Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th August proved to be busy for some DMAC members.

On the Saturday we had been invited by 527 (Dunfermline) Headquarters Squadron and 239 (Fife) Transport Squadron of the Royal Logistic Corps to provide a display at the Dunfermline Army Reserve Open Day. Unfortunately it was not possible to fly at the venue due to space restrictions so we provided a static display in the “Garage”. With 42 activities all vying for attention most visitors only spent a short time looking at the models on display and talking to the members present. Iain Ward spent a large part of the day “wet covering” with tissue a vintage free flight model, showing that this skill is still used when appropriate. Mike Rouse, Dave Anderson and David Hambley were on hand to talk to and answer questions from the visitors.

Unlike our last display at the Dunfermline public park the weather was kind with mainly bright sunshine streaming onto the stand and a comfortable 18C temperature and it was not blowing a hoolie. A good day!

Sunday 16th saw Jim Arnott and David Hambley competing in the Jubilee Quaich contest at the SAA free flight site on the Pentland Hills. Weather conditions were good with regular sunny periods. Jim flying a mini vintage rubber powered model used the conditions to great effect and quickly reached the target time for each of the three flights, a “Full House”. Unfortunately the final flight ended  in a tree and was seriously damaged during recovery, this meant that if other competitors achieved full houses Jim would be unable to fly in the tie breaker (Fly Off) at the end of the contest.

David flew his Superpearlite electric powered model that had been on display the day before at the Open Day. Unfortunately a repair had caused the rigging of the model to change slightly resulting in a poor glide during check flights. David therefore entered his other electric model Super Pearl which was spot on trim and comfortably reached the target time of two out of three flights. The third flight however was disqualified due to a overrun by the electric motor caused by a mis set timer. The model was recovered as quickly as possible and the second attempt was taken with 2 minutes to the end of the contest. The launch was too vertical so that the model did not get into its preset flight pattern straight away and so did not climb to it’s usual height, resulting in a failed flight. Since no other competitors had achieved full houses no fly off was needed thus Jim lifted the trophy and David was second. Another good day.

This annual event was held on 27 – 28th June at the SAA Free Flight site in the Pentland Hills and was attended by DMAC members Jim Arnott and David Hambley. Boyed up by the recent successful trip to the British Nationals expectations were high for further success. Competitors arrived from Perth, Edinburgh, Paisley, Hamilton and Dumfries. There were also two visitors from Newcastle. Unfortunately the weather provided difficult flying conditions both days with the Sunday being particularly taxing.

Saturday started well with bright sunshine and light wind (4metre/Second) but this was set to increase during the day. Jim continued his winning form topping the scores in the F1a glider event. David on the other hand overcompensated for a poor launch at the British Nationals resulting in 2 poor launches of a different type and the wooden spoon. Our friends from the South had a good day completely dominating the Power events with Mick winning Vintage and Alan the Slow Open competitions.

Allan launches his Slowquell K&B 20 powered Slow Open Power model, Mick is timekeeping.

As forecast the wind on Sunday was considerably higher (6m/S) resulting in vicious  turbulence from an upwind conifer plantation. As expected Mike and Alan did not make the long journey this day. David flew his new electric powered Super Pearlite as an F1q in the Combined Power event. Jim again topped the charts flying his glow engine powered Dixielander but David was pleased with the performance of the Super Pearlite and secured the second spot.

By lunch time the wind strength had increased further (9m/S) but Bruce put in three exceptional flights during the windiest part of the day to clinch the Combined Rubber event. Since no one had put in any flights in the Combined Glider event the competitors agreed to use a DT fly off at the end of the day in the hope that the wind might moderate during the afternoon. This proved to be the case and so just after 17:00 Bruce (from Perth) Jim and David went out to do battle.

Bruce (Sans Egal), Jim (Enlarged Caprice) and David (Old Peculiar) just before the DT Fly Off.

David was first away but his towline did not release from the model resulting in an attempt. The re flight was also unsuccessful due to a setup error on the model, so his final score was zero. Jim now tried his luck and got a good tow but could not disengage the towline. This resulted in excessive stress on the model’s wing which exploded under the pressure, another null score. Bruce just had to get his model up and off and clock a few seconds flight time to win. This he did handsomely with an excellent tow,  release and glide for the conditions.

By the time the prize giving was over and all models recovered the sun was shining and the wind moderating rapidly. This was just the time for the weary competitors to leave for home!

Report: David Hambley. Photos: Davie Hearn.