CADMAC Members together SEBMFA committee have hosted this event for many years in the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley. This year we moved down the A23 to a new venue in Burgess Hill. The Triangle has easy access to the A23, great free parking facilities and a large Hall to fly in. The half of the hall we hired measured 25m x 22m and had a 9m ceiling height to the bottom of the beams and 11.5m to the apex of the ceiling (Which means it is a good space to fly in.)
On the day 80 fliers and spectators turn up with their creations.
The event consisted of some ‘fun-fly’ time for people to set up their models plus the ‘competition’ time in the various classes as follows –
HLG and catapult models,
EZB / Living Room Stick / Gyminnie Cricket,
Peanut and Open Scale / Legal Eagle,
Hangar Rat and Butterfly mass launches.
Just to make life interesting, the air handling switched on about 10 mins before the competition started which created 6 columns of down draught. Not such a problem for the heavier scale models which tend to fly at lower levels. However, it added a challenge for the duration flight models (which we try to fly as near as we dare to the ceiling to maximise flight time). Nevertheless, a tight turning circle, deft steering and staying a bit lower than usual produced a good competition.
We were very fortunate to have access to the other half of the hall (awaiting a new dividing net and there were no other events taking place). This meant some extra space and time for trimming flights.
At the end of the day the SE Area Committee presented Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates to the respective class winners with the Gold also receiving an engraved glass.
There were also trophies awarded for the Legal Eagle Winner and the overall ‘Champion’ of the day – This year David Goodwin won both.
The ‘Class’ winners were as follows –
Open Scale Nick Peppiatt
Peanut Scale Stephen Haines
Legal Eagle David Goodwin
Gyminnie Cricket David Goodwin
EZB Robert Horton
Living Room Stick David Goodwin
Hand Launch Glider Gary Oulds
Catapult Launch Glider Terry Adams
Hangar Rat Mass Launch Nick Peppiatt
Butterfly Mass Launch Rob Funnell
The event was deemed a great success by all of the attendees. The SE Area managed to cover the costs for the occasion with the attendance fees. We look forward to the event in 2025
Full results were as follows
Rob Stanley report
SE BMFA Indoor Free-Flight Competition 28th Jan 2024 – BMFA South East Area
