Monday 19 September 2011

Day 3 and Welsh open Reflections

   Sitting in my car for the whole of Sunday morning I must admit I was torn between wanting the rain to clear, so we could get on with more racing and really wanting to have round 5 cancelled- the hill and wind simply stopped co-operating for a number of pilots on Saturday and I knew my score would take a bashing.
  But as soon as the rain did ease off I was second up the hill to thrash the Willow about before we managed to get round 5 and 6 in.  The ice-cream slope is one of the more variable ones but this gave different pilots the opportunity to use different styles of flying to get the most out of it.
  Sunday really did emphasise just how much the standard of flying has improved and developed in the last few years (perhaps I missed it before), gone have the days where UK pilots would launch, float around for 25 seconds and then attempt 9 reversals- pretty well regardless of the conditions.  Full or Partial reversals, energy management, Nordic or good old bank and yank turns were all employed by just about all the top pilots at different times and to a very high level.
  43’s were transformed into 39’s and 39’s into 35 second runs by a succession of pilots.  Those fresh faced Norwegians have certainly been practising and as always it was great to see so many of them, as with the Spanish.  The Worlds next year will certainly be a top class affair and With Joel West’s stunning win it gives us Brits some hope.
  2 models that were new to UK racing may well demonstrate the importance of thumbs, Kevin and the Pike perfect looks- Like Kevin flying most of his models, fast, accurate and hard turning.  Only he can tell you how easy it is to get that performance from it and how to release the water that gathers inside the fuselage.  The Artist 3, had the handicap of my thumbs all weekend but for me it was one of the most impressive models at the weekend, it’s pace and handling even made me look competentJ
  I’ll put some pictures up when my camera drys but, thanks to Kevin, Martin and AJ- What a weekend!

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