-
Most BAeA competitions start with a
Beginners level event on the Friday afternoon, the more experienced
competitors pitching into their efforts first thing the next day.
Quite often with 5-15 entrants, this class is free (ie. there is no
entry fee) but pilots do have to come with some evidence that they
can get through the sequence. Changed only in the order of the same
five figures each year - for 2000 an into-wind loop, a half-cuban
eight, a stall-turn, a 270° turn and a one-turn slow roll - and
with a "hard-base" of 1,500ft AGL, this is nevertheless an
ordeal for most entrants and best done at a leisurely mid-afternoon
pace in the relatively calm atmosphere of the day before the main
circus. Judged by perhaps half a dozen of the more experienced early
arriving competitors and a few 'real' judges the whole affair takes
maybe a couple of hours, and for the Contest Director (CD) is a
warm-up for the hard work the next day. The results for the Friday
flying are processed quickly through the usual BAeA computer system,
and the award - a priceless BAeA marble paperweight - made to the
winner made shortly after.
Sometimes an arriving standard or intermediate pilot will seek to
have his first public stab at the known either close by or two-up to
get his BAeA Proficiency Card stamped for the Saturday event, but
with general practice within five nautical miles of the airfield
forbidden in the week leading up to the contest (for noise
sensitivity and prevention of unfair local knowledge reasons) the
day is confined otherwise to arrivals from all round the country of
the rest of the field.
-
Saturday briefing is usually at 0800
sharp, with occasionally an even earlier pre-brief for the
management team - the Chief Judge, the marshaller, the computer
scorer, the local airfield contact and anyone else who looks
sufficiently important. BAeA briefings last up to half an hour, are
mandatory (ie. late arrivals get an ear-wigging and don't fly
without it) and are extremely thorough affairs during which the CD
and his cohorts explain in detail the relevant parts of the BAeA
rules for the conduct of the event, local rules and regulations, the
likely weather situation, in which order the flying groups will
progress, whether an airborne 'hold' will be operated, the
fundamentals of the judging procedures to be operated, the placement
of the all-important aerobatic "box", and anything else
that might have a bearing on the safety and expeditious operation of
the day's flying. Safety - he will emphasize - is the main
consideration, followed by the achievement of the completion of the
contest to the best satisfaction of the pilots themselves. The
flying orders are usually pre-determined by computer random
selection, then refined to spread the repeated use of individual
aeroplanes so as to avoid unnecessary pauses in the swift action of
the day.
-
Flying usually commences at 0930 -
weather (ie. cloudbase) permitting. This entails the judges being
ready and in-position by that time, the exodus of this motley band
of ground-borne experts from the warm clubhouse to some carefully
chosen position somewhere in the middle of no-where and about
100-200m back from the side of the A-axis of the box being the first
visible sign that a competition may truly be about to start. With
the standard 'known' class usually first away, at least 3,000ft AGL
is required to allow the safe execution of the sequence well above
the 1,000ft hard base. In theory up to ten sequences an hour can be
flown, the crucial element being wholesale co-operation amongst the
pilots to ensure that they are ready and waiting - run-ups and all
checks completed - at the end of the runway in time to get off to
the airborne hold just as the previous hopeful sets off from the
hold to the box itself. Experience helps a lot, but peer pressure
from the rest of the gang and being prepared and ready in time go a
long way too.
-
After a while the background job of
collecting reams of completed paperwork from the judging line,
sorting them by pilot by judge and delivering them to the scorer
becomes the "pass the parcel" chore for pilots back from
their aerial love/hate affair. We make it a practice to get the raw
pilots sheets entered, computed and back into the competitors hands
with the least possible delay, and to publish sets of "the
results so far" at frequent intervals. This way the inevitable
niggles and complaints may be dealt with shortly after each pilots
flight, and the final standings are available quite soon after each
group is done. Making the results up-to-date during the course of a
group also allows late potential front-runners to measure the
strength of the opposition, and for by-standers and other pilots to
judge their performance against the expected standard. It's not easy
to keep the interest high for those not involved in the flying, but
a slick scorer can certainly make the difference.
-
The intermediate 'known' usually
follows the standard group, then advanced get to play if they're on
the menu too. The 25-30 standard pilots and twenty or so
intermediates and advanced will take at least until lunchtime to
complete, this being a decent hours' pause to allow the judges off
their spit-roast positions (judges spend all day gazing at the sky,
poor things, often in a generally southern direction... sunburned
faces and "farmers necks" are thus quite normal!). Back
then to the affray, to complete the advanced class or begin again
with the standard unknown for the day. Unknowns are generally
considered to be the sequences that separate the men from the boys,
being made public for the first time shortly after the briefing and
effectively flown "straight from the card" - after the
usual period of walking around with half closed eyes, waving arms
around and getting into the mood.... "making the video" as
some say, to be played back for real in the hot seat when the
allotted time arrives.
-
The day progresses, the CD walks
miles and looks worried, the marshaller - if there is one -
regulates the take-off queue, the judges gaze skyward and provide
numbers and pearls of wisdom in unequal quantities for scribes to
write down so that pilots can later try to understand their errors,
pilots who have flown get to convey boxes of teas and sustenance to
the judging line and are often snapped-up as scribes, the airfield
café inevitably strains flat-out to keep up with energy-hungry
nervous pilots, groups of pilots using the same aeroplane panic to
get the thing refuelled and airborne again, quiet corners attract
seemingly blind people deep in thought and carrying an A5 sized
piece of paper which they 'fly' around like small boys... only
without the usual noises. It's an aerobatic competition!
-
Finally the flying is all done. No
more time to try and do it better - winners are quietly
congratulated by their colleagues, losers discuss their score-sheet
woes, wives and girlfriends relax again. The judges and assistants
return to the club-house to re-join the world of milling people, a
weary Contest Director makes his final efforts to collate together
the results with the trophies and an attractive person of the female
persuasion to present them, pilots rush around preparing their
machinery for the dash home before darkness prevails, the clubhouse
is suddenly crammed for the presentations to be made and for
everyone from the airfield host to the vital café staff to be
thanked and applauded in the approved style. Finally a stream of
biplanes and monoplanes congregates at the threshold, to line-up
briefly in one's and two's and disappear rapidly in the direction of
base airfields - some singly and the rest in straggling ad-hoc
formations......
Roll on the next date in the contest
calendar!
|
