When the North wind blows……

……..the Judges be froze. And so it was on Friday and Saturday at Sleap, where we went to contest the Golding Barrett Trophy and Club, Sports and Intermediate classes. James Bowkett is our new champion, a popular winner in the local T67, with fellow SAC member Huw Carter taking the Club honours and Charlie Coode winning a really close battle at Intermediate.

Actually, the wind was mainly westerly and blowing hard for the first two days, with challenging cloud activity throughout. This made the pilots have to work diligently to position their sequences and free breaks were in force for the Intermediates. When the wind did finally switch to North on the Sunday, we had the warmest and calmest conditions, making the final third programme a lot more comfortable for all. Sleap really does have its own unique microclimate.

Our hosts go from strength-to-strength with their organisation and event management, so we were treated to a really friendly and efficient contest and a very generous offer for all competitors to attend the upcoming Sleapkosh mega fly-in and airshow (10th to 12th July), usually reserved for Club members (www.shropshireaeroclub.com). Thanks Bruce! Bob Pooler was on hand to present the medals, and he also extended an open invitation to his wonderful charity fly-in event at Sherlowe airfield on Saturday 27th June. It’s free and a great chance to see some fun aircraft close-up in a garden party atmosphere. Email Bob at info@sherloweairfield.com.

Also running on the Saturday was our Get into Aeros Contest taster event, introducing pilots with an aerobatic rating to the contest environment. Four really enthusiastic entrants worked with Ron Allan (Extra 200 – NorthWest Aerobatics) and Alex Trueman (Pitts S2A – Ultimate Aerobatics) to try out the Club sequence and listen to words of wisdom from Event Director, Chris Brook, and multiple UK Unlimited champion and Red Bull legend, Nigel Lamb. Great job, Chris, and thanks, Nigel, we really appreciate your support and passion for aerobatics.

Those who know me will know that I run contests with the absolute focus on pilots, safety and having fun! I feel we achieved that balance well this weekend and thank everyone who contributed, not least the pilots themselves. Well flown!

Steve Todd

All Results: https://results.aerobatics.org.uk/2026/2_Sleap_Golding_Barrett/