The English Open 2015, Whitesheet, Aug 22nd-23rd.

[isoaritfirst]

A few years back my brand new Elita slid along the grass and lifted the lid off what looked like a nice hard dry pat.

The Elita found its soft underbelly!

Pack of wet ones did the trick -

I have always checked Whitesheets  landing area since that day, its not nice, not nice at all..

[Gromit]

Hi Guys,

               I'm in the process of putting a comp report together, As I've got a lot I wish to report on i'm going to post it over a number of posts with seperate headings. Its going to be easier for me to do it this way too as I can also do so whilst in the hospital with Tom.

Thankyou all for your patience & understanding.

My family and I wish to thank all of you for your very kind words of support and comfort for all our family, especially Tom. Many of you have done so in forum posts, PM's, emails, and when chatting on the slope. I've come to realise we have a very special caring community here on BARCS, thankyou all.

  Stu, Gill, Sam, Ben, and Tom.

Edited August 27, 2015 by Gromit

[Gromit]

                                                                                       The English Open F3f 2015.                             

Saturday morning for day 1 of the comp dawned dry with broken cloud, a check of the various forecasts over a breakfast cup of coffee with Joe Cubbitt & Pete Burgess, predicted we were in for a very warm day with temps up to 26 oC.  Broken cloud with long periods of sunshine were forecast and a light SE backing S SSE around midday. The Whitesheet RFC does not have a club slope that caters for this wind direction, I had however already planned for this possibility. Earlier in the year (just as i did before last years comp) I contacted the chairman of the Avon Paragliding to ask if they would consider allowing us to use their S SE facing slope at Whitesheet known as the 'Rifle range'. The Paragliding club have exclusive use of this slope, model flying is NOT permitted at ANY time on the 'Rifle Range'. My request was duly discussed by their committee & club members over several weeks.I was delighted when I was contacted by them and informed that they would grant us permission to use their slope, if we were to require it due to an unfavourable wind direction for our Whitesheet Club slopes.

My next step was to make a personal visit to see the farmer / land owner (just as I did prior to last yrs comp) to ask for his permission to be on his land, and stage a large competition. The fact that I had a 15 year career in farming, with both livestock and arable, was of great help in my discussions with the farmer / land owner. I was able to address a number of concerns that he had. I was of course delighted when I was given his permission.

 On arriving at the slope the wind was indeed coming from the SE, this put us at the far right hand side of the 'Rifle range' . With the course erected it was time for the pilots briefing. A roll call revealed we had 24 pilots out of the 28 that registered for the comp. All 4 of those who didn't attend had previously contacted me leading up to the comp to inform me that unfortunately a change in circumstances meant they would sadly not be able to attend, my thanks again to these 4 for doing so, it was much appreciated.

With everyone clear on a number of  'do's & dont's' which were a condition of our being given access by the farmer / land owner to the slope, it was time to get racing underway.

              Stu, Whitesheet Comp Sec.

 

 

 

Edited August 28, 2015 by Gromit

[Gromit]

                                                                                                      DAY 1 RACING.

I enlisted the help of Graeme Mahoney and Joe Cubbitt onto my committee for the comp, this was to discuss and make certain decisions that may arise over the weekend.. A couple of days earler Graeme Mahoney also volunteered to be 'Buzzer Supremo' for day 1, Joe Cubbitt & Pete Burgess helped me CD the event. My thanks to you all.

With the course erected & the pilots briefing over, it was time to start racing,

The start of round one was delayed for a short time due to the wind strength frequently falling just below the legal limit of 3 Ms. As soon as the wind strength was legal racing got underway.

ROUND ! :  Phil Taylor had the honour of getting the English Open 2015 underway, Phil was unfortunate that the breeze that had picked up, dropped off during his run but remained legal. Phil couldn't have done more than he did posting an 86.20, When next pilot, Graeme Mahoney stepped up to fly, the breeze had magically come back. Graeme flying his Fosa space lift posted a 52.60 . The next 6 pilots all posted times in the mid 60's to high 70's. John Philips then posted a 60.50, followed by last years English Open 3rd place pilot Tony Livingstone who posted a 55.55.. Three pilots later Martin Drewett flying his Pitbull flew superbly in the light air posting a 48.17.Straight after Martins flight the wind dropped below the legal limit causing a temporary halt to racing. During the wait the wind began to swing as was forecast to a more Southerly direction. When racing resumed the next 3 pilots were offered & took reflights as the wind swung across the slope & dropped below the legal limit for racing. The wind continued to swing back & forth on & off the slope rising & falling in strength as it did so causing further delays.The best flight times of the remaing 12 pilots still to fly in this opening round were last years 2nd placed pilot of the English Open Mark Treble flying his Toxic 57.91. Andy Burgoyne with his Radical 64.43, myself flying my Cyril 65.00 and last years English Open winner Mike Evans with his Fosa space lift  posting a 70.02.

Round 1 top 5  placings;

1   Martin Drewett          48.17

2   Graeme Mahoney     52.50

3.  Tony Livingstone       55.55  

4.   Mark Treble              57.91

5.   John Philips.             60.50

With the round completed the wind was now constantly crossed off the slope and had settled into the forecast S SSE direction. A check on the satellite, BBC & XC forecasts showed that the wind was going to stay coming from this new direction. On discussion with Graeme and Joe, we decided that a course move of a few hundred yards was required. The move was done as quickly as possible with many pilots making several trips to help carry all the course gear, my thanks to these pilots.

ROUND 2:    The move proved to be the correct decision, by the time the new course had been erected and we were ready to restart racing, the wind strength had increased to an average of 4 Ms, peaking at 6Ms during the round.

Winner of this round was the final pilot to fly Andy Burgoyne flying his Radical. Andy flew very well indeed recording a time 41.65. Second place went to Ian Falconer flying his Jedi. Ian flew an accurate course posting a time of 44.44. Third in this round was Mike Evans (Fosa space lift) Mike posted a 46.95. Mark Treble (Toxic) took fourth with a 50.41 Pete Burgess flew very well in this rd coming fourth with a 50.06

Round 2, top 5 placings:

1  Andy Burgoyne.           41.65.

2.  Ian Falconer.               44.44.

3.  Mike Evans.                46.95.

4.  Mark Treble.                50.41.

5.  P Burgess.                  50.86.

ROUND 3:     The wind during this round averaged 4.5 Ms. Mike Evans flew excellently in this round posting what was to be the only sub 40 of the competition, this being a 39.82. Last years second placed pilot in the English Open Mark Treble, had a very good round posting a 43.99,  Jon Fox flying his new Jedi had a good round posting a 48.23. I believe Jon has only had around 5 flying sessions over the past year, Jon's other passion is Cycling, this has 'unexplainably' to me taken priority over his flying ;). 

Round 3, top 5 placings:

1.  Mike Evans                  39.82

2.  Mark Treble                  43.99

3.  Jon Fox                         48.23

4.  John Philips                   51.63

5.  Martin Drewett               51.84

 

ROUND 4:  The wind during this round averaged 4 Ms. This was an excellent round for Neil Rogers. Neil flying his Freestyler posted an 52.72. That man Mike Evans (Fosa space lift) flew another good round posting a 52.98. I myself flying my Cyril came very close to Mike's time posting a 53.00. John Philips flying his Needle, finished close behind me with a 53.31, Graeme Mahoney (Fosa space lift) got himself another top five placing with a 54.97

Round 4, Top 5 placings:

1.  Neil Rogers.              52.72

2.  Mike Evans.              52.98.

3.  Stuart Wallace.         53.00.

4.  John Philips.             53.31.

5.  Graeme Mahoney     54.97.

 

ROUND 5:  The weather at the start of this round had begun to change, the long periods of sunshine had given way to dull cloudy skies, in addition a band of rain was visible on the horizon, it looked however that we would be lucky and just get the edge of this. After 4 flights a light drizzle began falling, this was bad enough to send everyone scurrying to the pits to cover everything up. The rain lasted only a short while and as soon as was possible racing re started. A second band of rain could now be seen approaching us fairly quickly, it looked fairly certain that this was going to hit us within the following 20 minutes, sure enough it did. Another cover up of models quickly followed.

After a 10 minute wait there didn't look to be much improvement in the weather on the horizon. A check of the weather radar by Graeme revealed that a large area of rain was heading straight for us. There looked to be no chance of completing the round. With it now having passed 5.00pm & half the pilots still having to fly to finish the round Myself, Graeme & Joe called an end to the days racing, everyone agreed this was the correct decision.

Pilots hurriedly packed away their models, loaded up there gear and passed them over the access gate to the 'Rifle range'. This gate had to remain locked throughout the comp as separate herds of cattle grazed the fields either side of it.

Before i'd even finished packing my models away, several pilots had taken down the course and carried all the gear to the gate, my thanks to these pilots for doing so, it was a great help.

Before leaving the 'Rifle range' I had one very important thing to do, walk the pit area and pick up any litter that may have been missed by the pilots. In the steady drizzle Andy B and myself did a careful inspection, we found ................. nothing, not a scrap of discarded tape or anything. Thanks Andy for helping me look & a huge thankyou to you all for ensuring no litter had been left.

After walking the 200yds back to my car I found that all the F3f equipment had been placed neatly beside my car. A big thankyou to all of those that carried all this gear back, it was very much appreciated.

After loading up the car it was a 15 minute trip to our kind hosts for the weekend, Lynda & Joe. A quick shower and it was time to head off to the Fox & Hounds at Tytherington, our venue for the evenings social.

 

    Stu, Whitesheet Comp Sec.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2015 by Gromit

[Gromit]

 

                                                                                                     DAY 2.

The various forecasts for day two weren’t looking at all promising for us, the day was forecast to dawn dry but heavy rain would arrive by around 9.00am. This was forecast to continue until early – mid afternoon.  In the hope that the rain might arrive later than forecast, several pilots  and I arrived around an hour early with the plan to get everything set up and ready to start racing as soon after the meet time of 9.00am as possible.

On setting off to the slope light rain began to fall, five minutes later the heavens opened, my wipers were flat out trying to clear the deluge from my windscreen. On arriving at the meet point several pilots had already arrived. All had seen the various very poor forecasts & agreed it didn’t look in the slightest bit hopeful for us. With the meet time of 9.00am quickly approaching, Graeme, Joe and myself took another look at the various forecasts. We all agreed that the forecasts were so poor we had no option other than to cancel flying for day two.

A quick drive by myself into the nearby town of Mere then followed, to try and find us a venue to hold the presentation ceremony. This was duly found at the Walnut Tree pub, they had a large covered patio area which was ideal for us. With only half of the pilots having flown in round 5 this rd of course had to be scrapped.The scores were duly checked & double checked for accuracy.

Prior to the announcement of the results i thanked all the pilots for their excellent support of the event, we had 28 pilots register within the extended entry period. During this period I received a number of emails from pilots who would like to have attended but were already committed to pre arranged family holidays, this was very unfortunate but its inevitable that this will be the case for a number of pilots each year. I also received a number of entries after the extended entry period had passed asking if I would accept their late entry. It was with sadness that i had to inform these pilots that i could not accept these late entries, my sincere apologies to these pilots. Had things fallen in to place for everyone we would have had 40 pilots for this years comp.

Next i gave a very important thankyou to both of our excellent sponsors of the English Open, Peter Payne of South Coast Sailplanes, and Tony Fu of Sloperacer. Over the past two years their sponsorship and support has been outstanding, truly second to none. As well as sponsoring the stunning trophies, both Tony and Peter have supplied an excellent first prize for the winner of the event. Last year Tony supplied a gorgeous Schwing, this year Peter donated a 'Cracking' model.

The First Prize;  Pete at South Coast Sailplanes gave first class sponsorship and support to this years event by very generously donating an X Models Blade 1.9DS , details of this 'Cracking' model are here http://www.south-coast-sailplanes.com/blade-1.9-ds. Being the owner of one of these models myself for a number of years I can guarantee the winner fun and excitement flying it, The Blade is an excellent sports & DS model.

The English Open 2015 Result:   Winner of the English Open 2015 was Mike Evans, Mike therefore retains his title. Runner up was Graeme Mahoney, Third pace went to Martin Drewett.

For continuity of my report here again is the full result. All pilots have received the Spreadsheet. If anyone else would like a copy of this please drop me an email, i'l happily forward it to you asap.

With the event being staged with special permission by both the Paragliding club and the land owner, on the '‌Rifle Range' slope, it made for a very fair comp, no pilot had the advantage of it being their home slope.

Mike won the event by a margin of 195 points over 2nd place pilot Graeme Mahoney, less than 7 points then separated Graeme in 2nd and Mark in 4th.

This year I added Team entries to the event, this proved very popular and successful. The winning team was 'Gifcof' comprising of Graeme Mahoney, Martin Drewett & Tony Livingstone.  A team trophie is being prepared, unfortunately I was unable to get this readied in time to present at the awards ceremony. As soon as I receive it I shall post details of it.

 

The English Open 2015 result;

         Pilot:                     Score:                                                       

1.    M Evans                2882.21.                                                                

2.    G Mahoney.          2687.37.                                                       Rounds flown:

3.    M Drewett.            2683.41.                                                                  4

4.    M Treble.              2680.63.                                            

5.    I Falconer.            2601.56.                                                       Round Scores:   

6.    J Philips.              2584.71.                                               Round.         Pilot.             Time.

7.    Stu Wallace.        2544.42.                                                    1.         M Drewett.      48.17    

8.    T Livingstone.      2538.88.                                                     2.        A Burgoyne.    41.65.

9.    J Bennett.            2528.03.                                                     3.        M Evans.         39.82.

10.  A Burgoyne.        2506.85                                                       4.        N Rogers.        52.72.               

11.   I Mason.              2482. 68

12.   J Fox.                  2469.87.                                                                  Fastest time:

13.   D Rumble.          2468.28

14.   P Stubley.           2436.02.                                                     Mike Evans,     Round 3,        39.82

15.   Jack Cubbitt.      2423.08.

16.   M Shellim.          2408.73.                                                                                                          Team Result:

17.   P Taylor.            2380.34.                                                       Position.        Team.                              Pilots.                                     Score.

18.   P Burgess.         2372.93.                                                             1.           'Gifcof'        G Mahoney, M Drewett,   T Livingstone.        2538.88.  

19.   Joe Cubbitt.        2344.77.                                                             2.          'Bonkers'     M Evans,     A Burgoyne,  P Stubley.             7825.08.

20.   T Robertson.      2174.70.                                                             3.           'All Stars'    M Treble,     J Philips,        M Shellim.            7674.07.

21.   M Burr.               2166.61.                                                             4.          'Grombitts'   S Wallace,   Joe Cubbitt,   Jack Cubbitt,        7312.27

22.   N Rogers.           2153.63.

23.   R Hilman.           2114.60.

24.   V Eldridge.         2108.09. 

 

  Sadly this year due to pressures of work, neither Peter Payne or Tony Fu were able to attend to present the stunning 'Free Flying Eagle' English Open trophies. I know that Pete especially very much wanted to be there to present the truly 'Cracking' first prize of the X Models Blade 1.9 DS, that he very generously donated. Unfortunately as well as it being 'Peak season' for Pete's hotelier buiseness, the weekend also clashed with the Bournemouth airshow, this added further to Pete's very busy workload. I therefore took great pleasure in presenting the trophies and the X Models Blade 1.9DS myself on both Pete's and Tony's behalf.

 

  Stu, Whitesheet Comp Sec.

 

Edited September 2, 2015 by Gromit

[Gromit]

Saturday Evening Social; 

On the Saturday evening the majority of the pilots, plus a few wives and Partners, met up at the excellent Fox & Hounds pub at Tytherington., I had just as last year booked their function room for the evening.The venue again proved to be perfect for us, the quality of the food & service was very good It was a very enjoyable & fun evening. I took along the various raffle prizes that had been very generously donated so that all the pilots and guests could view them.
 
The Raffle; prizes were as follows.
 
Bucks Composites, Graham Buckingham owner of Bucks Composites (formerly known as Fibretech) again kindly and generously supported the raffle. Graham donated a range of his products to the value of around £25. I have been a customer of Grahams for many years and can highly recommend both his products and service, they are excellent. Check out Grahams range of quality products here http://www.bucks-composites.com/
 
Steve Webb Models / Servo shop, kindly and generously, again supported the English Open raffle. They donated a £25.00 gift voucher redeemable on-line or in store. Check out their website here to see the huge range of RC products they sell http://www.stevewebb.co.uk/index.php.
 
The Whitesheet RFC donated a yrs membership to the Club. £10.00.
 
Spire Models, Laverstock, nr Salisbury: Neil Bradbury owner of this shop, has over many years supported many raffles held by the Whitesheet RFC. For this years English Open Neil donated a 3D aerobatic sports plane suitable for elecrtic or IC power. The winner of this prize generously asked that the model be auctioned and the money raised go to a Cancer Charity. Cancer has either directly affected the lives of several of the pilots in the comp, and / or their family members.

The winning bid for the model was £50.00, in addition, many pilots said they wished to donate money to a cancer charity, a further £80.00 was duly raised, making a total of £130.00. Gill and I have discussed at length which cancer charity to donate too, we have decided to divide the money up equaly between Prostate Cancer UK. The Lymphoma association, and cancer Research UK. These 3 cancer charities are of specific relevance to a number of pilots at this years English Open. A huge thankyou therefore to all of you who donated money.
 
I wish to give a huge public thankyou to Graham at Bucks Composites, Steve Webb Models / Servo Shop, and Neil Bradbury of Spire Models for their continued excellent support of the English Open F3f Raffle. My sincere thanks and those of the Whitesheet RFC & all the Pilots to you all.
 
 
      Stu, Whitesheet Comp Sec.