Junior Nationals 2019

Thurs 1^st Aug

Under a menacing sky competitors were arrived for the first comp day, some had taken the sensible decision to arrive early with a view to getting some tarmac training at the comp site.

The usual agenda ensued with an initial contest brief starting at 10:00 sharp. A thorough explanation of the safety and operational procedures that would be in place throughout performed by yours truly and chief Judge Brian along with an overview of local procedures by Conington’s CFI Frank, who had come along on his day off to ensure we had the necessary cover, so thank you again Frank.

As is common for our domestic competition calendar there was an expectation of delays due to inclement weather and the forecast didn’t disappoint, intermittent showers and low cloud for the Thursday which should hopefully stabilise for the Friday and Saturday.

And so it was that the first Sports category pilot Ben launched under a dark and moody sky but with a suitable cloud base at 12:40. Aside from a couple of minor delays during the afternoon for rain showers passing through we managed to press on. As 17:00 approached and with the weather still looking good we agreed with the airfield team that we could continue flying to finish the first programme for all pilots, great news and thank you for your flexibility Julie and team.

As 18:00 approached the last Sports pilots made their way through the box and with a short break for the judges the first Intermediate pilot Dave Farley was running into the box shortly after 18:00.

With all pilots having completed their first flight by 19:30 it was time to stand down for the day and let everyone relax for the evening.

However, with an 08:00 briefing the following day and an unknown to learn beforehand there was still plenty to focus on.

Fri 2^nd Aug

A completed set of sequences from the Thursday allowed the running order to be randomised moving the pressure of the first slot to a new pilot. Once again and as predicted, weather delayed the start of the flying but once the clouds had been allowed to clear we sent pilot number one, Peter Begley into the air and after giving us both a 1000’ line and cloud base check he confirmed that it was indeed flyable and proceeded with the first unknown sequence.

The Sports pilots made good progress and allowing for a break for the judges the days first intermediate pilot in Tony Walsh ran into the box at 16:40.

Despite claiming it looked like a simple sequence there seemed to be a high number of hard zero’s and some interesting flying that could only be described as an attempt to practise the freestyle apprentice sequence. However, it was all done safely and I’m sure the constructive feedback from the judges was gracefully accepted!

The last Intermediate pilot managed to get back on the ground just after 18:00 and we all trooped off for the contest supper at the nearby hotel.

Sat 3^rd Aug

Opening the hotel curtains early (circa 06:00) I was greeted by a wall of thick fog, which was as predicted and promptly got back into bed. However, the forecast had been accurate thus far and even a little pessimistic so onward we pressed with the 08:00 briefing to ensure we were ready for the better weather when it arrived.

After the second briefing for the pilots that didn’t make the first one (you know who you are!) the weather started to break and the randomised flying order allowed pilot number one, Ben Filer to head off and into the box at 11:30. However, there were still too many clouds in the performance zone to make a start and he came back to the apron.

Stuart Baylis, pilot number 2 was ready and raring to go and after a short delay he set off to make a suitable assessment and before 12:00 we had started again.

The last competition day is a balancing act to ensure we have been through as many flights as possible while still leaving time for the presentation and departing pilots to get back home.

As we reached 12:40 the first 6 Sports pilots had completed their 2nd unknown and this put us on track for a 17:00 finish.

Due to his rejected flight, Ben was positioned at the bottom of the flying order and with his flight completed just after 15:00 the first Intermediate pilot went in and in quick succession all the flights were completed just after 16:30 and the contest was complete.

As per the closing briefing, many thanks were shared with the airfield team for their continued hospitality and excellent service, admin, radio, fuel and food to name but a few things. In addition, the organisation of the show certainly isn’t a one-man operation and as such would struggle to function without the dedicated support of the Judging team, one woman scoring team and all the background activities that have already been performed prior to us even arriving on site!

It only remains for me to say well done to all competitors for maintaining a very high standard of aerobatics and in maintaining our deserved reputation for safety, may it long continue!

See you all at Sleap!
Cheers
Chris