Contest Director's Report

Thursday 5th September

Upon arrival at Sleap airfield, the home of Shropshire Aero Club, on Thursday morning as pilots were arriving and preparing aircraft for their flights, I was optimistic that some flights would take place but the weather forecast didn't predict much hope unfortunately.

As always, we briefed and went through the various airfield operations, safety announcements and radio calls to promptly spend the rest of the day drinking endless tea surrounded by aircraft chat with a low cloud base and rain showers in the vicinity until, mid afternoon I made the call that we would reconvene the following morning which had a far better forecast.

Friday 6th September

All but one pilot had made it to the airfield on Wednesday or Thursday, so on Friday morning we briefed early to give us the best opportunity to get stuck into the sequences.

With one pilot missing and a couple of multi-use aircraft we needed to rearrange the flying order in an attempt to reduce the down time between pilots, with this done we finally managed to get airborne at 11:30 on Friday with Thomas first into the box, we are underway!

In the absence of Ben Davis, Thierry was last to fly at Sports and without skipping a beat Nick Riddin started up at 12:40 ready to head straight into the Intermediate class.

As the final sequence in the Known program was completed in the Intermediate class, a short 30-minute lunch for the judges and assistants for a leg stretch, food and comfort break before cracking on with the first Unknown sequence at Sports and Thomas leading the charge just before 15:00.

The temperature had picked up and clocked a balmy 25° in the shade by 14:00, a few clouds bubbling around in the distance, we had a late summers day and worked hard to get as much flying completed as possible.

We’re now in full swing and rapid progress was being made, so an hour later the first Unknown at Intermediate commenced with Nick Riddin soaring into the sky.

Like a well-oiled machine, the Intermediate pilots ran straight through after the Sports class and Andy McKee, as the last pilot, finishing at 17:00 promptly.

At this point we could possibly have managed to get a few more flights completed but 2 sequences each on a warm day is enough for any pilot. So with suspicious weather predicted for the Saturday, this may be the final flight for the nationals.

Following a lovely meal at the Dickin Arms, Loppington, everyone departed for a relatively early night to ensure an early start the next morning.

Saturday 7th September

On Saturday we briefed at 08:30, optimistically I think based on the forecast and almost exactly as predicted, low cloud and light winds kept the airfield covered all morning. A brief break in the cloud, directly over the airfield at lunch brought some bright-eyed optimism but followed shortly thereafter by closing back up again.

At 14:30 we gathered for the final time in the briefing room, I announced the final results, thanked everyone involved in making the contest happen. Supporting admin and contest teams, Judges, Pilots and their families, Sleap airfield team.

Thank you once again, to everyone for their support in effecting a safe and orderly contest, which I hope will ensure we are invited to return once again.

Chris Sills