Northern F3F Winter League Round 1
1st Nov 2008Fastest time of the day 38.92 by Greg Dakin
Pictures, thanks to Paul Middleton
Full Scores Breakdown Click here Save only!
Report by Jon Edison
What a cracking start to the Winter League. Blue sky, fresh but chilly NE wind , and the forecast for it to continue into the afternoon. As the day progress, more cloud bubbled up, and it may have been this which created the more variable conditions. But the possibility of sub 40's was there from the start, it was just a matter of hitting the course at the right time!
The NE wind meant we were on the slope overlooking the old Saltersgate Pub. This has now sadly closed and is in the process of being converted into holiday lets - the fire has certainly gone out now!
With the weather set fair, last round in progress would be 3:30pm, giving the 16 pilots around five hours to get as many rounds in as possible
In the time honoured fashion, first man up was last years winner, Mark Redsell . Mark set the pace with 46.13 with his CERES, laying the bench mark for all who followed. Mark continued the rest of the day as he had started, eventually being overhauled by Greg to finish 2nd
Dave Wright, third last year was next, but struggled to keep his SKORPION on line as did many of the other Skorp flyers. Jon Edison practised making the whole thing look difficult, while Keith Wood finally got the hang of it towards the end.
Ben Steel also had a less the perfect day, failing to get his VIKING on step. Ronnie Lampe also didn't give us some of his inspired flying, although his verbal outbursts as he rescued his STING from near annihilation was entertaining!
Richard Bago's VIKOS looked good throughout the day, but was pushed into fifth place by the two inspired performances of Paul 'Fozzy' Foster and Paul Middleton.
Fozzy being the only Skorp flyer to really get the hang of it and looked comfortable all day. Whilst Paul Midd blasted his BIGBIRD round the corners with ease. They finished third and fourth respectively
Frank Hulton figured his NEW STING wasn't going fast enough so swapped planes to his ACACIA 2 only to discover his STING was going a lot faster than he thought, so promptly swapped back!
Ian Stewart and George Young appeared to enjoy themselves as always, making the long journey from north of the border worthwhile
Paul Townsend and Alan Scupham made good progress with their NEW STING and BLADE respectively, whilst Duncan Pask only flew part of the day, not wishing to extend his models maiden flight too far!
Meanwhile, quietly going about the business, Greg Dakin showed us all how it should be done, with the fastest time of the day, including two sub 40's and the winner after 11 rounds.
Well done Greg, and thanks to everybody for helping out and making it a great day
Next event is on Saturday the 6th Dec
Final positions were as follows :-
|
1 |
GREG DAKIN |
Freestyler |
9664.73 |
|
2 |
MARK REDSELL |
Ceres |
9460.10 |
|
3 |
PAUL FOSTER |
Skorpion |
8895.25 |
|
4 |
PAUL MIDDLETON |
Big Bird |
8884.33 |
|
5 |
RICH BAGO |
Vikos |
8778.16 |
|
6 |
KEITH WOOD |
Skorpion |
8628.41 |
|
7 |
FRANK HULTON |
New Sting |
8417.54 |
|
8 |
RONNIE LAMPE |
Sting |
8325.66 |
|
9 |
DAVE WRIGHT |
Skorpion |
8118.68 |
|
10 |
JON EDISON |
Skorpion |
8040.22 |
|
11 |
IAN STEWART |
Tragi |
8009.90 |
|
12 |
BEN STEELE |
Viking |
8002.38 |
|
13 |
PAUL TOWNSEND |
New Sting |
7612.54 |
|
14 |
GEORGE YOUNG |
Pike plus |
7491.71 |
|
15 |
ALAN SCUPHAM |
Blade |
6363.62 |
|
16 |
DUNCAN PASK |
Unknown |
3327.72 |
