2019 Aerobatics Nationals – Report

After a summer of very undependable weather with high winds and rain the August bank holiday
and the Aerobatic Nationals was very quickly upon us. A call was made on the Thursday to hold a
one-day event on the Saturday. The competition was hosted by the Roundwood Club with high
winds forecasted as the day progressed. The position of the Flightlines faced north so the landing
approach was modified to allow the use of the North South runway to ease landing.

I (Shane Robinson ) was the CD for the day and was grateful to have the support of the Pauls to assist in the smooth
running of the event. Between family commitments, New jobs and a Wedding there were only 6
entrants this year. 4 in F3a Tier 1 and 2 in f3a Tier 2. However many RMAC members turned up on
the day to watch and enjoy the competition.

Flying kicked off at 9:30 with James flying the demo flight. Myself and Angus flew IC with the
remaining pilots flying electric and mostly contra-rotating propeller drives. By lunch time round 2
was completed where we stopped to enjoy some BBQ food prepared by Tony. Tony was kind
enough to book a group slot in A&E should it be required after our cholesterol levels were maxed
out. Joking aside the food was great.

James flew very well this being his first comp of the year. His roll reversals are up there with the top
in the world. He took first place in Tier 2 with Dave in 2 nd .

In Tier 1 Paul and Gordon have been fighting it out again this season for 3 rd and 4 th place. Gordon
appears to be at one with his model this year. Fingers crossed he wont take a hack saw to it prior to
the Triple Crown in the pursuit of perfect trim ; ) In the end Gordon took three rounds placing 3 rd
with Paul in 4 th place.

Myself and Angus had some great flights in very challenging conditions with Angus winning all
rounds in the Preliminary event. We then went on to the fly off where 2 rounds of the more difficult
F- sequence were flown. Again Angus put in some great flying, winning both rounds and retaining
the National Aerobatic champion title. We both agreed that flying the F-Sequence at the Nats adds
something special to the event and it really pushes us to up our game. Well done to Angus on his 5 th
Nats title. 

Given the 20mph wind blowing out on the day I was really impressed with how well everyone was
holding their Flightlines. Gone are the days where binoculars may have been required to spot a
downwind model from time to time. This bodes well for the upcoming F3a Triple Crown event to be
held at the Carron club in September.

Thanks to the Roundwood club for hosting this event again for the 4 th time. Special thanks to Tony
and Paul for the organisation of the event and to the club’s Maintenance manager Olly for preparing
the field for us; to Dave King for his relentless judging and scoring throughout the day. Finally thanks
to Kevin Manning for helping resolve the mystery of the misplaced medallions and personally
delivering them to us on the day of the comp.

For those interested in improving their aerobatics give this manoeuvre a try and see how you get.
Manoeuvre example – P19.1 Triangular loop. If you enjoy the challenge feel free to drop into one of
our events or attend our Annual Aerobatics open day at Portlaoise.

The Triple Crown will take place at the Carron Club in Tipperary on Sept 13 th -15 th . This event takes
place in Ireland every 3 years. Top pilots from Ireland, England and Scotland will be in attendance.
This year we will also have a guest pilot Lassi Nurila from Finland who place 6 th at the 2019 F3a World
Champs. We will also have a guest judge Nico Bleas from France who will judge and deliver the 2020
judges course to all in attendance. Feel free to drop in over the weekend to support the competitors
and watch some great flying.