MFW April 2013 | Page 34

As Sarah and I drove down to Carterton an anticyclone descended on the Wairarapa and stayed for the contest duration . When it was all over old timers were heard to say they had not had such superb freeflight weather since the 1950 , s . It was dry , but not as dry as the central North Island . A fire ban was in place and all the crops were in . The farm had a groomed look about it and the surface was smooth . Alternative entertainment could be had at the Harvest Festival running concurrently . The previous weekend Golden Shears had been the place to be . The breeze stayed predominantly in the E to N quadrant but wandered all over the rose under thermal influence . Doldrum conditions made towing difficult at times .

On Friday morning a frisky southerly lasted until start time then firmed to NE . Only a few people had appeared by the 8am start time and this trend continued for the next 2 days . By 10 o ’ clock 15 cars had appeared , it was warm , and a blue sky stretched from horizon to horizon . Open Power , Open Rubber , and Combined Nos , got under way smartly . The combined HLG / Cat / Tip Launch devolved into a Cat event when no other types appeared . Simple Open Glider had 8 entries first time up and seemed to attract it , s target market of older straight tow gliders flown by even older fliers . They tended to wait until the afternoon to fly and it was 3.30pm before the last of them quit the field .

Nostalgia Duration Combined produced 2 full houses . Devon Sutcliffe came prepared with 3 identical Hatscheks and flew early without a d / t . Paul Squires flew a Reich Max Maker with 50gm of rubber as per the original . Devon doesn ’ t do flyoffs now so Paul flew for first the next morning . Open Rubber produced an RD / T , d flyoff flight . Linc Vincent and Rosie Douglas maxed out and in the flyoff next morning Linc cruised away in a nice patch of air . Rosie caught her plane on her head at launch and it flipped to the ground . Seeing this Linc called over to enquire if Rosie would fly again . Given the negative he pressed the button and terminated his flight just on the property boundary .

Saturday was cloudy all day and cooler . Vintage Duration Combined had a dozen entries and was soon in full swing . The sight of Paul Squires Joe Elgin 1941 , Antony Koerbins Lanzo Duplex 1937 , and my own Korda 1939 all climbing together in fairly close order to excellent height will see me back next year . Classic Duration Combined produced a mixed bag and a clear win for Terry Tank . Kiwi Power was closely contested . Rex Bain tried to add 2 more maxes for a record attempt but came unstuck on his 5th flight at 104 secs . The F1 classes were poorly supported and this year will be their swan song at this contest .

Vintage Precision attracted 5 entries and got away promptly on Sunday morning in a keen NE breeze . Competition was close , with Bernard Scott ’ s Shadow 1937 just edging out Chris Murphy ’ s Warring Cabin 1948 .

Individual mini events were only moderately supported . In P30 Paul Squires maxed out and Allan Douglas put up a token flight to ensure Paul got a bottle of wine for first place .

By lunchtime the wind had died and it was hot . Getting packed and home suddenly became important and by close of play at 2pm only 2 people remained to collect awards .

Next year the contest will be held on the second weekend of March to the same format . Book now to avoid the full-up sign some people experienced this year by enquiring too late .

A / 1 1 T Tank 2 C Murphy 3 B Scott 4 M Vincent 5 P Wilson

Classic Duration Combined 1 T Tank 288 2 = R Bain 180 2 = R Anderson 180 3 M Vincent 179

F1A 1 A Koerbin 540

½ A Power 1 R Anderson 289 2 R Bain 277 3 J Selby 130