By Aaron & Ricky Maitland

With the weather during the week being so bad, and the forecast for Sunday being no better we thought there was no chance this event would happen. However, Bogan sends out an email on Saturday saying “this will not be cancelled, be there by half past” so we continue getting packed up and ready to go Saturday night

Time for a meeting

What a pleasant surprise! 9 pilots arrive bright and early Sunday morning to find nice calm flyable conditions. So, on with some practice and trimming flights before a quick pilots briefing and then straight into Clubman. And sure enough as Clubman starts the wind picks up and we are in for some fun. Les King and Antony Wright both flew Clubman and did well given the tricky conditions and smaller models they were flying. Les showed some practice has paid off and has made great progress with his Fantasista 70. Antony flew his FMS F3A Olympus foamy and completed the 3 rounds scoring within 10 points of Les in the second round, well done Antony.

Antony Wright flew Clubman

Grasshopper, Ricky Maitland, was the sole flyer in Expert this time, flying his ex Mike & Stephen Johnson Lochness. His first sequence was literally his first flight on the 2 Metre OS 140RX powered plane. Dad had maidened it earlier that morning. Grasshopper also handling the tricky conditions well.

Aaron and Ricky with their new ride

On to Masters with John Danks and Dave Wilkins fighting for the top spot. The wind was really blowing now, JD later worked out he flew in 55KPH wind!! John Danks winning the first 2 rounds but Dave Wilkins pulled off a great last round win to finish a close second to JD for the day. Aaron Maitland also flew Masters but not quite able to match the skill of the other 2 flyers in the strong wind.

Dave Wilkins flew Masters

Next up was F3A, where the real magic happens. Bogan and John Knox showing the wind was no problem for them, posting scores very close to what they would on a calm day. Bogans beautiful YS200 powered biplane purring perfectly through the sequences to a convincing win and John Knox skilfully piloting his Alchemy with its highly sophisticated electric power system to 2nd. Paul Tomlinson also flew F3A with his stunning electric powered Angelit posting a great first flight score nipping at John Knox’s heels. These F3A pilots are so inspirational to watch and show the rest of us what is possible if the time and effort is invested.

John’s F3A machine

We had to run for cover 3 or 4 times to dodge some short showers and of course took a break to enjoy a burger at lunch time as usual. There was an attempt at increasing the nutritional value of the burgers with a nice lettuce salad however Antony somehow managed to explode the lettuce bag and spread it all over the ground. Never mind Antony we’ll get it right next time.

Great Burgers again

As the end of the day came, we all packed up and headed home, leaving quite satisfied at having somewhat conquered the day of difficult weather that may have otherwise been a wasted lazy Sunday.

See you next time !!

Thanks Aaron and Ricky for supplying the write up. It sure took some stamina to get through this one, with windy conditions, and rain on and off, but the alternative was mowing lawns. Photos with captions and the scores follow. Cheers, Bogan