Last year's Club event at Little Gransden was severely affected by the weather, being postponed twice. This year the Weather smiled on us, though some of the competitors disappearing out of the back of the box due to the strong off-judge wind may disagree.

The forecast for the day said that a weather front complete with thunder storms would be tracking from South to North just to the West of the airfield. That is what happened almost exactly on schedule. A few showers during the briefing meant that we were a bit cozy in the Gransden club house, but the showers stopped, the Sun shined and flying started on time.

Timeliness was important because this was one of the larger fields in recent years for this event. The Chief Judge (John Royce) and I were a little concerned to ensure that there would be time for everyone to get their two flights in. In the event we needen't have worried everyone got to fly. We also had a lot of family and friends as spectators and supporters so Little Granden was busier than I have seen it for a few years.

It is very encouraging to see so many new faces enjoying their introduction to aerobatics. One competitor was a complete newcomer to aerobatics, his first aerobatic flight was his first flight of the day with Alan Cassidy as safety pilot. G-EEEK and G-ODDS did their usual brisk trade thanks to mssrs Cassidy and Willis (Adrian and Jack) for their efficiency in keeping at least close to schedule and so helping us to stay on time.

As usual for the Club event the morning was spent with training flights. Competitors visited one of three designated practice areas before returning for a scored, critiqued, flight in the "Box". There were several very nice flights and several scores in the high 70's reflected the quality of the flying.

As the day progressed the crosswind increased making it challenging to stay in the box and even more challenging for take-offs and landings against a 20+ knot crosswind. We saw several fairly sporting departures and arrivals. One aeroplane caught its aileron spade on the ground and wiped it off. The pilots coducted a short circuit and landed safely. That left a few pilots without a mount for the second round, but the Willis' stepped in and came to their rescue - Thanks!

Although not really a contest, the leader in the scores after the first round was Andy McKee flying a lovely Silence Twister. Not a common aeroplane at our events but it was flown very well and presented beautifully. Lovely slow, crisp, deliberate aerobatics. The second flight was straight into the "Box". Again some very tidy flying was to be seen, though the strong crosswind did cause some competitors a few problems and we saw several significantly off-axis flights which scored poorly as a result. Overall though the quality of the flying remained high.

Congratulations to George Haye flying a lovely Pitts S1T who came first with a score of 83.33%! Second with a very creditable 82.12% was Aaron Garcha and in third place was Graham Dacres scoring 79.22% on his second ever aerobatic flight. Team G-ODDS did well in the medals taking 2nd, 3rd and 4th place.

Thanks to the judges and judges assistants who, as usual, did a sterling job. Thanks too to Jen for scoring, handling registration and making amusing comments during the briefings. Congratulations to all of the pilots on your aerobatic competition baptism, we hope to see you all at some more events soon.

Dave Farley