A sports fly and back to a new toy

Its been a frustrating spring that just about every race has clashed with work or life but I seem to have managed to fit in a lot of sports flying.  A trip out locally to meet up withh John Treble and Phil had John switching his models from self distruct to speed- some excellent flying John!

It would be cruel to mention that phil forgot to fit the elevator on his elipse 2T so SShhhh.

Back home and the Co-pilot has his eye on my new Opus GT, £400 for a model feels like a work of art  and has the toghest glass wing I have seen.  The Opus can give any 2m model a run for it's money on the backside butthis one will be my galeforc cliff flying model.

  I've got a 4 day pass for Lundy this year so the Opus should find it's way onto the island.

Champion of Champions race

  First of all I have to give my congratulations to Joel West on becoming the 2013 champion of champions.  I don’t think that the top 3 could be questioned as a top class podium that can take on any race in the world.

  The Champion of Champions race was an idea of mine some 5 years ago and in that time I have devoted a great deal of time and indeed money to making the event work.  The focus of the Champions race was to establish each winter’s top dog’ in an intense race to mirror international events as well as give the rest of us a target of top 5 in each winter league.  I feel that this has been achieved.  Whilst I never expected to be carried shoulder high I did not expect to be accused of financial impropriety, double standards or financial gains.

  The 2013 race was the first race that broke even as an event- just.  With trophies to be bought and the SWSA to be paid for the use of their hill a race incurs costs weather a pilot takes to the air or not.   Unlike the perception that an event like the Champion of Champions race appears and runs itself this is most certainly not the case.

  It is  a sad reflection of those who have chosen to criticize the running and organisation of the event that not one of them have spoken to me directly. 

  The trophy bought for the race is not one that can be returned each year for the winner and I hope that this helps who ever chooses to take on running the race- it certainly will not be me.  I have to thank those who have possitively contributed to the race over the years.

  Whilst I hope to qualify for any future races I won’t be running them.

A busy evening making ballast

Thanks to my mad neighbor I've got had to buy far too much lead lately.

But as a flyer that lead can be melted into ballast tubes!

I've cut 19mm crome tube into 50 and 60mm lengths and this evening started to fill them with lead.  A very handy size for Willows among other models.  The lead is a significant increase in weight over brass ballast.

A day off Willows

  With racing clashing with life and half term so the kids came out for a mornings flying at Whitesheet.  With the car full of child accessories it was time to choose the model that packs down the smallest.

  The 60inch model will be perfect for these times but it’s not here yet.

  My promised Schwing seems to have disappeared for some reason

  So it’s time to reach for my old reliable- Wizard Compact.  Yep I love these models and the cross tail I have needed a god thrashing.  Carbon D box wings on a Compact are as strong as carbon on most, so when we arrived to 40mph winds the only choice was how much ballast and how many stakes to keep the kids in place behind the Sportbrella.

  Excluding the Willow, the Compact is the model I’d have as my only model and Monday reminded me why- including the bit where I had to land without CROW.  Like driving a classic sports car, I’m a sucker for 2,5m span models-It has to be in the bag for days out.

Welsh Open List so far

  Knewts away so in the mean time here's the latest Welsh Open list.  46 pilots up for a long weekend in Bridgend

Pilot Number	Name	Freq 1	Freq 2
1	Ian Mason	2.4
2	Frank Hulton	2.4
3	Mark Abbotts	2.4
4	Paul Upton	2.4
5	Mike McCracken	2.4
6	Keith Wood	2.4
7	Dave Rumble	2.4
8	Andy Burgouyne	2.4
9	Graeme Mahoney	2.4
10	Martin Drewitt	2.4
11	Kevin Newton	2.4
12	Ken Woodhouse	70	66
13	Tom Foreman	2.4
14	John Treble	2.4
15	Mark Treble	2.4
16	Mike Evans	2.4
17	Mark Redsall	2.4
18	Ronnie Lampe	2.4
19	Stefan Bertschi	2.4
20	Alvaro Silgado	2.4
21	Greg Dakin	2.4
22	Martin Newnham	2.4
23	Paul Stubley	2.4
24	Tony Livingston	2.4
25	Simon Thornton	2.4
26	Jason Bioletti	2.4
27	John Philips	2.4
28	Joel West	2.4
29	Retro Blumer	2.4
30	Pete Gunning	2.4
31	Paul Garnet	2
32	Richard Bago
33	Lazaro Martinez	2.4
34	Iñaki Elizondo	2.4
35	Jose Luis Alvarez	35.1	35.2
36	Fernando Moro	2.4
37	John Edison	67	75
38	Tom McPherson	Hope
39	Mick Walsh	2.4
40	Inigo Herrera	2.4
41	Mark Passingham	69
42	Scott Ravenscroft	2.4
43	Steve Hart	2.4
44	Jorge Medina	2.4
45	Vic Eldridge
46	Ian Web	Luck