Contest Director's Report

Club Plus is a brand-new aerobatic category for 2023. The concept is a sequence which can be flown in the most basic aerobatic aircraft, but with 8 figures instead of 5, so more challenging than Club class. Five pilots had entered so it was decided to add Sports and Intermediate classes to make it a more substantial event. And so, we had 13 pilots at Leicester airport ready to show the judges what they could do.

The weather forecast was for widespread thunderstorms and right on cue, the first rumble coincided with the start of the first briefing. Would we even start? There were two warm-up areas established for the ClubPlus pilots to, well, warm-up! On returning to the performance zone, each had a critique session with highly experienced trainer Nick Buckenham who was on the ground with a radio, offering advice as they flew. After their training sessions all the ClubPlus pilots gathered in the small marquee to listen to Chief Judge Rod Herve’s recorded commentary of their flights and receive a thorough debrief from Nick. Plenty to think about.

Sports and Intermediate went on to fly their known programmes with breaks to allow the rain showers to pass. Round 2 of ClubPlus was to be without a ‘warm-up’ and would be scored by the judges. It was remarkable to see the improvements in the flying. They must have been listening to Nick’s debrief. We managed to complete the Sports Unknown 1 and got halfway through the Intermediate Unknown 1 when we called it a day. What would Sunday bring.

Well at least the weather forecast was slightly better, but in reality, it didn’t look it. There was a big and heavy shower on its way and it looked like we might be stuck on the ground for a while, but it soon passed and the day turned into a beautiful, blue summers day. We finished the Intermediate unknowns from the previous day, then it was on to ClubPlus round 3. Another flight in front of the judges, the scores from which would be combined with their scores from the previous day to give the result. Unfortunately, Charles Kirk’s Jurca had a poorly leg and was not able to make it to the final round, so it was the four remaining pilots who battled it out for the honours. Martin Masat made the best job of round 3, but not quite enough to catch a medal. Tony Francis had to make do with the bronze after a terrific first flight. Seb Pierson flew the Super Decathlon beautifully to take the silver, but the gold went to local boy Ben Voce in the Pitts S2A who scored 83.8%.

At Sports, it was Isabel Rutland who dominated the field and took the top spot with 83.3% which is even more impressive when you consider that she collected a Hard Zero on the highest K figure!

At Intermediate, the 5 pilots were battling for the Nigel Newbold trophy, which was previously held by Gary Ferriman. The competition was close, very close in the end! A returning Jez Burgoin flew the Pitts S2A to the bronze place while the two DR107 One Designs took the top two steps, but which one won? Well, it went back to Gary’s mantlepiece for another year with Nick Riddin only 0.4% behind in 2^nd.

What a fantastic weekend! The people, the atmosphere, the camaraderie, all just great. Thanks to the pilots for being on the ball, allowing quick restarts when we got the weather. Thank you to the Leicestershire Aero Club for being so welcoming and accommodating, especially when a bunch of pilots all wanted their aircraft in the hanger to avoid a passing storm. And thanks to the judges who were subjected to rain, wind and hot sun in almost equal measures. It was definitely a case of, ‘if you don’t like this weather, just wait a minute’.

Brian McCartney
Contest Director