Heli nats 2006
1986 was the first Scottish Helicopter Nationals held in Aberdeen’s Hazelhead park. That was 20 years ago and a lot has changed since then. Aerobatics were possible, but inverted hardly heard of. Gyros were mechanical and expensive, blades were made of wood. It would be 4 years after that I would become involved with the event having just purchased my first heli, a Schluter Junior 50. The event was organised on a bi-annual basis up until 1994 which coincided with the move of venue to Aberdeen Aeromodellers Club site 6 mile to the south of the city centre and has been annual ever since. There were several reasons for the move, higher safety standards been the primary interest, as a bonus there is a lot less hassle to organise on our own site and not having to liaise with the local council, for instance there was always the problem of finding a date that the park was not in use where there were no other heli events on …
This year to commemorate the 20th anniversary we thought that we would run a round of FAI to the schedule from the early 90’s, the previous schedule was too complicated to run for fun which was part of the reason it was changed in 1988. This schedule was used until 1998 and it was surprising how few of today’s competitors had seen it before. We also brought back the Schluter Cup fun fly which again very few had taken part in before which makes me feel old! There was also a resurgence of scale this year with 10 entries all of very high standard more on these competitions later. We also had our first international entrant, Richard Delporte from France, the start of things to come?
As usual preparations and practice begins mid week with the some entrants turning up as early as Wednesday for practice and relaxation before the event. The majority arrive on Friday to get set up and settle into the surroundings. Weather leading up to the event had been very good and looking at the forecast for the weekend on Wednesday evening it looked like Saturday was going to be a scorcher. As Saturday approached the forecast slowly changed to overcast and then showers so when we arrived at the site on Saturday morning and it was light winds, but overcast, a quick start was called for. By 10 o’clock the first round of FAI was well under way and with 7 competitors it was decided to save further time by running 2 rounds consecutively. This was the first year of the new schedule and so it was new to everyone, even the scoring is normalised differently. As normal there were no mishaps during the FAI and both rounds went without a hitch.
After the FAI we intended to run straight into the Sportmans. Unfortunately the rain started and so introduced an extended lunch break. The shower soon passed and thankfully didn’t return the rest of the day. As there were only 4 entrants in Sportmans this year, we ran 2 rounds consecutively again to make up time. This schedule had also been changed slightly to coincide with the new layout of the FAI and lack of a box. This was the first time I had flown the schedule and fellow Scot Brian Nicolas was also new to the fold. Brian had been plagued with technical problems prior to the event and spent the morning sorting his machine which he did and managed to complete both rounds. After years of trouble free running of my trusty XL-Pro I was taken by surprise when the engine quit just prior to taking off into the aeros. A quick change of plug was authorised and so I finished the round. During the second round it quit again but this time halfway through the aeros which led to an unexpected Auto into the surrounding moss, luck would have it an I only suffered a bent fly bar and a bent link as it settled onto uneven ground. It had previously been decided to only run two rounds of Sportmans to give time for the Vintage FAI schedule so any chance of a come back was ruled out.
After a short break the third and final round of the FAI was flown, again without incident and so the main events for Saturday had been completed. The plan had come together and it was still not 5pm. Time for the ‘Vintage’ FAI which was set up and the competitors talked and walked, even run! through the schedule. It was interesting to see the experts flying an unpractised schedule and seeing who could pull it together. There was also a few eye openers to the competitors. One even commented that he had never taken a model off nose in. Pete Christy was the only one to have a machine from the late 1980’s a Hirobo Condor with a mechanical gyro. For his efforts he was up marked 10% but alas not enough to make an impression on the current FAI pilots and machines.
Sunday started off overcast again with light winds and a forecast for showers later in the day. First up was the free-style competition with 10 entrants having 3 minutes each to impress the three judges. 3D was flavour of the day and there were some interesting entries and outcomes. Most impressive was the electric heli’s of Adam Turner and Dave Wilshere. Electric has certainly come of age, unfortunately Dave’s battery didn’t last the time and so didn’t complete the 3 minutes. Richard and Darren pushed things just that fraction too far, enough said! Plans are afoot to up the anti on the free style next year so watch this space.
As mentioned the Scale entry was up this year with 10 entries. These were all lined up at the side of the field for static judging and during this time the fun-fly took place. After briefing everyone on what was required Dave Wilshere took the first run having done many Schluter cups in the past. The only other entrant to have flown one before was Mark Tilbury and this was evident by the final scores. I think we have rekindled interest in the competition with several calls that we should do it every year and Dave Fisher taking notes for running one south of the border later in the year.
The forecasted showers arrived at lunch time just as we were getting ready to fly the scale models. Looking around the area looked like the weather had closed in for the day and most of the models were packed away. It was only midday and so too early to call it a day so lunch break extended again for around an hour by which time the rain had reduced to a light drizzle. Light enough to fly and so the scale took to the air, the rain soon stopped and the rest of the day went off without further delay. Completing the scale flying and also the final entrant in the fun-fly. Pete Christy’s four bladed model flew great and Adam did a nice low level display with the Mash Huey which against the tree and brush background looked really good. Mark Tilbury pulled out a very good and varied flying program showing his model off to the full.
Since it had dried up the models all came back out and the final competition, the Auto-spot, took place. Which was great as an hour earlier it looked doomed. It was a close run thing with both Steve Roberts and Dave Fisher being very close. So close measuring becomes critical.
The event was rounded up with the presentation of all the trophies, all 24 of them. I had an email the following day from Kevin Crozier thanking us for a great weekend and wondering how long Daniel’s smile was going to last having won the freestyle.
I’d like to thank again all the competitors for making the effort to come and make the event, those who helped judging and who help run the event, also Aberdeen Aeromodellers for giving up a weekend’s flying for the event. Looking forward to doing it all again next year and seeing everyone again.
Finally please take note of the new web address for the competition where the date of next years event (provisionally 9th & 10th June 2007) will be published. www.helinats.co.uk
Ian Corse
Contest Director.