Once again the event was held in a very large field in the New Milton area, thanks to Mr. Pottle, the farmer. The weather was kind to us with a reasonable breeze and plenty of sun.
Entries were down this year but there was one visitor, Steve Clutterbuck, from the Wessex Soaring Association. There would have been more if we had allowed the use of winches, something to think about next year. The rules were very simple, trying to fly a series of target times with a maximum bonus of 25 seconds for making a perfect spot landing each time.
Once again the winner was John Cheesman, making a rare appearance on the flying field and using his ancient "Cirrel" (see a brief description of this model in 'Sloping Off', June 2003). You will see in the results table his very high standard of flying and his perfect scores for spot landings.
Steve Clutterbuck of WSA, flying a beautifully made Flair Albatross came second. This model was absolutely standard, without spoilers. Steve's spot landing scores were not very high but it was noticed that he consistently got good height with his bungee launches.
Brian Brockway was third, flying the only high tech machine, his trusty Calypso, with very consistent times and landing scores throughout the day. Brian also spent a large part of the day leading a recovery team when someone's model landed in the only tree in this large flying field.
The less said about the rest of the fliers the better! Some of us were surprised how quickly our models came down, despite getting a good launch height! Clive Spencer deserved better things as he had only just finished making a lovely "Bird of Time" that two days earlier had flown for nine minutes on each of its first two flights.
Although not very well attended, I found the competition interesting and well worth the effort. A couple of thoughts for next year: First, I would like to have the event on August Bank Holiday Monday which is 30th August, and second, how about throwing the event open to anyone bringing their own winches?
Let me know your thoughts.