Leinster Scale Championships June 20, 2009
By Paul Fetherstonhaugh
Photos from this event can be viewed in the gallery -- click here.
The weather held good for Saturday, unlike last year when it poured, although while dry the wind was fresh to moderate, something of a euphemism for gale force winds used by the met people when they make a balls of the forecast, cold in the morning and temperatures picked up in the afternoon.
There was a good selection of pilots for Clubmans representing different airclass type from war bird to light civilian. Contest Director for the day was our own Steve Elster, who mastered all operations on the field from a start time (for him) of 7.45 am to finish at 6.30 pm, and a hearty thanks for all his hard work which ensured the smooth running of the competition. All rounds were completed in one day.
Thanks also to Mrs Steve, Aoife, who came to a gas barbeque, placed strategically at the back of the clubhouse to avoid wind blow out, and who from this cooked heavenly burgers with varied accompaniments for a famished group of pilots. Much enjoyed.
The pilots in round 1 of Clubmans were Mick Murphy with a typically gull winged Corsair, Steve Kirkpatrick a Cessna in blue and white colours (thanks for coming down Steve), Paul Fitzgerald a red and white Decathalon, Seamus Lynch a dark blue Zlin50L, Kieran McEvoy a Subaru, Brian Foran his PC 9, and Steve his robust and reliable Piper Arrow. The results posted demonstrate the fine lines for first, second and third place.
F4C was populated by our chairman of the Irish Scale Association, our patriarch Eamonn Keenan, who dusted off his competitors with his Decathalon, followed in inevitably lower rank by Paul Fetherstonhaugh with a DH Beaver and Dave O’Flaherty a Dart Kitten. Undoubtedly, there is room for more competitors in this class.
Master P. Fitzgerald, age 9 years (hope I’m right on this) took part in Look a Like with a trainer aircraft, and who mastered the flight schedule in very fresh winds, and there is no doubt his talented flying will shine through in future events.
Today’s flying gave an opportunity to further enhance the training programme for newly qualified scale Judges who participated in the training seminar held in march of this year, and the marking system and methods for judging proved satisfactory. Thanks to Eamonn Keenan and Steve Quigley for their dedicated and continued work on this which is appreciated, Undoubtedly, further comparative studies and re-evaluation will filter through when Steve returns from the European F4C Championships in Norway.
Glorious weather is forecast for the next number of days, and as at time of posting this article such weather certainly prevails. Long may it last, as some compensation for the last two summers which were poor.
| Pilot | Class | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Static | Final Score | Position |
| E. Keenan | F4C | 1639.5 | 1500.0 | 0.0 | 1272.0 | 2846.75 | 1st |
| P. Fetherstonhaugh | F4C | 0.0 | 1199.0 | 0.0 | 128.0 | 727.50 | 2nd |
| D. O'Flaherty | F4C | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1228.0 | 0.00 | 3rd |
| S. Lynch | Clubman | 1623.0 | 1627.0 | 1743.0 | 1685.00 | 1st | |
| S. Elster | Clubman | 0.0 | 1718.0 | 1640.0 | 1679.00 | 2nd | |
| K. McEvoy | Clubman | 1643.0 | 1705.5 | 1454.0 | 1674.25 | 3rd | |
| B. Foran | Clubman | 1439.0 | 1468.0 | 1609.0 | 1538.50 | 4th | |
| S. Kirkpatrick | Clubman | 1473.0 | 984.0 | 1201.5 | 1337.25 | 5th | |
| M. Murphy | Clubman | 1192.5 | 1476.0 | 0.0 | 1334.25 | 6th | |
| P. Fitzgerald | Clubman | 1112.0 | 1162.0 | 1250.0 | 1206.00 | 7th | |
| P. Fitzgerald Jnr | Lookalike | 948.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 474.25 | 1st |