NORTHERN IRELAND MODEL SOARING ASSOCIATION
(NIMSA)
NAVIGATION
EVENT REPORTS 2007:
(2006 Results can be found here)
(2005 Results can be found here)
Slope Event 18th Feb 2007
First event of the year and I was unable to attend due to family commitments! The wind was blowing ESE, so slightly off the bowl although it was flyable. Paul, Jimmy and Mike flew off the bowl. Paul due to work commitments meaning he was leaving early and Mike and Jimmy didn't fancy the climb on to the shoulder. Tommy, Sam and a couple of others went up on to the shoulder and had slightly better air. Apparently a good day had by all ( Thanks to Paul Freeman for updating me on what happened)
Slope Event 4th March 2007
As far as I know nobody flew!. Howling gales and pouring rain!!!!!!
Thermal & Electric 1st April 2007
Great weather, sunny with light winds. Although, the wind direction was a little cross field and caused some problems with chutes ending up in trees!
As per the discussion at the AGM, thermal was flown first. Two winches were set up and flying commenced at about 1pm. There was a small amount of first event carnage, with Bill Scott lucky to only slightly damage his Diamond Cloud after a short, very fraught flight with what appeared to be a very rearward CG! Damage was limited to removing a tip panel and it will be in the air again very soon. In round 2 Jimmy Taylor wasn't so lucky , with a wing fold at the top of the line and a terminal dive in to the ground. The nose required digging out and the plane is probably a write off.
Paul Freeman very generously allowed Paul Taylor to fly his new Soprano and lived to regret it as Paul T won the comp with a perfect 3000. Paul F finishing in 3rd place.
Full results below:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Paul Taylor | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | 1 |
| Andrew Wallace | 1000 | 764 | 1000 | 2764 | 2 |
| Paul Freeman | 692 | 1000 | 1000 | 2692 | 3 |
| Tommy Magee | 856 | 1000 | 572 | 2428 | 4 |
| Frank Jackson | 667 | 625 | 733 | 2025 | 5 |
| Bob McIvor | 594 | 975 | 225 | 1794 | 6 |
| Adam Gilliland | 439 | 411 | 839 | 1689 | 7 |
| Mike Leonard | 475 | 533 | 644 | 1652 | 8 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 531 | 477 | 614 | 1622 | 9 |
| Sam Phenix | 503 | 467 | 422 | 1392 | 10 |
| Bill Scott | crashed | 11 |
Electric was the flown to the new rules of 45 sec motor run for brushless and 90 seconds for brushed, followed by a 10 min soaring flight. All within a 15 minute slot. Certainly made soaring more important, but the motor run allowances made for some neck breaking altitudes. or the next electric comp we plan to reduce it to 30 sec for brushless, 45 for brushed and 8min soaring, in a 12 min slot. Good mix of models and no single type seems to have a significant advantage.
Full Results:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Total | Placing |
| Andrew Wallace | 1000 | 976 | 1976 | 1 |
| Paul Taylor | 986 | 986 | 1802 | 2 |
| Paul Freeman | 799 | 1000 | 1799 | 3 |
| Tommy Magee | 614 | 598 | 1212 | 4 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 513 | 405 | 918 | 5 |
| Mike Leonard | 203 | 231 | 434 | 6 |
Congratulations to all winners. Next comp is 100S on the 15th April - NO ELECTRIC
100S Cup Event 15/04//07
This event started put looking as if it wouldn't happen. When we arrived there was a large group of footballers training and the cloud base was very low (~ 700ft). On asking the groundstaff, we were told the footballers would be there until at least 1pm. A few people had flights with electric models at the top end of the ground, but at 1pm the footballers were still there and a cold wind had picked up!
Finally at about 1.15 the footballers left and a few gaps were to be seen in the cloud. The winches were set out and we started the competition at about 1.45pm, nearly 2 hours late!!!. The weather rapidly improved, but flying conditions were very changeable, with good lift being immediately followed by MASSIVE sink. We flew 4 rounds to allow a discard. Ronnie Armstrong flew all 4 rounds with a 60" handlaunch model. Results are below:
| Pilot | Rd1 | Rd2 | Rd3 | Rd4 | Total | Placing |
| Frank Jackson | 792 | 594 | 536 | 1922 | 6 | |
| Adam Gilliland | 392 | 372 | 540 | 1304 | 9 | |
| Mike Leonard | 642 | 420 | 972 | 2034 | 5 | |
| Tommy Magee | 1000 | 686 | 1000 | 2686 | 3 | |
| Jimmy Taylor | 875 | 1000 | 978 | 2853 | 2 | |
| Paul Freeman | 972 | 718 | 914 | 2604 | 4 | |
| Sam Phenix | 1000 | 1000 | 914 | 2914 | 1 | |
| Bob McIvor | 483 | 682 | 504 | 1669 | 8 | |
| Ronnie Armstrong | 642 | 681 | 538 | 1861 | 7 |
Sam Phenix wins the first 100S event of the year. Next 100S is 10th June
100S Boyce Trophy.
Having lost the last 3 comps to bad weather, mainly high winds, it was a pleasant relief to arrive at the field to warm sunshine and light breeze. As I had family commitments, I helped set up the winches and then Paul Freeman took over as CD for the day.
Thermals seemed to be popping off everywhere and the comp was a bit of a lottery with some hitting lift and others just missing it, although this seemed to even out over the rounds. Five rounds of 6 minutes were flown with worst score being discarded. Only major problem of the day occurred when Jimmy Taylors' battery and receiver decided they didn't like his launch technique and ejected themselves at the top of the line! The model thermalled away nicely downwind and was recovered virtually unscathed.
Full results as follows:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Total | Placing |
| Sam Phenix | 400 | 977 | 1000 | 1000 | 3377 | 2 | |
| Jimmy Taylor | 367 | 497 | 756 | 0 | 1815 | 7 | |
| Bob McIvor | 628 | 994 | 737 | 940 | 3299 | 3 | |
| Ronnie Armstrong | 930 | 264 | 558 | 400 | 2152 | 5 | |
| Mike Leonard | 294 | 353 | 465 | 917 | 2029 | 6 | |
| Frank Jackson | 858 | 517 | 0 | 0 | 1375 | 8 | |
| Tommy Magee | 723 | 898 | 1000 | 446 | 3073 | 4 | |
| Paul Freeman | 1000 | 1000 | 997 | 731 | 3728 | 1 |
Paul Freeman wins the Boyce Trophy for 100S
Next competition is the Open Championship on the 24th of June
Open Thermal Championship 25/06/07
The forecast didn't look promising for this event, with high winds and rain the order of the day. In the end the winds stayed light and only occasional light drizzle caused any problems. 9 pilots turned out and with the poor forecast, the CD decided on only 3 rounds of 6 minute duration flying. The competition was close for the top 3 spots with rest lagging a bit behind. Only point of excitement during the day, was the covering coming loose on Tommy Magee's Eliminator 134 wingtip on launch and flapping throughout his flight!
Full Results follow:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Paul Freeman | 997 | 1000 | 1000 | 2997 | 1 |
| Bob McIvor | 997 | 550 | 1000 | 2547 | 2 |
| Sam Phenix | 964 | 475 | 1000 | 2439 | 3 |
| Tommy Magee | 614 | 504 | 797 | 1915 | 4 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 481 | 879 | 500 | 1860 | 5 |
| Ronnie Armstrong | 1000 | 545 | 267 | 1812 | 6 |
| Andrew Wallace | 375 | 395 | 950 | 1720 | 7 |
| Adam Gilliland | 394 | 326 | 375 | 1160 | 8 |
| Mike Leonard | 394 | 326 | 375 | 1095 | 9 |
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click on image for a larger view
Thermal & Electric 22nd July 2007
A bit of a late start as we didn't get the first flight off until about 1pm. Wind started off as WNW, very light and fickle. After round 1 the wind switched a full 180 degrees and we had to move the winches around. After 3 rounds of open, we started the electric comp, but at the end of round 1 the forecast showers started and we packed up for the day.
Full results as follows:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Bob McIvor | 479 | 525 | 967 | 1971 | 5 |
| Andrew Wallace | 674 | 1000 | 353 | 2027 | 4 |
| Paul Freeman | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | 1 |
| Sam Phenix | 1000 | 1000 | 997 | 2997 | 2 |
| Bill Scott | 367 | 412 | 133 | 1939 | 6 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 356 | 255 | 711 | 1322 | 7 |
| Mike Leonard | 741 | 264 | 233 | 1238 | 8 |
| Paul Taylor | 451 | 1000 | 997 | 2448 | 3 |
Paul Freeman wins this comp with a perfect 3000 and only 1 second dropped in 1080!
sorry, no pics
Thermal & Electric 5th Aug 2007
Yet another competition lost to bad weather. Today it was very heavy rain!
Thermal & Electric 2nd Sept 2007
Forecast early in the week preceeding this didn't look great, but as the event got closer the forecast improved. We arrived at lunchtime to find quite a stiff breeze, but after about 20mins this decreased to a very gentle breeze and only got stronger during round 4 of the Open. 4 rounds of Open were flown, allowing a discard (in red). Full results were:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 |
Rd 4 |
Total | Placing |
| Paul Freeman | 1000 | 855 | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | 1 |
| Paul Taylor | 639 | 1000 | 997 | - | 2636 | 4 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 569 | 614 | 722 | 408 | 1905 | 6 |
| Sam Phenix | 907 | 811 | 992 | 439 | 2710 | 3 |
| Tommy Magee | 780 | 994 | 997 | 575 | 2771 | 2 |
| Mike Leonard | 406 | 422 | 553 | 344 | 1381 | 7 |
| Frank Jackson | 238 | 731 | 606 | 583 | 1920 | 5 |
| Bill Scott | 363 | 297 | 444 | 411 | 1218 | 8 |
Paul Freeman wins this comp.
Only 3 rounds of electric were flown as the wind continued to pick up. The format was 30 sec motor run for brushless and 1 min for brushed, followed by an 8 minute thermal flight.
Results:
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Paul Taylor | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 | 1 |
| Paul Freeman | 953 | 923 | 946 | 2822 | 2 |
| Mike Leonard | 262 | 145 | 167 | 574 | 5 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 344 | 644 | 351 | 1339 | 4 |
| Tommy Magee | 421 | 762 | 464 | 1647 | 3 |
click for a bigger image
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Thermal & Electric 16th Sept 2007
Unable to fly due to high winds and VERY heavy rain!
Thermal & Electric 30th Sept 2007
The forecast wasn't promising, but on arrival there was only a light breeze and a few odd spots of rain.
7 flew in Open Thermal and 7 in electric. Results as follows:
Open Thermal
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Sam Phenix | 955 | 959 | 673 | 2587 | 2 |
| Paul Freeman | 1000 | 626 | 676 | 2302 | 4 |
| Frank Jackson | 808 | 1000 | 539 | 2347 | 3 |
| Bill Scott | 808 | 577 | 433 | 1818 | 7 |
| Mike Leonard | 746 | 592 | 760 | 2098 | 5 |
| Adam Gilliland | 714 | 568 | 564 | 1846 | 6 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 832 | 781 | 1000 | 2613 | 1 |
Jimmy won with an excellent third round flight when nobody else could find good air. This is his first win of the year and he says his only win last year was the final competition too!
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Electric
| Pilot | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Total | Placing |
| Ronnie Armstrong | 518 | - | - | 518 | 6 |
| Sam Phenix | 1000 | 1000 | 783 | 2783 | 1 |
| Jimmy Taylor | 595 | 403 | 580 | 1578 | 5 |
| Mike Leonard | 174 | 108 | 139 | 421 | 7 |
| Paul Freeman | 761 | 939 | 1000 | 2700 | 2 |
| Adam Gilliland | 618 | 708 | 814 | 2140 | 4 |
| Paul Taylor | 814 | 718 | 616 | 2148 | 3 |
Sam wins the electric.
That concludes the thermal/electric season, we move on to the slopes on the 14th of October.