Search the Community

Two-day F5J National Championships and one of three team selection events. CD: Alex Maxfield. One dropped round across the two days. (Also possible to enter for one day only - each of the one day events will count towards the BMFA League, with one dropped round each day. Separate awards for 2m.)

Entry fee £20 BMFA League and team selection event. Details of meet time and weather call will be posted on BARCS forum the Friday before the event.

10:45 Pilots briefing 11:00 Competition start 15::00 Fly off if necessary and prizes Entry is £15, payment details here Entries close 23rd August 2022 FxRES is a 2m soaring class with models constructed mainly from wood. Competitions are a variant of the FAI F3L provisional class, that has a simple format with a 4 hour window where competitors can fly up to 10 timed flights (6 min max), best 6 flights count, no landing bonus. This allows F3L and F5RES to compete alongside each other but have different score sheets. A competitor can fly both classes if they wish. Full set of rules is 7.24 in the SF rule book , BMFA membership is a must. F5RES height limiters set to 100m/30seconds, bungees are provided, please do not use your own? More details on the FxRES website https://fxres.co.uk/

How often do we get a combination of high winds and gusty downpours at F3J contests? But no, for the F3J BMFA Nationals 2015, despite the horrible forecasts for the Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday was almost flat calm, wind maximum 3 mph, cloudy with rare glimpses of sun, a few drops of rain for 10 minutes which didn't bother anyone, and almost everyone enjoyed a tricky demanding competition. Almost everyone? Yes I fear that our stalwart Robin Sleight tried to fly someone else's model, convinced that he had everything under control despite several other pilots shouting warnings, ending in the inevitable vertical thump, well out of the field. We have all done it, some of us, like me, more than once. Very sad! The only other negative was the continuing reduction in the number of entries, only 15 pilots after two dropped out in the final days for perfectly genuine reasons. The Nats should be one of, if not the peak of the contest season. True the enforced switch from Cranwell to Retford's Wetlands might have dissuaded a few, but if F3J, F3B and other classes are to survive as viable contests, then successful efforts to recruit new enthusiasts are urgently required. As the penultimate competition in the series to select next year's team for the F3J World Championships in Slovenia, there were several nail biting rounds before the four man fly off was decided. Peter Allen, Colin Paddon, Mark Devall and Dave East had two rounds of struggle to try to achieve 15 minute flights as required, in conditions which earlier had allowed many pilots to fly the 10 minutes slots out. Surprise to me was that several times pilots found themselves worn out by having to coax their models ever so gently full time to utilise what little and rare lift was available. Peter Allen got closest to flying the full time out, just missing by about one minute, in the first round. This allowed him to decide on a relaunch two minutes into the second round, and he ended a comfortable and well deserved winner. By Sydney Lenssen (CD) Results Fly-Off table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Name Score Pcnt Raw Score Rnd1 Dur Rnd2 Dur Plty 1 Allen, Peter 1974.3 100 1974.3 1000 974.3 0 2 Paddon, Colin 1626.8 82.4 1626.8 626.8 1000 0 3 East, Dave 1539.7 77.99 1539.7 605.6 934.1 0 4 Devall, Mark 1173.5 59.44 1473.5 619.9 853.6 300 Preliminary Rounds table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Name Team Pilot Score Pcnt Raw Score Rnd1 Dur Rnd2 Dur Rnd3 Dur Rnd4 Dur Rnd5 Dur Plty Flyoff Total 1 Allen, Peter 1 42 4945.6 100 4945.6 1000 1000 998.8 946.8 1000 0 3 103 2 Devall, Mark 4 31 4909.7 99.27 4909.7 986.9 998.5 1000 990.3 934 0 1 100.27 3 East, Dave 2 46 4874.1 98.55 4874.1 1000 995.9 993.2 885 1000 0 1.5 100.05 4 Paddon, Colin 3 57 4872.9 98.53 4872.9 1000 1000 1000 1000 872.9 0 2 100.53 5 Osbourne, Ozzie 1 9 4698.7 95.01 4698.7 948.2 855.2 993 994.9 907.4 0 6 Jones, Neil 4 55 4671.2 94.45 4671.2 671.2 1000 1000 1000 1000 0 7 Dunster, Chas 1 8 4614.2 93.3 4614.2 983.6 666.6 984.3 996.4 983.3 0 8 Boorman, Colin 3 56 4596.4 92.94 4596.4 995.9 988.8 705.1 906.6 1000 0 9 Beale, Kevin 3 48 4572.9 92.46 4572.9 1000 1000 998.4 1000 574.5 0 10 Lipscombe, Al 2 50 4220.8 85.34 4220.8 662.9 991.4 869.1 990.6 706.8 0 11 Philcox, Cengiz 4 52 4080 82.5 4080 732.8 997.1 582.8 770.1 997.2 0 12 Raybone, Mike 2 32 4067.4 82.24 4067.4 662.8 1000 984.9 645.2 774.5 0 13 Duff, Ian 1 43 3987 80.62 3987 0 997.2 1000 1000 989.8 0 14 Shenstone, John 2 59 3789.3 76.62 3789.3 942.1 848.9 646 792.6 559.7 0 15 Sleight, Robin 4 60 1503.1 30.39 1503.1 0 0 0 678.4 824.7 0 16 Wicks, Graham 3 58 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Colin Paddon triumphs as 2014 British Nationals F3J champion This year’s F3J Nationals was a real mixed bag, flying in airs which were nicely thermally for one slot, followed by widespread sink for the next. Sunday at the Nationals was a comfortable day with only moderate winds but with the prospect of heavy wind and rains for the second scheduled day. Many of the country’s leading pilots suffered miserable flights while more modest pilots walked away with 1,000 points, much to their surprise. Congratulations to Colin Paddon, Mark Devall who had won the 100 inch contest the day before, and Graham Wicks who had also won the F5J contest on Saturday: they came first, second and third respectively in the F3J contest. Colin Paddon who had had a frustrating time at the World Championships a few weeks earlier, hit a consistency with six slots of 1,000 points each, and his dropped round was a 998.3 points flight. Team UK who had fared modestly in Martin, Slovakia a few weeks before, struggled at times but all came in the top six places at Cranwell. On a day of real challenge it was good to see Chas Dunster with a 1,000 and four rounds in the high 900s to give himself ninth place, and he spotted well for his team. Another encouraging performance was put in by Andre Borowski with three 1,000s, but he could have done with an extra throwaway score. Graham James, Barcs esteemed President, had a consistent day with scores rather higher than usual to gain 10th place in the field. All pilots deserved praise for remaining keen over a long day, 33 slots in an eight hour day kept everyone busy. The big rush was caused by the prospect of high winds and almost continuous rain forecast for Bank Holiday Monday. In the end contest director recommended that the contest should be curtailed and Monday was abandoned, and none of the pilots protested that decision. Over the past three years, the BMFA F3J league on which the British team is chosen for the next World or European championships – next year due to be held in Dupnitsa, Bulgaria – has been based on three two day events. Normally this means that the contests can have eight or more rounds and flyoff rounds where slot times go up to 15 minutes, said to be closer to the standards required at international level. Good thinking, but this year the weather has conspired to prevent flyoffs at Radioglide and the Nationals. That cannot be controlled, but good luck to next year’s UK Team! Sydney Lenssen. Results table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Name Score Pcnt Raw Score Rnd1 Dur Rnd2 Dur Rnd3 Dur Rnd4 Dur Rnd5 Dur Rnd6 Dur Rnd7 Dur Rnd8 Dur 1 Paddon, Colin 6999.1 100 7997.4 1000 1000 1000 1000 998.3 1000 999.1 1000 2 Devall, Mark 6914 98.78 7841.8 1000 997.5 1000 1000 938 1000 978.5 927.8 3 Wicks, Graham 6891.7 98.47 7494.7 991.3 969.9 603 1000 989.8 1000 946.8 993.9 4 Beale, Kevin 6871.7 98.18 7563.5 1000 691.8 892.6 993.2 1000 997.1 988.8 1000 5 Duff, Ian 6782.6 96.91 7459.6 980.8 677 837.5 983.3 994.5 1000 1000 986.5 6 Allen, Peter 6651.3 95.03 7112.1 991 865 1000 460.8 1000 795.3 1000 1000 7 Boorman, Colin 6523.9 93.21 6925.9 402 1000 570.3 986.6 993.7 987.8 985.5 1000 8 Borowski, Andre 6278.7 89.71 6771.7 880.9 1000 627.4 1000 1000 992.9 493 777.5 9 Dunster, Chas 6240.3 89.16 6240.3 995.3 976 1000 608.8 990 0 685.6 984.6 10 James, Graham 6021.7 86.04 6702.3 1000 827.6 680.6 816.2 858.7 699.8 964.6 854.8 11 Philcox, Cengiz 5924.2 84.64 6175.8 383.1 1000 616.3 251.6 1000 986 947.4 991.4 12 Osbourne, Ozzie 5923 84.63 5923 474.8 864.6 874.5 987.8 0 880.5 1000 840.8 13 Glover, Chris 5922.8 84.62 5922.8 890.4 900.6 0 693.2 601 840.1 1000 997.5 14 East, Dave 5545.1 79.23 5931.9 988.1 386.8 594.2 994.6 644.6 1000 852.2 471.4 15 Raybone, Mike 5515.5 78.8 5515.5 997.2 869.4 0 644.2 504.9 594.9 996.2 908.7 16 Binnie, Gary 4876.2 69.67 5297.8 893.6 730.6 631.4 531.6 421.6 655 491.1 942.9 17 Lipscombe, Al 4835.3 69.08 5384.7 955.6 669.4 650.7 721.4 549.4 733 552.9 552.3 18 Shenstone, John 4297 61.39 4504.2 526 399.9 207.2 509.8 912.8 531.8 817.3 599.4

A betting man could well have forecast the winning trio of this year’s BMFA F3J Nationals at RAF Cranwell over the Bank Holiday weekend. The two day event was won by Peter Allen, second was Colin Paddon, and third from the five man flyoffs was Ian Duff. Although the official ranking has yet to be formally ratified, it certainly looks as if these three will be selected as the UK team members for the 2014 world championships to be held in Slovakia at Martin, a super friendly and testing venue. And Peter Allen’s reaction to his triumph: “What a pity it is that we cannot get younger pilots into the team to give our rivals tougher competition.” He is right that the UK team trials, for the first time this year based on three two day contests, at Radioglide, Interglide – Britain’s Contest Eurotour – and the BMFA Nationals, are shrinking in number of entries and failing to attract new younger blood other than the stalwart efforts of Johnathon Wells. All the pilots were relieved that Sunday and Monday did not see a repeat of the foul rainy weather. Saturday was a real washout with the F3B pilots setting out their course and then failing to complete one complete round. Sunday was a puzzle to predict accurately the wind direction, but the rain held off and the sun strived increasingly successfully to produce tricky thermals, warmth and six rounds of enjoyable competition. The strong winds and the number of missing thermals made each slot different and only later in the day did most of the pilots manage to fly their slots out. By that time there was the usual gaggle of experienced F3J pilots closing in on the five places designated for the flyoffs. But it was also good to see that all of the weaker pilots has enjoyed a couple or more of fine flights close to the magical 1000 points, and a few of the experts failing to return from downwind thermals and having to settle for throwaway scores after eight rounds. Monday promised better conditions, but the winds hardly slackened and were still reluctant to stick in the direction that the lines and winches were set. Four more rounds followed to shift a few places. Fossie managed to confound everybody by finding a super thermal which left all the other pilots in his slot three or more minutes short and scored 99 for his landing. But it was far too late and the flyoffs started with Ian Duff, Chris Glover, Peter Allen, Colin Paddon and Ozzie Osbourne with a range of 400 points between them. Flyoff rounds started around 3.00pm and as three of the pilots were from one group, fresh helpers were needed and some launches were staggered. By fluke this turned out to be crucial to the results. Peter Allen agreed to launch with a slight delay only to find that his first two launches pinged off early and by the time his third launch succeeded, he had lost three minutes out of the fifteen. It turned out to be a strategic masterstroke for he found a good thermal and flew out the round as his rivals came down for one or two relaunches without finding the necessary good air. The following two rounds were far kinder, with pilots flying high and far downwind, sometimes beyond the range of reliable vision, and most returning in time to make it a landing contest. Not the most exciting of flyoffs because we missed the more usual moving up and down the ranks. Nevertheless a well deserved win for Peter Allen for he had put so much effort into the organisation in the week before the event and on both days of the contest with his usual small band of dedicated helpers. To round off the prize giving ceremony, Ian Duff, who chairs BMFA’s silent flight technical committee, asked for comments or ideas on the latest system for choosing team selection, the three two day events, for pilots’ views on the suitability of RAF Cranwell for the silent flight nationals, and for all F3J fans to feed their views through to SFTC to help them establish what the majority of pilots want. The only significant request to come forward on the day was the urging of one European Contest result should be allowed along with the three two day UK competitions, which would make it possible for any pilot forced to miss one date to still qualify with a reasonable chance. Despite a few minor interruptions at Cranwell for full size aircraft departures and a civilised, later than usual, starting time of 10.00 am each day, the airfield belonged to model gliders and electric models covering all the main classes other than slope. Mike Proctor who was responsible for coordination between the various events on each day and with the RAF officials deserves considerable praise and thanks for his efforts. Sydney Lenssen Results Fly Off table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Name Score Rnd1 Dur Rnd2 Dur Rnd3 Dur Plty 1 Allen, Peter 2986.4 1000 1000 986.4 0 2 Paddon, Colin 2927.1 929 998.1 1000 0 3 Duff, Ian 2770.1 793 985 992.1 0 4 Osbourne, Ozzie 2641 715.2 992.2 933.6 0 5 Glover, Chris 2193 406.8 994.5 791.7 0 Preliminary Rounds table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } Rank Name Score Pcnt Raw Score Rnd1 Dur Rnd2 Dur Rnd3 Dur Rnd4 Dur Rnd5 Dur Rnd6 Dur Rnd7 Dur Rnd8 Dur Rnd9 Dur Rnd10 Dur Drop1 Dur Plty 1 Duff, Ian 8942.4 100 9613.5 1000 995 1000 993.9 986.1 1000 990.8 992.4 984.2 671.1 671.1 0 2 Glover, Chris 8842 98.88 9444.6 984.6 1000 1000 987.4 602.6 998 991.7 994.6 885.7 1000 602.6 0 3 Allen, Peter 8794.7 98.35 9519.2 889.6 1000 930.1 977.3 1000 1000 997.7 1000 724.5 1000 724.5 0 4 Paddon, Colin 8600.5 96.18 9272.9 672.4 1000 912.1 1000 1000 1000 1000 993.2 1000 695.2 672.4 0 5 Osbourne, Ozzie 8592.9 96.09 9329.5 1000 945.8 945 989.3 946.3 736.6 1000 1000 766.5 1000 736.6 0 6 Raybone, Mike 8463.1 94.64 9002.4 948.1 968.9 1000 987.7 989.4 980.9 539.3 991.1 599.9 997.1 539.3 0 7 Beale, Kevin 8450.4 94.5 9141.8 865.8 942.6 998.5 1000 1000 945.7 849 1000 691.4 848.8 691.4 0 8 Wicks, Graham 8143.9 91.07 8504.6 524.6 989.7 996.8 1000 976.5 991.6 1000 680.8 360.7 983.9 360.7 0 9 East, Dave 8055 90.08 8671.4 1000 988.5 998.4 968.3 616.4 635.8 749.6 991.1 985.5 737.8 616.4 0 10 Wells, Johnathon 7884.9 88.17 7884.9 1000 1000 417.1 973.2 1000 1000 919.3 0 1000 575.3 0 0 11 Dickenson, Bob 7810.9 87.35 8307.6 965.2 981.3 1000 535.5 986.3 721.7 641.2 980.9 496.7 998.8 496.7 0 12 Boorman, Colin 7808 87.31 8356.9 1000 1000 575.4 622.5 548.9 998.1 733.9 1000 1000 878.1 548.9 0 13 Binnie, Gary 7786.5 87.07 8360.9 858.3 720.7 764.2 1000 594 987 574.4 970.2 1000 892.1 574.4 0 14 Devall, Mark 7569.3 84.65 8422.2 956.3 552.9 987.4 973.7 570.9 630.5 1000 751.8 998.7 1000 552.9 300 15 James, Graham 7258.1 81.17 7258.1 0 970.9 656.2 861 983.8 978.6 772.1 852.1 517.3 666.1 0 0 16 Warby, Neville 6778.9 75.81 7230.6 681.1 579.7 802.7 960.9 598.3 791 902.8 944.7 517.7 451.7 451.7 0 17 Lipscombe, Al 6737.8 75.35 7046.3 952.4 684.6 986.9 949.9 648.1 562.3 989.2 308.5 473.5 490.9 308.5 0 18 Shenstone, John 5917.8 66.18 5917.8 713.1 673.1 642 914.8 642.9 363.2 907 650.7 411 0 0 0 19 Borowski, Andre 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 19 Sykes, Alex 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Sun, 24 degrees, a view across the Welsh Valleys, just a few more ingredients, wind 10m\s increasing through the day to around 15m\s coming from the ENE direction placing us on Britain’s premier slope ‘THE WRECKER’ along with plenty of good air (thermals;-) ) and finally 32 pilots to compete in the BMFA F3F Nationals 2013 Championships. It all made for a really fantastic weekend in South Wales. Meet on day one was 8:15am to get registration and pilot numbers out of the way. Simon Thornton and Andrzej worked on getting the course out, setup and 10:15 we was able to get the first of 8 rounds on the way and the start of a total of a 123 sub forties including one sub thirty. As the early rounds started it was clear that a mid to low sub forty was going to be required if you wanted to stay in touch with the early leaders. The round takers for the day were as follows: Round 1 1st Martin Newnham 35.54 2nd Jonathan Wells 38.14 3rd Mike Shellim 38.47 Round 2 1st Joel West 29.75 2nd Scott Ravenscroft 33.02 3rd Greg Dakin 34.58 Round 3 1st Martin Newnham 31.87 2nd Mark Abbotts 32.60 3rd Joel West 32.73 Round 4 1st Martin Newnham 31.86 2nd Joel West 32.71 3rd Mark Redsell 34.11 Round 5 1st Joel West 33.76 2nd Mark Redsell 34.79 3rd Paul Garnett 35.62 Round 6 1st John Phillips 32.87 2nd Greg Dakin 34.12 3rd Paul Upton 34.24 Round 7 1st Joel West 32.65 2nd Mark Redsell 32.91 3rd Mark Abbotts 32.97 Round 8 1st Mike Evans 31.92 2nd Paul Upton 34.98 3rd Rich Bago 35.29 Each round requires a 300 metre walk to the landing area, by the end of the day everyone was suitable exercised and ready to get back to the various hotels to sooth the sunburn and get ready for the curry. Mark Abbotts had taken care of the food arrangements at a different curry house for a change, those of you that stayed away missed some great food, Mark also excelled in laying on street entertainment, and you had to be there to understand. Day 2 we meet at 8:30am again Simon and Andrzej got the course organised whilst I updated the pilot flying list. The wind again put us on the Wrecker and the normally most trusted sites for the area suggested it would stay there all day, this unfortunately wasn’t the case and by the time it swung round it was too late to change location and re-setup on the Crest. We did manage a further 3 rounds: Round 9 1st Paul Upton 37.47 2nd Jonathan Wells 37.52 3rd Mark Abbotts 38.63 Round 10 1st Paul Upton 33.46 2nd Joel West 35.43 3rd Mike Shellim 36.41 Round 11 1st Mike Evans 38.42 2nd Martin Newnham 3rd Rich Bago 38.62 Even with the early finish it made for a great weekend, the standard of flying by every pilot was excellent and I am sure there are some new PB’s to be updated to the list which is growing with every contest we have in UK as is the numbers to each event. Special thanks have to go Andrzej who CD’d the whole weekend, he kept it flowing and without him we wouldn’t have completed the rounds we did. As a pilot that takes dedication for so many others to be able to enjoy their flying, whilst he choose not to. Simon Thornton made sure the course was up and ready to go at the start of each day and disassembled it at the end of each day. John Phillips our buzzer supreme kept the base going over both days, which isn't easy trying to make sure a pilot is back in time ready to fly in each round. Thanks to all of you and to all the other pilots that take the time to get involved rather than letting the normal individuals take the load. You have already seen the results from the weekend; Joel West flew stunningly, not one mistake all weekend and is without and doubt a deserved British Champion for our sport. He also took fastest time of the competition posting a 29.75 in the second round. 1 Joel West 9565.03 1000.00 Freestyler 4 2 Martin Newnham 9258.30 967.93 Freestyler 4 3 Mark Redsell 9082.52 949.55 Freestyler 4 4 Mark Abbotts 8965.73 937.34 Cladera 5 Paul Upton 8948.36 935.52 RaceMX 6 Mike Evans 8828.10 922.95 Freestyler 4 7 Greg Dakin 8814.82 921.56 Needle124 8 Rich Bago 8686.53 908.15 Avalon\Needle124 9 John Phillips 8648.37 904.16 AirOne 10 Jonathan Wells 8567.77 895.73 Needle124 11 Tom Foreman 8540.41 892.87 Stinger 12 Mike Shellim 8509.74 889.67 New Sting 13 Frank Hulton 8470.78 885.5 New Sting 14 Mark Treble 8329.90 870.87 Freestyler 3\ Needle124 15 Paul Garnet 8292.64 866.97 Needle124\Crossfire 16 Keith Wood 8287.31 866.41 Freestyler3 17 Simon Thornton 8190.99 856.34 Needle124 18 Scott Ravenscroft 8090.49 845.84 Vampire 19 Andy Burgoyne 8047.21 841.31 Radical 20 Ronnie Lampe 8025.52 839.04 Needle124\Strager 21 Graeme Mahoney 8023.17 838.80 Cyril 22 Jon Edison 7770.78 812.41 Needle124 23 Tony Livingston 7625.39 797.21 Freestyler3\Needle124 24 Mick Walsh 7574.89 791.93 Needle124 25 Martin Drewett 7557.62 790.13 Pitbull 26 Ian Web 7036.83 735.68 Vikos\Needle100 27 Tony Robertson 6984.54 730.21 Freestyler4 28 John Treble 6976.09 729.33 Extreme 29 Pete Burgess 6899.84 721.36 Extreme 30 John Bennett 6118.42 639.66 Willow 31 Ron Boughton 4613.79 482.36 32 Ian Falconer 1947.98 203.65 Willow Thank you everyone for making it such an enjoyable weekend, I look forward to seeing you on the slope again soon. I have plenty of pictures and I know Mike Shellim also took plenty, I will post what I have soon. Best regards Martin

With the weather undecided all week, I was never sure if we would get enough flying in to complete the F3F Nationals. I had received a few mails and texts asking as early as Monday, if I would call the contest off. Putting a weather call on a 2 day contest would never be possible because you may always get opportunities in between the showers, to run a round and complete the required four over the 2 days. For once the weather gods were on our side and although we could see rain all around us, we were able to get the competition on the way a little after 11am, once the first showers had cleared. The wind was never an issue and we had plenty of it on Saturday averaging between 12 and 15m/s. More images here from Tom Foreman Briefing over and bibs handed out we got on the way. First up to start the contest was Paul Upton and he certainly got things going with a bang, 36.50seconds with the Needle 124 taking full advantage of the conditions, but flying the bases very tight to squeeze out every ounce of the conditions. Mike Shellim was second in the pilot box and followed Paul with a 40.66. Not letting Paul take the round easily, Rich Bago applied the pressure, he was also the 3rd pilot to fly posted a 36.61. So the first 3 pilots finishing 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the first round. This time rather than just moving the start number, X number of pilots on the second day. I moved the start number on 5 places as each new round started. Greg Dakin started round 2 with 42.80sec run, with the round progressing the times stayed reasonably consistent, until Adam Richardson stepped up with the Vampire and posted a 39.50. This followed a good time in the first round and making sure he kept in touch with contest front runners. Tom Macpherson after struggling in the first round with difficult conditions, set off with the Radical nailing the bases to get an excellent 37second run. Paul Middleton also squeezed into the sub forty class. Then we got back to Paul Upton 36.50 in the first round wasn’t good enough, so he flew 36.47 to take round 2. Tom was second followed by Dave Wright, who was flying his Needle 124 for the first time in a contest. Round 3 started and the times were much more consistent throughout. Simon Thornton although at this point not in with the front runners was always nearby. He took round 3 with a 38.60second moving him up into 3rd for the overall contest behind Rich Bago in 2nd and Paul running things in 1st. For the round Simon was followed by Keith Wood just squeezing into a sub forty and Mark Redsell in 3rd. Paul Upton, allowing others to have a glimpse of hope in the previous round, stepped up in round 4 to not only win the round but take the fastest time of the contest with a 34.07 second run. This was followed by Dave Wright in second with a 37 and Simon Thornton also getting a 37 to take the 3rd spot for the round. Mark Abbotts wasn’t far behind with his shiny Caldera, posting a 38 second run and his first sub forty of the contest. Also Greg and Peter Gunning getting in on the act with a couple of 39’s to take 5th and 6th. Greg Daking focusing on utilising the EM style, took full advantage in round 5 of the air placing the Radical on the slope in a way that only Greg can. He squeezed a 36.69 out of reasonable air to take the 5th round. Adam Richardson again was not far off the pace against Greg and flew a great 36.80 faultlessly; he was followed by Rich Bago’s 38.85 seconds. Dave Watson and Tom Foreman both flying the Cyril, joined the sub forty crowd at this point posting 39’s to fill up 4th and 5th in the pilots order for the round. Dave Wright had been in the mix from the start and finally took his first round with a 37.22, looking more and more settled with his Needle as each round passed. Mark Abbotts who was also looking better with each round, flew his Caldera to second in the round flying a 39.94 and 3rd went to Peter Gunning getting a very low 40 second. Round seven and after being out of the top 3 for a couple of rounds, Paul Upton Stepped up again to fly a 35.68. Under normal circumstances you would think this would be a round winner. Immediately behind Paul, Mike Shellim flew his trusted Sting, almost taking the fastest time away from Paul with a brilliant 34.89, pushing Paul down into second place for the round. Dave Watson also got in on the act to take 3rd with a 35.86. But lurking in the background was Mr Wright not far behind with a 38second time and Simon Thornton squeezing in on the act just making sure the leaders don’t get too far ahead. With round 8 now on the way, Ronnie Lampe stepped up (still grinning from a recent 31.xx a few weeks earlier) and decided it was time to get in on the act and join many others in the sub forties. Not by just getting under the 40second mark, but flying a 34.20 second with the Strega. To add a little tension he was immediately followed on the course by Mark Abbotts. I’m sure he must have heard the Caldera screaming left and right as he walked off to land. Mark couldn’t quite get Ronnie but did his best with a 34.58. 3rd spot was filled by Dave Wright with 35 second run. 4th and 5th taken by Simon and Rich. Also to note and I am sure there were many others Paul Stubley got a PB with a 41.42, well done Paul. Round 9 and the last round of the first day Rich Bago stepped up to the pilots box to fly a ripping 34.88, was it a round winner? NO Dave Wright immediately following didn’t want to be out done by his partner posted a 34.75 to rob Rich of the round. Mark Redsell finally got in on the act with a 36 to take 3rd spot. Paul Upton taking 4th and Greg in 5th. At the end of the first day Paul Upton was in the lead but closely followed by Rich Bago. Dave Wright had earned himself an excellent 3rd spot and Simon Thornton was on his heels in 4th. With everything still to play for on the second day. The forecast had improved for the second day with regards to the rain forecast; the only challenge was going to be the wind. After chasing the wind around the Hole of Horcum walking (what felt like miles) we managed one more round and abandoning 2 others due to wind direction. So the results, you have already seen these posted but to summaries. Paul Upton flew outstandingly at every opportunity holding his nerve, it was never a done deal going into the second day. Rich had every opportunity to catch Paul. Dave Wright flew some outstanding rounds not forgetting it was the first time he had flown the Needle 124 in a contest, which is a real credit to the gliders breeding. However Simon Thornton is not somebody who will hand anything over and after winning last year was never going to go down without a fight just took 3rd spot from Dave. I would like to thank NYMRSC for providing their slopes to hold the 2012 BMFA F3F Nationals. Mark Redsell, Rich Bago and Simon Thornton for running the centre, along with Jon Edison’s technical assistance. Ronnie Lampe for Buzzer supremo and everyone for taking part and not forgetting T9HobbySport and MKS Servo’s for stepping forward to sponsor our most important UK contest in the F3F calendar, providing a full set of the highest specification MKS servos to the winner, along with additional prizes to 2nd and 3rd. Also to Jonathan Wells for his new magnetic switches. Thanks Martin Newnham

I would like to thank SWSA for kindly holding this year’s 2011 BMFA Nationals on their local slopes. It is a fantastic location to spend a couple of days out of your life and never fails to impress me, whether I fly or not. Any club that is happy to share and support the league/competition events provides fantastic opportunities to all that participate in the sport of F3F or general slope soaring. In addition to the slopes,T9 Hobby Sport and Overlander very generously sponsored the event this year, providing prizes to the top 5 pilots. With the weather sites predicting high south-westerly winds and blue sky for the first day, I was hopeful for a good start for the 2011 BMFA Nationals and our first ever World Championship qualifying event. This is to select our top 3 pilots to represent Great Britain in Germany next year. This was very quickly changed when we turned up on the slope at 8:30am to driving rain and fog. Looking at the mountain forecast it was due to lift but by 3pm it was clear (or not as the case maybe) that we would have to call the day off and hope for better weather on Sunday. The meet was again set for 8:30am in the hope the weather would be on our side, to get in as many rounds as possible. I arrived on the slope at 7:45am to be greeted by more fog. Thankfully blue sky could be seen and by 8:45am the decision was made to setup the course on the back of the Wrecker and get the rounds started as soon as possible. Round one was started at approximately 10am and Mark Redsell was the lucky pilot to get the competition on the way. Wind speed was light but legal and Mark started the competition with a 50 second run. Joel West had the fastest time in the round with a 41.51seconds, considering the conditions at this time, just showed how accurate Joel’s flying was when keeping on the edge to gain the most out of the conditions. Martin Newnham missed a good opportunity of gaining a good time in the first round, after a cut at base B and ending with a 46.xx. Simon Thornton flying his new Fosa and Kev Knewton returning to flying the Ceres both got 42.xx times. Round two got on the way and Mark Redsell started straight off with a 42.xx which set a high standard for the round, only to be followed by Greg Dakin’s 40.65 two flights later to take the fastest time of the round. Simon again kept tight to the leading time. Many pilots remained consistent from the first round posting mid to high forties. Adam Richardson, Keith Woods, Mike Evans and Andrzej Tabero made the most of the air, flying a tight course to gain the best time they could. Not wasting anything! Round three got on the way, Mark Redsell unfortunately cut at Base A to end the round with a 58.xx second time, Kev Knewton taking the round with a 41.16. Conditions were beginning to stay more consistent and the times recorded through the round were beginning to get closer. Round four started and after a bad time in round three, Adam Richardson showed good composure to take full advantage of the conditions. Flying the fastest time of the day at that point and the first sub forty to take the round with a 39.30. Frank Hulton taking second in the round with a 43.79 closely followed by a 43.82 flown by Mark Abbotts. Round five saw Mike Evans take the round with a 39.49, after the first 4 rounds in the mid to high forties. Mike was showing excellent consistency, not wasting any opportunities. Adam Richardson again kept himself in the mix, coming second with a 41.27 and third was Mark Redsell with a 41.55. Round six saw more sub forties being posted with Mark Redsell starting the round with a 38.33. Not to be out done Simon Thornton stepped up with a 38.13. Peter Gunning however with his trusted Cyril flew a 37.89 which was the fastest time of the day. Round seven started with Mark Redsell again keeping the pressure on with a 38.22. Rich Bago however after changing over to the Martinet, was close on his heels with a 38.72 and Martin Newnham in third place with a 39.70. Round eight saw Simon Thornton take the round flying a 38.30, followed by Martin Newnham with a 38.42 in second and Frank Hulton in third with a 40.08. The final round was very tight with Keith Woods, Clayton Landells, Peter Gunning and Mark Redsell all flying under 42 seconds. Simon Thornton was focused and consistent throughout the whole day, not letting any opportunity pass him by. He showed that you do not need to win every round to win a competition, without doubt the best pilot on the day. Mark Redsell kept his composure after two bad rounds to fly himself to a fantastic second position and not forgetting only 39 points behind Simon. Kevin Knewton who followed Mark Redsell by only 23 points put on a great performance to finish in third place. To have first and third place within 62 points shows how good the flying was by the 3 pilots. Congratulations to Simon, Mark, Kevin for the top three positions and to Peter Gunning for the fastest time of the day. My main aim since taking on the league coordinators roll is for everyone to enjoy the flying and improve their flying skills whilst being competitive at the same time. I hope that everyone enjoyed the day and will be returning to compete at the league events. Apologies if I have not mentioned your name in the report, but what I can say is everyone on the day flew exceptionally well, the standard was as high as I have seen at any competition I have attended. I would like to make special thanks Andrzej and Simon for CDing the day so professionally. Clayton and Frank for running the competition course, your organisation of the bases and safety line was second to none. Also Kev, Mike andJon for any guidance that was needed during the day. Not forgetting Joel helping with the setting up/removing the course and checking the score sheets. Without everyone’s involvement, including pilots adhering to the rules, the competition would not have been the success it was. Please do not forget if you have any photos and you are happy to send them to me for potential publication, please do not hesitate to do so. Many thanks Martin table.tableizer-table { border: 1px solid #CCC; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; } .tableizer-table td { padding: 4px; margin: 3px; border: 1px solid #ccc; } .tableizer-table th { background-color: #4297C9; color: #FFF; font-weight: bold; } 1 Simon Thornton 6541.57 1000.00 2 Mark Redsell 6502.31 993.99 3 Kev Knewton 6479.83 990.56 4 Martin Newnham 6334.70 968.37 5 Peter Gunning 6292.70 961.95 6 Joel West 6284.91 960.76 7 Adam Richardson 6223.19 951.32 8 Mike Evans 6164.88 942.41 9 Greg Dakin 6152.25 940.48 10 Keith Woods 6111.02 934.18 11 Clayton Landells 6017.09 919.82 12 Frank Hulton 5939.95 908.03 13 Andrzej Tabero 5873.03 897.80 14 Rich Bago 5809.14 888.03 15 Mick Walsh 5802.42 887.00 16 Paul Middleton 5770.05 882.05 17 Scott Ravenscroft 5744.77 878.19 18 Mark Abbotts 5720.39 874.46 19 Dave Rumble 5717.33 873.99 20 Jon Edison 5491.28 839.44 21 Ian Mason 5386.61 823.44 22 Paul Upton 5383.18 822.91 23 Tom Foreman 5319.04 813.11 24 Paul Stubly 5264.55 804.78 25 Tony Robertson 5198.63 794.70 26 Peter Bugess 5176.49 791.32 27 Jason Bioletti 4964.13 758.85 28 Mark Treble 4800.78 733.88 29 John Treble 4782.38 731.07