Well wouldn’t you just know it!!
All week looking at forecasts thinking Saturday would be best, then a last minute change of mind because it looked like rain would spoil that day.
Sunday was dry as forecast, and windy as forecast. I had a couple of trial launches before the start and decided that for me and a brand new model, 16mph wind gusting to 25mph was a bit too much. It was not just the speed of the wind, but the direction which was westerly and this gives very bad low level turbulence at Bartletts. At the pilots briefing I asked if everyone was willing to fly in the conditions and most were because it was expected that the wind speed would drop later in the day.
A few decided to stay and help rather than fly (including me) and we got under way.
The first few slots were hard work, and everyone flew with great care, both for their models and by not going downwind and risking far off landings. Round 2 did see the weather improve slightly, so much so that it encouraged me to change my mind and fly, good practice with the new glider.
The weather gradually took its toll damaging models. One very unusual breakage we witnessed was when Russell Mexholms model shed its prop blades shortly after launch. This caused a massive vibration which removed the models nose cone and all its vital parts. The model sycamored to the ground as it was held stable in the air by the esc hanging down and acting as a pendulum. It ended up in the middle of a road and was picked up before traffic got it. Fortunately the nosecone,motor and lipo were found so we expect Russell to have it back in the air soon.
After 3 rounds we ended up with only 8 pilots prepared to fly or had flyable models. This meant a quick rejig of the matrix and a final reduced round of 2 slots.
My thanks for all help on the day, full results posted here:
https://www.barcs.co.uk/forums/topic/64 ... 16/?page=2
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