Scottish Slope Nationals 29-30 August

I had been looking forward the Scottish National Championships for months and the weekend didn’t disappoint despite the small turnout. Unfortunately the small turnout meant that foamie racing was never going to be a feasible option. 

My new McOdyssey did get an airing on Saturday when Peter called for some practice flying before we setup the F3F course for an impromptu race/practice session.  The McOdyssey went well in the 25mph+ winds. Ewan gave his refurbished Gulp an airing and John Treble also brought along a Gulp and some stick time with it both days. John was feeling a bit under the weather and decided to take a back seat for the weekend. Also not flying was Dave Watson who came along for some fresh air although unfortunately Dave wasn’t flying although his “chauffeur” Robert Carson was able give his Fosa some stick time until a technical issue put a stop to Robert flying for the rest of the day.

Ewan and his Gulp

Despite the forecast for a dry day we had to endure a heavy downpour (Sportsbrellas were left in cars or at home where they were of little use)

Enduring the downpour. Dave and Robert are under the plastic sheet in the foreground!

Rain over, lets get flying

The results of the practice F3F were
1 Peter Gunning
2 George Young
3 Mark Redsell
4 Mark Treble
5 Ewan Maxwell
Me runner up? Could I repeat that on Sunday to equal my Nats result last year? In a word. NO!

I did have a good day on Sunday but my flying in the early rounds was shocking. I flew my Precision to start with before switching to my Stinger and then back to my Precision. I got a little distracted when I saw how sloppy the right flap on my Precision has become but after a careful inspection on the hillside I decided it was sound but sloppy! The issue is wear with the RDS pocket in the flap. Ripping out the RDS might be the only option but this is a big job not helped by the servo being built-in under the wing-skin. What was Samba thinking?  Once I settled down back flying my Precision my times dropped but even with two discards my slow times kept me well down the field.

Mark lands his Jazz

Mark and his Toxic

Ewan's Jedi gets a proper launch

Mike's Precision gets away

Ian and his trusty warhorse Tragi.

A great but tiring day after 17 rounds. Trudging around on the long grass on the hillside meant walking with a “heather-lowp” which really made my thigh muscles ache by the end of the day.