Round 1 South Island Pattern Results

[NZ Scythe]

The South Island 2008 flying season kicked off officially this weekend with round 1 of the Pattern Aerobatics series held here in Christchurch on Saturday.

The weather turned out to be a stunner of a day, which has proven to be a rarity this summer… With only a few scattered clouds to keep the burning sun off our faces and hardly a breath of wind it was a shame we didn’t have more of a turn out to make the most of the fine weather.

Start time was about 9:15am and first to take to the sky was Alex Hewson flying his electrified Katana F3A model in Advanced. Alex recently won advanced at the Nationals and we were all keen to see him do his thing… He flew some very tidy flights which was enough to take out first place.

Next up in Advanced was Terry Parker making the big step up to Advanced from Sportsman. Terry has been flying competition aerobatics for near on a year and a half and his flying has certainly come a long way. The Advanced sequence is far more demanding – not only of the pilot, but also the aircraft… His trusty OS 160 powered Extra 330s was only just managing to get through some of the maneuvers. Terry has started construction on a Matrix F3A machine and I am sure he will fly much better once he gets that in the air. All in all Terry flew pretty well for his first attempt. His scores were improving with every flight and with a bit more practice he’ll be one to watch out for.

Two rounds of Advanced were flown initially (had to allow for Alex’s Electric model to recharge) and a third round was flown after Sportsman.

First up in Sportsman was Louis Walker-Cuttance with his latest purchase - a YS 1.60 powered Composite ARF 2X2 Extra (ex. Ross Brown) Louis only flew the model last weekend for the first time but already his flying is showing signs of improvement. Louis won the first round but unfortunately Jeremy Mclean came from behind to take out first place.

Jeremy was flying his small electric Extra 330 (even though he now owns a couple of large 2m+ wingspan aerobatic models) but because of the terrific flying conditions he managed to take out first place. I didn’t see much of Jeremy’s flying as I was adding up scores but I know for a Fact that Jeremy’s flying is coming along really well and he should also be thinking about stepping up to Advanced later this year.

Next up in Sportsman was going to be new comer Tubby Yates from the Wigram Fliers club. Tubby is a friend of Al Woodley who is a long time Sportsman flier. Al had brought Tubby along to show him what aerobatics was all about and was going to act as a coach / caller for Tubby, Unfortunately due to technical problems with his aircraft he was unable to get flying… Fortunately Al Woodley had a plane in his car and to help make up numbers he decided to fly sportsman one more time! (so much for retiring from pattern!) Al flew pretty good with his old 1970’s design patternship, but not as good as he usually does with his PGX Powered Extra 330.

After the third round of Advanced we called it a day as a couple of guys had to get going and a couple only had enough fuel / batteries for 3 rounds. The BBQ was fired up and we all had a few bangers for lunch – Thanks to the official support crew for cooking it up!


Results:

Sportsman:

Jeremy Mclean 1st 1000
Louis Walker-Cuttance 2nd 864
Al Woodley 3rd 787


Advanced:

Alex Hewson 1st 1000
Terry Parker 2nd 776

[NZ Scythe]

and a few photos:

[Compy2.6]

Nice write up Moped!!

Now what the hell Alex!! I think I heard you say you would be flying a trainer in advanced from now on to give us guys a chance at winning. What gives?

Richard

[ampEater]

Someone has got to give me one to fly first lol!

I just flew to give Terry someone to fly against. Will probably be flying Gliders at the Balclutha Nats

[coaster]

Hey guys, sorry I had to bail on the first round at the last minute, But I finally sold my Jetski and all that money was burning a hole in my pocket and I had to spend it quick! (See Pic). Will definitely front for the next round. What the hell was Jeremy doing flying that tiny electric Extra when he has all those big toys at home?.
Good to see Al "Sportsman For Life" Woodley back for one last go.

[NZ Scythe]

Hey Pete - I'd love to see you bring your Bad Boy out to the field on that!

Just try not kill yourself on it...

[slosshycoho]

Hey there coaster! havent seen you for a while. I heard that ken has another one of your planes on the repair bench, what is the beef there?

You are right, i should have been flying one of my larger models in the comp - but the big extra still has battery issues - i have a couple of good old fashioned ni-cads coming to fix that. Also I now have paddy's funtana all ready to rock - i had it running the other night, i dont think it sounds quite right for me - it is quieter than some of my electric models! i may have to swap that tuned pipe for a big ole dump pipe!

i have a new plane on the bench at the moment which is right up your alley! a yak 54. just about ready to go - just waiting for some servos. i had the motor running last week and i has totally insane power! see pic - cant wait to fly some perfectly level circuits with this machine!

[ampEater]

You'll have to let me know when you get those up and ready to fly! I'll be out there to watch, be good to see

[coaster]

Yep that looks like just the machine for right hand circuits. Yes Ken has been doing some surgery on my Cap, Came up a bit short on an approach and popped the fire wall out. All good now though. Should be over on Sunday.