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

Gary Law

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3rd Hi Start Glider and Event CD

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 3rd 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 2nd 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