We’ve finally got to the last trophy event of 2020, which earlier in the year was looking highly improbable! Well done to our CD Paul Freeman for taking things forward and insisting we attempt events on days when previously we might have postponed. We all now know we can fly in far from ideal conditions when necessary.
Again the forecast for Sunday was borderline and when we got to Mallusk conditions were very poor. Low cloud, stiff breeze and frequent rain showers, but enough of us decided to try and fly to justify running the competition. Sam later regretted deciding not to fly!
The club winches were set out in a north westerly direction and the landing tape was put out to one side, close to where the plateau drops slightly to the GAA pitch behind. This was to prove problematic for everyone in the first round!
Our CD set the event as 4 rounds, 8 min max, bonus points for the landing, allowing one discard. Top 2 then to fly off in a 2 round fly off.
In Rd 1 no one really got away and it came down to the landing bonus. Club Chairman Bill Scott approached too high and his airbrakes didn’t open properly, attempting to go round again he got sucked down the slope on the plateau landing out for a zero. David came close to doing the same, but just managed to get back on to the upper level for his score to count. From then on most people managed to stay on the upper level, but not all got the landing bonus until in Rd 4 David ended up below the plateau to zero. What little lift there was was very weak in the early rounds and it was only in Rds 3 & 4 that first Tommy and then Paul & Keith found better lift and got close to maxes.
At the end of the 4 rounds, Paul was leading with Keith in a close second place.
Paul was flying his aged Algebra 2.5m which he’d had to repair after Rd2 when he creased the wingtip and then creased the other tip whilst trying to fix the first one! From then on we expected him to take it easy on the winch, which he did in fly off rd1, but Rd 2 was full pedal and a humongous ping!!
Keith was flying his lightweight Pulsar 100.
Rd 1 Both flyers got away to start with, but Paul lost his lift and Keith took a good lead in to Rd 2. Rd 2 was almost a carbon copy, leaving Keith the winner of the 100S Cup
