Club Pattern was the first event for 2010. (Is that twenty ten or two thousand and ten? I’m in the twenty ten camp.) The weather was forecast at hot (they got that right) and winds 16 > 18kmh (they got that way wrong!). The winds at around 9am were 30kmh, gusting to nearly 40kmh but this didn’t deter our determined pattern flyers. A look at the photos will show how quickly the ground has dried out and the grass is now a tinderbox. Whilst numbers could have been better, all the usual stalwarts were there. Andrew McEntyre, Greg Robertson, Kevin Hay, Chris Klimeck and Terry Pearson.
Everyone had a practice flight and the competition proper got underway by around 10am. This would be a test for everyone, not only due to the conditions but this was the first pattern event we had run since November 2008! First up was Terry Pearson with his OS140 powered “Extra 260”. Terry successfully completed his round and had the pleasure of knowing that at this point he was leading the competition! Next was Greg Robertson with his “Adrenaline 90” electric conversion. Powered by a Hyperion 4025-14 with a 16 x 10 prop (if I recall) and the electrons supplied by a Hyperion CX LG325-5000mAh 6S pack. At 9lbs the model is quite heavy for the power plant and with the added wind, lacked the punch to carry out some tasks. Next was Chris Klimeck with his “Storm”. Chris also battled a bit with the conditions but finished the flight successfully. Kevin Hay had the pick of the models with his YS140 powered “Magic”. Whilst the model handled the wind with ease the conditions again made accurate manouevers difficult. Andrew McEntyre was the last “cab off the rank” flying his “Swallow 90”.
Leading after Round 1 was Terry P, followed by Kevin H, Chris K, Greg R and Andrew M. Only 18 raw points separating 1st and 2nd.
Round 2 saw everyone settling in a bit but the wind was not abating by any means. All pilots again completed the round without incident. Places for Round 2 were 1st Terry P, followed by Kevin H then Greg R, Chris K and then Andrew M. This time 3 points separated 1st and 2nd!
It was hot, windy and by this time we were all thirsty and hungry so a break for lunch was in order. The girls, Kerry and Alice had prepared the food and barbecue and given the conditions, everyone sat outside under the shaded area. A bit of by play and banter about everyone’s performance ensued but it was all light hearted and in the spirit of good fellowship. With lunch over it was out to the strip and more heat and wind. By this time the wind had increased appreciably mainly because of the inconsistent gusts coming through. Estimations of 35 to 45kmh were uttered.
Fed and watered, Round 3 saw Terry P kicking off proceedings again. Everyone seemed to be having trouble with stall turns, possibly due to the strong winds. Models were slowed right down but the strong wind probably was the cause creating a higher air speed for the model. We’ve said before we can scale many things but we can’t scale the elements. Greg R next, followed by Chris K. Unfortunately for Chris he was just commencing the first manouever, “double immelman half rolls”, when the model failed to pull out of the inverted task and crashed. A later inspection revealed the rate switch had inadvertenly been switched to “low”. That was the end of Chris’ day. Places for Round 3 were 1st Terry P, followed by Kevin H then Greg R and then Andrew M. This was Andrew’s best flight and he closed the gap in this round to within 8 points of Greg R.
With conditions not easing, it was decided to make Round 4 the last round. All the remaining pilots completed this without incident. Terry P winning this round, followed by Kevin H then Greg R who had just flown his best round of the day.
The winner of the day was Terry Pearson – CONGRATULATIONS TERRY! The practice you’ve been doing has obviously paid off. Full scores are shown below. These are the “normalized” scores.
| Place | Entrant | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Total |
| 1 | Terry Pearson | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 1000 | 3000 |
| 2 | Kevin Hay | 970 | 996 | 931 | 958 | 2924 |
| 3 | Greg Robertson | 798 | 866 | 705 | 843 | 2507 |
| 4 | Andrew McEntyre | 556 | 628 | 694 | 418 | 1878 |
| 5 | Chris Klimeck | 800 | 802 | 1604 |
Today was also the first “live” run of my new computerized scoring application and I’m pleased to say it worked flawlessly. Using my new netbook “Asus EEE PC” with a battery life of around 8hrs+ made thingsvery easy. Raw scores were the only data entry required. K factors and the resulting score were automatically calculated, then these were flowed to a new sheet where they were “normalized” and round by round results were immediately available, along with the final placegetters in finishing order. As with normal practice the worst round was dropped. By the time the last score was entered all placegetters and their score was known. Eureka! The system works.
Thanks must also go to the judges, Jacques Wakae, Geoff Hays, Merv Cameron, Ian Campbell (in the morning), Terry Pearson, Greg Robertson, Chris Klimeck and Kevin Hay. Also present were Rob Laing, Richard Cooper and Peter Riall. Special thanks to my wife Kerry for her role as photographer. Photographs can be found here.