John McLean, Icicle Trophies, 2016 results

It's not unheard of for pilots to view a blanket of snow from their aircraft, but it is a bit unusual in the middle of April! Such was the situation across much of England on the day before the Breighton competition. The beauty of the snow quickly turned to rain, which prevented the arrival of many of the competitors, especially those from the south.

Saturday morning and we had a few more pilots, so at 11:00hrs, we briefed as the skies turned blue, but it didn't last long and the showers started to build all around us. Yorkshire had had a lot of rain leading up to our visit and the runway was struggling to drain. The result was standing water down the centre of the strip. Pilots were asked to only use the north side of the runway, but more on that later.

With the gaps in the weather looking usable, we launched the first pilot, Tony Walsh flying in his first ever competition in his lovely Extra 200. And so we crawled our way through the afternoon, jumping from gap to gap until everyone had their first flights in the bag.

Sunday dawned CAVOK. Could it last though? Well yes it did in the main with some high cu later which didn't bother us. Cas Smith had now joined us and was our only Adv pilot so Tom Cassells, who was there as a coach, decided to join in too in his Extra 200. Also flying that aircraft was Kris Liesmons, also flying in his first event. As the overnight leader, all eyes were on him. After Sports second flight, Simon Hampton had moved up to 2nd with Tony Walsh in 3rd. And that's the way it would stay after the 3rd and final flight. Landing on the north side of the runway doesn't leave a huge amount of room and unfortunately caught Simon Hampton out who dropped a wheel off the runway edge and spun he and MAXG around, severely damaging the Pitts in the process. Simon was absolutely fine but the gorgeous little S1 is a very sad sight. (especially if you're a co-owner).

Intermediate had just two entrants and it was the Flying Dutchman Jan Nijhof who took the gold with Steve Evans in 2nd. The Icicle, and it was very cold, was taken home by Tom in the Extra. In Club, Tony Walsh also took the top step, but all praise to Neil Whitehead who had a Slingsby that just didn't want to start, so he was continually moved further and further down the running order until he eventually flew last and closed the show. He kept his head and his smile throughout. Well done Neil.

Great to see some new faces and some great flying so early in the season. If you ever fancy a snowball fight, you know where to go, England in the middle of April.

 

Brian McCartney

Club Final Results

Rank Pilot Aeroplane Registration Known 1 Known 2 Totals O/all %
1 Anthony Walsh Extra 200 OK-VAV 542.00 532.50 1074.50 70.691
2 Neil Whitehead Slingsby T67M G-BKAM 308.17 397.83 706.00 46.447

Contest Director: Brian McCartney, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen Buckenham

Judges: Nick Buckenham, Eric Marsh, Ian Scott,

Judges Assistants: John Wicks, Julie Wood, Julie Lawley

FairPlay SystemACRO Version 4.1 Build: 08/04/16

The John McLean Trophy

Rank Pilot Aeroplane Registration Known Unknown1 Unknown2 Totals O/all %
1 Kris Liesmons Extra 200 G-TWOO 1077.82 1087.75 1171.15 3336.72 76.355
2 Simon Hampton Pitts S-1S G-MAXG 973.33 1108.02 1011.37 3092.72 70.772
3 Anthony Walsh Extra 200 OK-VAV 915.46 1048.71 1080.36 3044.53 69.669
4 Iain Smith Pitts S-2A G-ISZA 1053.47 641.27 1198.79 2893.53 66.214
5 Dave Farley Pitts S-2A G-BTTR 823.48 810.47 1195.56 2829.51 64.749
6 Paul Morrison Slingsby T67M G-BKAM 922.30 974.52 876.48 2773.31 63.462

Contest Director: Brian McCartney, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen Buckenham

Judges: Nick Buckenham, Eric Marsh, Ian Scott,

Judges Assistants: John Wicks, Julie Wood, Julie Lawley

FairPlay SystemACRO Version 4.1 Build: 08/04/16

Intermediate Final Results

Rank Pilot Aeroplane Registration Fr/Known Unknown Totals O/all %
1 Jan Nijhof Pitts S-1T N196JR 1607.33 1736.33 3343.67 74.802
2 Stephen Evans Laser 200 G-CBHR 1300.33 1502.17 2802.50 62.696

Contest Director: Brian McCartney, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen Buckenham

Judges: Nick Buckenham, Eric Marsh, Ian Scott,

Judges Assistants: John Wicks, Julie Wood, Julie Lawley

FairPlay SystemACRO Version 4.1 Build: 08/04/16

The Icicle Trophy

Rank Pilot Aeroplane Registration Unknown1 Unknown2 Totals O/all %
1 Tom Cassells Extra 200 G-TWOO 1986.33 2326.83 4313.17 62.966
2 Cas Smith Pitts S-2B G-ICAS 2458.83 1421.83 3880.67 56.652

Contest Director: Brian McCartney, Contest Chief Judge: Nick Buckenham, Scoring Director: Jen Buckenham

Judges: Nick Buckenham, Eric Marsh, Ian Scott,

Judges Assistants: John Wicks, Julie Wood, Julie Lawley

FairPlay SystemACRO Version 4.1 Build: 08/04/16