The 2012 season has finally come to close and the results are in. This year has seen a change in format for the league and although we are not divided into regions, the intention was to organise the league in a way that would enable pilots to gain a full league result, without having to chase all over the country. Missing one event could ruin a whole season, additionally with fluctuating / rising costs in travel, accommodation etc you can easily spend a fortune on travel.
The aim was to hold enough contests evenly across GB to allow people with in reaching distance to complete enough races. Obviously you cannot account for weather, but at least it would provide the pilot with the ability to travel the extra miles to complete the required events should it be needed. One big consideration was to also make sure that as many flown rounds would be completed by each pilot by the end of the season, therefore allowing consistent flying to be rewarded. Two day and Euro Tours are held across the country each year. Based on this it was decided to use one of these events to count towards the pilots overall league score.
The result being the pilots best two, one day events counting and their best two day, Euro Tour score counting to the final league result. This allows the pilot to attend as many contests as they wish and their best results going to the league.
I looked back 5 years to see how things compare with previous season and here are my findings:
2007: 14 pilots completed full league score with 23 rounds in total completed.
2008: 13 pilots completed full league score with 14 rounds in total completed.
2009: 19 pilots completed full league score with 27 rounds in total completed.
2010: 16 pilots completed full league score with 21 rounds in total completed.
2011: 7 pilots completed full league score with 32 rounds in total completed.
In 2012 there were 67 individual rounds flown across a total of 8 contests. Using the method for the league today, 21pilots posted a full league score, 13 pilots posted 2 scores and the remainder completed a single contest. I need to reconfirm the figure but the average individual flights flown by a pilot was 26 flights. So although the formula is different compared to previous years the rounds are very similar.
Like everything there is always room for improvement, but the hope is we are making the league more accessible for all to compete.
This year’s one day league events got off to a rocky start with the first two being cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Thankfully the Eastbourne Euro Tour went ahead as planned with 11 rounds flown between 36 pilots. Simon came out on top with his new Needle 124, getting the full potential out of the glider. As the season progressed the Needle 124 at the hands of a number of pilots was to become a force on the UK slopes.
Hole Of Horcum was the first successful one day event to run. Richard Bago with the Needle 124 taking all the points, but was closely followed by Greg Dakin and Peter Gunning.
In June we had the BMFA Nationals. We had rain, floods and all sorts of weather conditions going on all around, but in the middle of it all, 25 pilots stood on the slope at Levisham to complete 10 rounds. It had been on the cards for some time and it really did become the Paul Upton show. Armed with a Needle 124 he took the competition by storm winning the first of 2 major GB competitions this year. The Needle by this time was really showing its pedigree and it filled the first 4 places after the weekend.
Scotland followed the Hole of Horcum in July, this turned out to be one of those once in a life time competitions. 8 rounds of madness, the slowest round winning time was 33.xx and the fast time by Simon Thornton (with the Needle) and new British record was 30.02. This was the first ever BMFA league contest to be held in Scotland and may there be many more in the future. Well done Peter Gunning
To increase the number of two day contest, SlopeGlide was re-introduced and scheduled for Wales in August. After a rest from, the slopes Joel West made a return and flew as if he had never been away. Mark Redsell was very close behind and Adam Richardson was on form with the Vampire.
Long Mynd in September was next and a warm up for the Welsh Open the following week. Mike Evans thankfully had everything setup early ready to go. This turned out to be key in completing the event. Challenging conditions along with faulty timing equipment, we only just got enough rounds in to complete the contest.
Welsh Open was organised and executed to its normal high standard by Andrzej and Kevin. The relaxed atmosphere always makes the event a pleasure to attend. 11 rounds completed over the first two days, sadly only one could be managed on the Sunday before the rain came in. At least we still managed 12.
To our final event in Eastbourne, the weather had been undecided all week. It improved on the Friday, it looked great, so it was called on, by 5pm on Saturday it looked like it would be a washout. The course was setup on Sunday and we waited. Thankfully the cloud lifted and we were able to complete 4 rounds before the rain and cloud came back in.
There are always many standout moments each year and far too many to remember, if you can think of any please add to this thread. But for me I have to mention the following:
Frank Hulton hanging on for dear life as his New Sting performs 31.xx on Bishops Hill
Watching Mark Abbotts fly his Caldera on Bishops Hill at speeds that didn’t seem possible with a model of this size.
Sitting on the back of the Wrecker in thunderstorm of all thunderstorms wondering if Joel West’s face will be the last thing I ever see. Trust me; you had to be there to understand how scary it was.
David Loomes timing gear and seeing the real time updates and stats of the race in Scotland.
The league CD’s this year have yet again done a fantastic job at running each contest on their slopes. I would hope everyone will join me in thanking Andrzej Tabero, Kevin Newton, Jon Edison, Mike Evans, Peter Gunning and John Phillips. Also everyone else out there that’s helped in the centre, been Buzzer-supreme, help setup the course or carried a piece of equipment up or back from the slope.
To the final result, it feels like this year has been particularly long, but I am sure that’s not the case. In total we had 69 pilots compete in the league this year. As I stated above, 21 of those pilots completed the required number of contest to post a full score. Below are the overall positions, you can find a breakdown of each contest at the following address:
http://www.rc-soar.c…2/f3f/index.htm
Congratulations to all the pilots on a well flown season. We have had many new faces attend this year; I look forward to meeting you again.
BMFA F3F League Positions
Rank Pilot Score
1 Martin Newnham 3000
2 Richard Bago 2963.95
3 Mark Redsell 2958.75
4 Simon Thornton 2951.67
5 Paul Upton 2904.07
6 Greg Dakin 2844.95
7 Mike Evans 2838.01
8 Peter Gunning 2801.04
9 Mark Abbotts 2793.34
10 Adam Richardson 2713.93
11 Gary Harrison 2713.61
12 John Phillips 2702.34
13 Frank Hulton 2681.34
14 Ronnie Lampe 2670.05
15 Mick Walsh 2666.27
16 Tom McPherson 2664.38
17 Tom Foreman 2637.38
18 Keith Wood 2548.62
19 Mark Treble 2534.91
20 Mike McCracken 2472.6
21 Peter Burgess 2343.86
22 Joel West 1911.76
23 kevin Newton 1879.57
24 Dave Watson 1838.97
25 Andy Burgoyne 1733.34
26 Scott Ravenscroft 1727.73
27 Paul Stubley 1674.54
28 Bob Ryan 1645.67
29 Egon Lewin 1561.4
30 George Young 1560.26
31 Steve Streetly 1541.87
32 Allen Elliott 1513.26
33 Craig Maxwell 1431.35
34 Paul Garnett 1421.99
35 John Treble 980.48
36 Dave Wright 977.18
37 Mike Shellim 950.58
38 Jack Cubitt 904.6
39 Phil Taylor 897.06
40 Clayton Landells 889.24
41 Paul Middleton 886.58
42 Dave Rumble 885.1
43 John Bennett 883.61
44 Andrzej Tabero 867.31
45 Ian Mason 863.91
46 Jon Wells 848.23
47 Jon Edison 843.84
48 Ian Webb 833.63
49 Tony Robertson 829.94
50 Rob Coles 822.57
51 Ian Simpson 815.66
52 David Loomes 805.91
53 Ewan Maxwell 801.36
54 Jason Bioletti 800.45
55 Maria Freeman 788.5
56 Tom Noble 788.23
57 Vic Eldridge 768.96
58 Stuart Wallace 758.23
59 Bob Runyard 755.91
60 Martin Drewit 755.78
61 Ian Stewart 748.31
62 Gonzalo 746.18
63 Alex Hamilton 740.04
64 Mark Richards 686.48
65 Ray Wells 577.18
66 Bob Dickinson 321.92
67 Sam Smith 275.27
68 Andy Evans 249.78
69 Robert Carson 213.63
Martin Newnham (BARCS 3634)
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