2025 Spring Duration Competitions & Fun-fly

The last week of May had seen some rather blustery weather so it was very lucky that the Spring Competitions on Port Meadow seemed to coincide with a brief pause in the strong winds. A calm start was forecast with wind increasing during the day and that is pretty much what happened with those able to fly early on in the day doing the best particularly with some of classes with smaller models. Numbers were slightly down on expected no doubt partly due to the increasing wind forecast but it was great to see some ff fun flyers with Paul Notley’s towline gliders and Peter Brown filling air with the wonderful smell of vintage diesel engines. Gary Law was CD for the 6 classes and did a great job keeping everyone in check and providing timers with the help of Alan Trinder. Most of the competitors arrived early so competition was started slightly early at 9:15am to take advantage of the lighter winds

Alan Trinder launches his E20 to another max

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The P30 class attracted 4 entries, all own design models, with all flyers doing times over 1 min in the first round with only Richard Fryer scoring a Max. Round 2 saw Andy Blackburn retire his model due to the increasing wind but both Richard and Andrew Longhurst scored maxes. Round 3 saw Jim Paton max with his OD model along with Andrew and Richard with a flight of just over 1 minute. In the end the scores were very close with Jim Paton coming third and Richard beating Andrew to first place by just 1 second

E20 was by far the most popular class with 6 entries but the increasing wind speed and the inevitable long retrieves for other models saw only 3 manage to score times in all three rounds.

Gary Law and David King managed only one flight, David scoring a max with his Dixilander. Simon Milan put in three strong flights for third place with his own design E20 while Nick Peppiatt from the Crookham Club managed a max in round 2 to give him second place with his Ferry 500. Out in front though was Alan Trinder with two maxes with his SAM35 E20 and very deserved win

The Under 25” Vintage Cabin class saw 5 entries though my own Skokie didn’t even make it to the score sheet. Andy Blackburn unfortunately broke his Achillies bringing the flying scores down to 3 competitors. Alan Trinder did get 3 flights with his Achillies despite the wind and managed a very creditable 3^rd place. At the top Paddy McMahon from the Peterborough Club with his FA Moth and Andrew Longhurst with his Link were inseparable both scoring 3 maxes. All the long retrievals had taken their toll and neither had the energy for a flyoff so they were awarded equal first place.

36” Hi Start Glider was won by Paddy McMahon by just 3 seconds with his Baby Lulu from Simon Milan’s own design glider despite Simon scoring a max in round 2. Consistency was difficult in the conditions but Paddy showed it could be done. Gary Law managed a single flight with his 100% Gnome

Catapult Glider had 3 entries. This is a class very new to me and the trimming is much more tricky than it first appears, well that’s my excuse anyway. I managed one decent flight in round 4 but I need to work on the transition from the climb. Alan Trinder did much better with his Oxcat scoring 4 flights of over 20 secs and one of almost 40 to give him 2^nd place . Out in front though was Richard Fryer with a well sorted model that manged a max in the final round to give him first place

Classic Kit Scale was the class most effected by the increasingly windy conditions. There were 4 potential entries but David King’s BAT monoplane didn’t make it to the score sheet and after too many long retrievals Andrew Longhurst decided not fly his Auster AOP9. I tried several times with my KK Piper Super Cruiser and after a bit of bouncing around managed 12 seconds to get on the score sheet. the next flight ended in a re-kitting of the model leaving Andy Blackburn the clear winner with his peanut Whitman Tailwind. Andy put in just one 49 second early on before the wind really got going which proved that that was all that was needed

By 12:30 the wind had increased to 10-12 mph and it was decided to call end to the competition and a prize giving was held shortly afterwards

Thanks to Gary for a good mornings fun on the Meadow. The next meeting is 12th July for the FF Scale fly-in so stick the date in your diary

There’s a Youtube video below of some of the flights from the day

Results

P30

Name	Model	1	2	3	Total	Pos
Richard Fryer	O/D	max	max	65	245	1
Andrew Longhurst	O/D	64	max	max	244	2
James Paton	O/D	61	65	max	216	3
Andy Blackburn	O/D	68	–	–	68	4

Max = 90s

Attempts 10s unlimited

E20

Name	club	Model	1	2	3	Total	Pos
Alan Trinder	OMFC	SAM 35	max	44	max	164	1
Nick Peppiatt	Crookham	Ferry 500	42	max	57	159	2
Simon Milan	OMFC	O/D	37	45	46	128	3
David King	OMFC	Dixielander	max	–	–	60	4
Gary Law	OMFC		31			31	6

Max = 60s with 20 sec motor run

Attempts 10s unlimited

Under 25″ Vintage Rubber Cabin

Name	club	Model	1	2	3	Total	Pos
Andrew Longhurst	OMFC	Link	max	max	max	180	= 1
Paddy McMahon	PMFC	FA Moth	max	max	max	180	= 1
Alan Trinder	OMFC	Achilles	43	25	15	83	3
Andy Blackburn	OMFC	Achillies	–	–	–	–	–

Max = 90s

Attempts 10s unlimited

36″ Hi-Start Glider

Name	club	Model	1	2	3	Total	Pos
Paddy McMahon	PMFC	Baby Lulu	48	32	40	120	1
Simon Milan	OMFC	O/D	38	max	17	115	2
Gary Law	OMFC	110% Gnome	37	–	–	–	3

Max = 60s

Attempts 10s unlimited

Catapult Glider

Name	Model	1	2	3	4	5	Total	Pos
Richard Fryer	O/D	35	19	20	20	max	154	1
Alan Trinder	Oxcat	25	28	27	26	38	144	2
Chris Brainwood	Oxcat	15	15	14	22	13	79	3

Max = 60s

Attempt 10s unlimited

Classic Kit Scale

Name	Model	Bonus	1	2	3	Total	Pos
Andy Blackburn	Whitman Tailwind	30	49	–	–	79	1
Chris Brainwood	KK Piper SC	25	12	–	–	37	2
Andrew Longhurst	Auster AOP9	–	–	–	–	–

Max = 60s

Attempt 10s unlimited