Indoor Nationals Report 2012 – Cleveland Potash Mine, North Yorkshire.

Photos John AndrewsSince we were so unlucky with the weather (cold, wet and windy) last year we decided to give it another go at the same time in June. The forecast for the 3 days were awful and when I arrived just before 9 o’clock I sat in the car not daring to get the model boxes out so fierce was the wind and rain. Eventually I did though and almost got blown off my feet getting the boxes inside the building. What’s all the fuss about? You’re flying indoors after all, erm, well it’s all about the quality of air inside; ideal is nice warm buoyant air with very little drift. All buildings have vents and when it’s windy outside this means drift inside.However in spite of the dire forecast the weather did in fact improve on Friday and the rest of the weekend provided by far the best conditions we have had in 3 years at Boulby. There seemed to be far fewer models drifting into the side walls but more got caught in the central wire cable junction which needed the helium balloon International Rescue expertise of Mark Benns and Bob Bailey.Entries were a little down on previous years due to other commitments but we would hope to recover and indeed increase numbers for next year, it’s a very enjoyable event where everyone can have fun. Competitive, yes, but still fun for all, do come along.

This year we’ve asked competitors in the various events to provide a few words and photos.

Potash Penny Planes - John Andrews

Kick off on Friday saw the Limited Penny Plane competition where eight entrants battled for top honours.Early on conditions were unusual, as the incessant rain outside made the air inside the dome very cool and most competitors found that their models would just not perform with the normal rubber cross sections. Much muttering was heard as modellers slowly increased their motor sizes to gain sufficient height for decent performances.Shortly after midday the conditions outside improved with a little sunshine which led to more favourable conditions inside, which in turn lead to more mutterings as the competitors had to now to reduced their motor sections.Competitors finally got to grips with the conditions and the models were flying high. In fact one or two were a little too high and finished up caught in the roof support cables. Valiant work by Bob Bailey with his helium filled balloon dislodged the bits of some, but your reporter’s own model is still up there.Times in the seven minute plus region were soon being recorded. The competition was for the sum of the best two flights from six attempts and when Mike Colling and his computer totted up the results, Peter Watt was the victor with a two flight total of 16 mins 02 secs closely followed by Geoff Chappell in second place with 15 mins 58 secs and Neil Stewart in third spot with 14 mins 55 secs.

Winners: Left to right - Neil Stewart 3rd. - Peter Watt 1st. - Geoff Chappell 2nd

John Shaw's Pennyplane

F1M - by John Shaw

There were five entries for the F1M class this year. Bob Bailey started off with a flight off 14.23, John Shaw put in a 6.57 whilst still trimming his VP prop.

Dorothy Robinson did a 5.46 opener, Rodney O’Neill only had one flight of 7.10, Peter Turner started with 4.08 & 6.25, these were his only flights.

John then did an 8.54 flight followed by Bob at 14.54, Dorothy then posted excellent 8.42 & 8.26 which were her best 2 flights.

John then returned an 8.50 & 10.15 which remained his best flight, whilst Bob finished with 16.31 - the best flight of the class.

The result ended with a win for Bob Bailey with an excellent two flight total of 31.25, John Shaw came second with 19.09 & Dorothy Robinson third with 17.08.

Bob Bailey. 1st. John Shaw. 2nd. Dorothy Robinson. 3rd.

Gymminnie Cricket

This uniquely British class just keeps on going, at 3 grams it’s quite heavy for it’s size, but just look at the times - not so far away from the much bigger

Pennyplanes. Bob Bailey managed to keep under the wires for 2 very good flights, whilst Josun Cole took them on in style to take 3rd place from John

Andrews in 2nd and guess who came in first? Well done Bob!

F1L – by Mark Benns

I started to build an F1L (EZB) in 2010 and finally completed it the evening before this year’s Indoor Nationals! This gangly winged creature weighing 1.2 grams laid in a recycled cardboard box was at last going to compete against the best of British, well last year's winner was hanging abstract art in Norfolk and the overwhelming favourite in any indoor competition, Dr.Bailey, had forgotten his models!

F1L was scheduled for Saturday morning affording all some trimming time on the Friday, soon it was apparent that those trimming would try to resist flying close to the roof structure tension wires as collision was commonly followed by hung model! Thankfully we have some small helium filled `Mylar' balloons to persuade them down. Tony Hebb’s #1 model lost it’s wing and tail in one such persuasion!

On the Saturday the air quality was reasonable and improved throughout the session with times by all gradually improving. The Irish contingent of O'Neill & Watt pushing hard the experienced John Shaw who himself was turning the screws on the Benns’ surprised showing in his inaugural F1L contest. A brief set of flights from Hebb’s #2 model proved futile with Benns, Shaw & Watt finishing on the podium in that order.

Rodney O'Neill's F1L gets away Tony Hebb prepares his F1L

F1N (HLG) at the Indoor nationals 2012 - by Mark Benns

"Woosh" describes the event in a word... "Woosh" was the noise of models leaving the hand and "woosh" portrays the time it took for the event to be decided. Three entries was a heartening turn out, with great anticipation and bravado - all failing to materialise. Decided beforehand for safety reasons (protection to attendees and models!) HLG would have a dedicated slot, Benns starting the proceedings with a "woosh" and 33 seconds followed by "woosh" from Shaw and Hebb, Benns continued to progress whilst Hebb bowed out after two flights & Shaw put in a perfect matched half dozen flights of 2 seconds!.Whilst Benns set a new British record for Category 2 ceilings.

All over in a flight but smiles all around, Hebb & Shaw gathered their points in their relentless struggle to become overall Nationals Champion.

F1R (35cm) – Report by Tony Hebb

There was a decent entry of 8 in this challenging open class, the only rule is that the model should have a wingspan of 35 cm or less. This year it was being

flown alongside F1D over Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, so competitors could choose their air or indeed fly on both days.

I thought the weather might improve for Sunday so elected to take all of my flights then, others flew on Saturday and posted some respectable times, so I

knew what I had to do! Fortunately the forecast was not far out and decent air returned on Sunday so I was able to post some fair flights without having to

take on the cables. Bob Bailey prevailed with 2 good flights, I was 2nd and John Shaw 3rd.

These are great little models, they fly beautifully and keep their trim well. However we recognise that at minimum weight they are a little difficult to build so

next year we are introducing a 35cm Entry Level model as the Technical Committee Challenge event. Rules as per F1R ( ie. anything goes as long as under

35cm span) but minimum weight 1gm and no VP propellers. There are plans and kits available, they fly really well and no more difficult to build than a

Gyminnie Cricket – try one.

Bob Bailey loads up the motor on his 35cm

F1D – Bob Bailey

Prior to this year’s Nationals, one day was reserved solely for the lightweight classes F1D and 35 cm which are not compatible with the other heavier classes due to mid-air collision problems. This had the disadvantage that no flying was available on that day for those who do not fly either class. This year, the slot times were split between two days to avoid this situation.

The afternoon session on Saturday gave the warmer air, as normal, but the air was smooth for both sessions with little drift except close to the ceiling wires on one side of the hall.

Compared with the practice flying in standard sports halls, it was necessary to reduce the top pitch on the variable pitch assemblies quite substantially to make use of the 15m available height. Mark Benns showed the way with very consistent flying with a trusted model; Tony Hebb discovered late Saturday afternoon that his model had been slightly under-elevated (too much tail incidence) and improved his times substantially after correction. This demonstrates how tricky it can be to optimise the trim on these models.

I suffered a fault with the nose bearing on my model which had never occurred before in all my years of flying; on the second contest flight attempt, the nose bearing collapsed due to having been weakened without it being obvious. To quote Sir Patrick Moore: ‘These things happen’!

No-Cal and Legal Eagle reports – by Allan Weighell

The Indoor Technical Committee tried to the revive No-Cal about 3 years ago to encourage a cross-over to get scale fliers to look to duration competition. It did not have the impact we hoped but many are still flown regularly around the country, especially in the Lowestoft area, and 3 such aficionados came to Boulby in June to test their skills.

On the day of the comp we were hit by an electric storm which killed a horse at a nearby farm and had a major effect on the air in the dome until afternoon when the better times were recorded.

Neil Stewart had a tough time with his Blackburn Monoplane and failed to put much pressure on the main contestants. Ken Bates posted continually improving times with his Ford Stout, whilst Peter Turner rather ran away with things flying his mid-wing Sonerai Formula-V quite beautifully for 6 consistent times gaining him a Gold diploma.

1st Peter Turner , 2nd Ken Bates , 3rd Neil Stewart

The Legal Eagle has for the past 2 years been our chosen “Challenge” model, much beloved of the Clayton Green club in the North West area, and launched in the BMFA News in 2010.

Somewhat like the No-Cal class we only had 3 protagonists to fight things out. Legal Eagle flew as scheduled on the Sunday afternoon, when contrary to the local weather forecast conditions were the best of the whole weekend. What was most impressive about this comp. was the consistency of the times each flier posted throughout. John Bates jumped into an early lead and never really lost it, whilst John Andrews and Peter Turner were battling things out for 4 rounds with barely a few seconds between them. Come round 5 and 6, Ken posted 2 sensational flights which combined to win the comp. His flights were a joy to see, a beautifully trimmed model circling incredibly smooth and flat, atoning for his earlier defeat to Peter in No-Cal.

1st Ken Bates , 2nd Peter Turner , 3rd John Andrews

Living Room Stick.

Flown on the Sunday afternoon and having the greatest number of entrants this simple and popular class was always going to be the decider for the

National Overall Champion’s award.

So it proved to be, it was great fun and for those brave enough to take on the cables good times were to be had. We had some spectacular 3D aerobatic

flights (classic ministick) as well as several nail biting forays into the roof space way above the cables. Bob put in 2 beautifully judged flights to just below the

cables, whilst Mark and Josun Cole took advantage of the extra height above them(!). John Shaw made a couple of very steady flights to make 3rd place to

Bob’s 2nd and Mark’s 1st. Take a look at the NOC results table to see just how important these points were!

National Overall Champion competition.

What a close result this year. The scoring works on a combination of the number of entrants and placing within the class, with the winner being the person

who accumulates most points over all the classes – so you not only have to fly in quite a few events but also place highly to score the points.

Congratulations to John Shaw who came out the winner with 41 points, Bob Bailey second on 38 and yours truly 3rd with 37 points.

The Raffle was incredibly well supported this year with kits from Belair and SkiHi models, balsa packs from Indoor Balsa and a couple of BMFA Indoor

Forum Reports plus many other prizes – and Mark and I still couldn’t win anything!!

Just before finishing I’d like to extend a special thanks from everyone who attended to Allan Weighell and Mike Colling (both Fellows of the BMFA) for all

their efforts on the organisational front; to spend 3 days on site without flying – fantastic guys, thank you.

This turned out to be a great event with much fun had by all and actually good flying too. For those who enter several classes it poses quite a high workload in readying and flying in all the classes – whilst at the same time providing time keeping duties for other competitors.As always we would like more entries in all of the events though we realise that Boulby is not exactly central, but we take heart from those who travel from far afield – like Northern Ireland - to participate.

At the moment it seems likely that Cleveland Potash will allow us access to the Dome again in 2013, so with many thanks to them that’s what we shall be planning. In the meantime we’d be happy to receive any constructive comments, especially regarding what it would take to get YOU to come along!

Tony Hebb

tony_hebb@hotmail.com