Sorry it has taken me a while to get around to writing about my experiences at the 2011 BMFA F3F Nationals, been a bit busy.
Saturday didn’t really ‘dawn’ at all. Thirty competitors arrived at the Bwlch greeted by fog and rain. We didn’t see the sun all day and sat around in the clouds getting wet and frustrated. At 4ish, a desperate convoy of glider pilots made our way to Southerndown cliffs to try to at least fly something. It was almost promising when we arrived with the breeze a little bit off the slope but flyable. After about 15-20 minutes the clouds managed to drop low enough that our planes were disappearing at about 100 feet up, so we called it a day.
Met up with a few blokes for a curry Saturday night and had a very enjoyable meal in great company.
The forecast for Sunday was quite promising with a warm and sunny day on the cards with a decent breeze on the Back of the Wrecker. Those who got out of bed early were greeted at the Wrecker car park by thick clouds. I arrived just as the fog had dropped below the car park delivering a spectacular view. “Wow, what a view” I thought, “better get a photo”. Searched for my camera and realized that I had left both my stills and video cameras at home. Bugger!
Fortunately some other guys had remembered their cameras and have been kind enough to let me display some photos here for you.
These spectacular views were captured by Tom Foreman.
For me, Sunday’s racing was some of the best I have been to. The organization was slick and the flying was excellent. We managed to complete 8 rounds with 29 pilots in conditions that started out quite varied and became more consistent as the day progressed. The range of models on display was impressive to say the least. We had everything from Alliaj’s to Xenon’s, Fosa’s, Freestylers and Acacia II’s, Cyril’s, Ceres’ and Ascot’s.
Tom flying his Xenon (Photo by Simon Thornton)
From my point of view, the Acacia II had a fantastic Swan-song (I have sold it now) enabling me to finish in eleventh place with 918 points. I have really enjoyed the ownership experience of the Acacia II and am fairly sure that I will eventually buy another one …………. Not before I have flown the paint off my Skorpions!!
Simon Thornton also took this photo of me about to launch.
Tom Foreman captured some video on Sunday as well and has kindly let me show it to you here too.
The results for the 2011 BMFA F3F Nationals are:
1 Simon Thornton 6541.57 1000.00
2 Mark Redsell 6502.31 993.99
3 Kev Newton 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 Stubley 5264.55 804.78
25 Tony Robertson 5198.63 794.70
26 Peter Burgess 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
Fastest time of the day was a 37.89 by Pete Gunning with his Cyril
Simon Thornton (Fosa), Mark Redsell (Freestyler) and Kev Newton (Ceres) were separated by a miniscule 9.45 normalised points for the first three positions! Close stuff!!
Photos of the Winners taken by Tom Foreman
