Northern F3F Winter League
Round 4
7th Feb 2009
Fastest Time of 36.54 by Mark Redsell
Pictures, thanks to Tony Fu, Jon Edison
Full Scores Breakdown Click here Save only!
Report by Jon Edison
A bit of snow on the ground wasn't going to stop us Mad Dogs from enjoying our Flying now was it?.
Well it won't once it stops Snowing of course, but the Artic Conditions persisted all morning, adding another inch to the Foot of Snow already there.
Undaunted, the 14 pilots brave enough to risk it, set off at the first signs that the snow was abating
Trouble was some of us set off a little too early. Mark Redsell, model boxes covered in snow, returning to the car park after declaring it was stopping and marched off into an absolute blizzard!!
Mark eventually put in the fastest times and took 1st Place with his CERES . Must be them new wellies that did it!
Meanwhile Dave Wright poses with his new model, the NEEDLE. Not the best of colour schemes for this weather eh Dave. Still did OK in the competition, steering it into 4th place
Two very dejected flyers waiting for yet another snow flurry to pass. Not one round was completed without interruption. At one point the snow turned to rain and then to ice. Fullface protection was needed at that point
Both Alan Scupham, left and Paul Foster succumbed to the conditions and completed only 2 rounds
Just to prove we did actually get some flying in, Paul Garnett prepares to launch his SKORPION. Paul came 2nd overall, finishing with a 38.00 in R3.
Paul Middleton had a slowly worsening day as his scores lengthened at each round, eventually finishing in 10th place with his BIG BIRD
Dave Wright's NEEDLE gets the heave ho from Mark Redsell, Yes that really is blue sky seen in the background.
Peter Gunning had mixed fortunes, with his SKORPION. He won R1 but hit bad air he tells me in R2 but still managed to finish a very respectable 3rd overall.
Richard Bago with his VIKOS was never comfortable with the day, and began to wonder what he was doing there at all!! Join the club Rich, we all had those thoughts at some point in the day
Adam Richardson stuck in there for a very creditable 6th place with his RACE M. Well I think this is Adam. That full face protection serving him well.
Paul Townsend didn't risk his Predator in these conditions but chose to pilot his trusty old NEW STING if you know what I mean, into 8th place. Keith Wood just managing to stay ahead in 7th place also flying a NEW STING
Rick Smith was the last of the flyers that completed the full 3 rounds steering his RACE M into 11th place
You are looking at the luckiest STING on the planet. Piloted, or as it turned out, NOT piloted by Jon Edison. After launching and gaining height, the Sting went off on its own to delight the crowds with loops, rolls, and a spot of inverted before being brought back from the brink and swiftly landed.
Jon decided not to repeat the performance and retired the Sting for further investigation. ( post comp note - black wire syndrome was diagnosed as the cause )
Tony Fu was consistent throughout the day with his colourful VIKOS, eventually finishing in 9th place . Tony even managed to take the majority of these photos.
Well that must rate as the most arduous competition ever. A foot of Snow does not make for easy walking, and the strong NW winds only added to the difficulty Still flying conditions between showers were on occasions ballistic, and Mark Redsell showed how it should be done with a 36.54 in R3. He produced a 35.47 in R4 but by then the constant snow showers were beginning to limit the flying, curtailing the round early.
The final results were :-
MARK REDSELL Ceres 2920
PAUL GARNETT Skorp 2681
PETER GUNNING Skorp 2490
DAVE WRIGHT Needle 2391
RICHARD BAGO Vikos 2336
ADAM RICHARDSON Race M 2282
KEITH WOOD New Sting 2158
PAUL TOWNSEND New Sting 2157
TONY FU Vikos 2102
PAUL MIDDLETON BigBird 2018
RICK SMITH Race M 1999
PAUL FOSTER Skorp 1540
ALAN SCUPHAM Blade 1246
JON EDISON Sting 715
RONNIE LAMPE 0
FRANK HULTON 0
IAN STEWART 0
Well done to Mark Redsell, Paul Garnett and Peter Gunning.
Thanks to everybody for making the considerable effort to ensure success. Hopefully conditions will have improved for the next event on the 7th March
Regards
Jon
