest Director: Steve Todd, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen B. Judges: Nick Buckenham, Kimmo Virtanen, Ian Scott, Peter Macintosh, Eric Marsh. Judges Assistants: Julie Wood, Sarah Hardy, John Royce, Eric Marsh, Steve Evans. |
|
|
FairPlay System |
Aerobatic Contest Results Organiser, Version 3.2 Build 28-06-13, with FairPlay Scoring System |
|
|
|
| The Neil Williams Trophy 2013 |
|
Senior Nationals 2013, Sywell
Aerodrome, 4th - 7th July |
|
Ranked by scores
|
| Rank |
Pilot |
Aeroplane |
Reg'n |
Known |
Free |
F/Unk1 |
F/Unk2 |
Totals |
O/all % |
| 1 |
Gerald Cooper |
XA-41 |
G-IIRI |
3167.14 |
3677.80 |
3411.42 |
2966.94 |
13223.30 |
74.456 |
2 |
Tom Bennett |
CAP 232 |
G-IIAI |
2719.83 |
3459.41 |
3311.14 |
2968.25 |
12458.63 |
70.150 |
3 |
Simon Johnson |
Extra 330SC |
G-IIIK |
2855.93 |
3291.94 |
3093.73 |
2727.69 |
11969.30 |
67.395 |
4 |
Tomonari Kaji |
Extra 200 |
G-EEEK |
2666.69 |
2715.78 |
2744.44 |
3093.95 |
11220.85 |
63.180 |
|
| Contest Director: Steve Todd, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen B. Judges: Nick Buckenham, Kimmo Virtanen, Ian Scott, Peter Macintosh. Judges Assistants: Julie Wood, John Royce, Eric Marsh, Steve Evans. |
|
|
FairPlay System |
Aerobatic Contest Results Organiser, Version 3.2 Build 28-06-13, with FairPlay Scoring System |
|
|
|
| The
Masters 'Golden Snitch' Trophy |
|
Senior Nationals 2013, Sywell
Aerodrome, 4th - 7th July |
|
Ranked by scores
|
| Rank |
Pilot |
Aeroplane |
Registration |
Masters |
Totals |
O/all % |
| 1 |
Michael Pickin |
CAP 232 |
G-IIRP |
1785.78 |
1785.78 |
81.172 |
2 |
Richard Goodwin |
Pitts S-2S |
G-EWIZ |
1685.49 |
1685.49 |
76.613 |
3 |
David Jenkins |
Edge 360 |
G-EDGJ |
1550.27 |
1550.27 |
70.467 |
4 |
Alan Cassidy |
XA-42 |
G-XTME |
1475.53 |
1475.53 |
67.070 |
5 |
Phil Burgess |
DR-107 |
G-RIHN |
1471.99 |
1471.99 |
66.908 |
6 |
Mark Stewart |
Extra 330SC |
G-IIIK |
1261.09 |
1261.09 |
57.322 |
|
| Contest Director: Steve Todd, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen B. Judges: Nick Buckenham, Kimmo Virtanen, Ian Scott, Peter Macintosh. Judges Assistants: Julie Wood, John Royce, Eric Marsh, Steve Evans. |
|
|
FairPlay System |
Aerobatic Contest Results Organiser, Version 3.2 Build 28-06-13, with FairPlay Scoring System |
|
|
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|
