OLD SARUM -- 12th May 2007 Report by Howard Cox
Memo to self: This report writing must not become a habit for the whole of this season, I must do better or far worse in future competitions.
In the days when we used to have judges out in the countryside at the time checks an organiser would worry about who would turn up to help, were there enough cars and competitors would express doubts about the eyesight of any ground crew that failed to spot them. Now in this era of GPS ‘Black Boxes’ the worries are now all centred on the reliability of those electrons bouncing about in the laptop and recorders. In theory we should have simplified the organisation and improved the accuracy of scoring an event, but as it has now become a one-man operation, just a simple error or failure can cause a problem that has a big knock on effect.
All appeared to be running smoothly at Old Sarum until it came time to download Malcolm’s recorder. For some reason, possibly finger trouble with the recorder switch, the recorder had not worked but whatever the failure mode was this affected the computer causing it to have a temper tantrum and refuse to download any other recorders. After an unnecessary delay and much frustration in the debriefing room the penultimate cure of rebooting worked ( the ultimate was a hammer ) and the competition result could be produced, but what a shame that yet again the electronic age meant that one person lost out.
Flying conditions were not easy with a gusty 20kt westerly wind and the occasional rain shower inland and close to the sea near Weymouth low cloud was forming over the cliff edge. On a clear day I expect the coastal scenery would have been magnificent but all I saw during the procedure turn were the waves breaking at the bottom of the cliffs. Travelling along with a meagre 40 kts of groundspeed for the three legs heading West the brain then had to cope with something close to 80 kts for the long run up to Gillingham past Puddletown and Sturminster Newton. The first part was easy to pick up a feature or two to stay on track but then as the route left the high ground at the prominent feature of Bulbarrow Hill, I and a few others did the classic error in picking up the wrong landmark ahead and veering off track. By good fortune I soon realised I was off track and with a burst of speed luckily regained the track just before the next secret check although others took a more scenic route to reach Gillingham and then back to Old Sarum.
The computer problems delayed the start of the Spot Landing test but not long enough to see any significant reduction in the wind strength. I flew in the first group with Rodney and Barry and so have no idea what technique they used to cope with the gusts and unpredictable sink just before the runway but judging by the results they did have an effective method, however helping to judge the rest of the field, and observe some interlopers who foolishly decided to join in without any briefing, I was surprised that very few pilots adapted their technique to cope with the conditions. No names, no pack drill but surely on a windy day you can’t expect to reach the runway if you fly the same wide circuit that is satisfactory in still air. The only pilot I watch who appeared to fly to the conditions was John Waterman and had he not been baulked so often by the interlopers and abandoned one landing he was on track to have won the landing session.
Just remember that you will be taken way too far downwind if you don’t turn early onto base and will then drift further away unless you point the nose at the airfield and then that wind will prevent you reaching the airfield. I know turning early will make it feels as though you will be far too high and too close in when you turn onto finals but that strong wind can then be used to good effect. Now I know some aircraft cannot be side-slipped with full flaps but if it can be side-slipped with partial or no flap why not make use of the extra rate of descent you can get in a side-slip. If you are uncertain of what will happen why not climb to a safe height one day and just see what rate of decent you can get with full control deflections. Also remember on the normal landing you are not obliged to use power to drag the plane in, keep the circuit tight and practice for the glide landings and even if you don’t start from 1000ft you can cut the throttle a bit later, say on base leg, and so work out the critical height and position for the turn to finals.
Results
Open Class Sportsman Class
Rodney Blois 662 Merry 1425
Howard Cox 878
Barry Pearce 1029
Mark Dravers 2404
John Waterman 2422
John Marsh 2577
John Fisher 2815
Malcolm Evans 4219 (no time score, logger failure)
Landings
Barry Pearce 158
Rodney Blois 172
Howard Cox 241
Mark Dravers 256
John Waterman 266 ( missed glide without flap)
John Marsh 375
Malcolm Evans 388
John Fisher 454
Merry 489