As last year, I was very grateful to Paul Rich for taking on the CD role on Sunday so I could concentrate on my flying, especially as I was trying to trim a brand new model.
As mentioned above, there were no significant rule changes this year, though the flight scoring system is now unified across all the flight judged classes, so marks are now directly comparable. A perfect flight would earn 2000 points. This has meant adding a scale factor to the static scores in kit scale in order to keep the ratio of static to flying scores the same as before. If you would like to peruse the BMFA scale rules in detail, here is the link. Scroll down to page 103 to reach indoor scale.
Apologies for the lack of videos this year - I was so occupied with my models that I didn't get time to take any.
We had only six entries in Open Rubber class which was won by Tonda Alfery with this beautiful Rolamd C.IIa. I think this is a new model as I hadn't seen it before. It flew very realistically and got the highest score in the class with its final flight.
Second in class was Richard Crossley's Nakajima B5N "Kate", but it was was pretty close - the Kate got top static score in class, but a lower flying score. It's always a pleasure to see this model close-up and admire the fantastic weathering.
My new Blackburn Dart was finished only a few days before the event and was untrimmed apart from a few test hops at our local school hall to try and get the glide somewhere close. I had a target weight of 100 grams, which was achieved without a motor on board, but I got a shock when it came to just how much lead was needed on the nose to stop it stalling - 25 grams, which is a quarter the weight of the empty model. I double checked the wing incidence angles just in case, but they were correct (both wings 2 degrees more than the tailplane).
Final trimming was attempted on the Saturday evening at Walsall (thanks to Peter Fardell for the above photo) and although it looked promising, I couldn't achieve a take-off. Planned power was four loops of 3/32” rubber, but this didn’t look enough, so before the first official flights on Sunday, I added an extra loop of 1/8". The first official attempt resulted in a take-off, but the left wing kept low and soon touched the floor well before the required 15 seconds had been achieved. At Richard Crossley's suggestion, I added a small tip weight to the right wing (the one on the outside of the turn) and a touch more noseweight. Much to my shock and delight, the next flight climbed away nicely for a flight over 15 seconds, so I had a qualifying flight in the bag. The third flight was even better - thanks to Monz Lyons for the video below. For the first time out, I was very happy with how the Dart went, especially as it finished up placing third in class. Now to carve a scale prop and and some more details.
Pete Smart's Pitts Special made what will be probably be it's final appearance at the indoor nats where it flew as well as ever to place fourth. Danny Wynn-Fenton photo.
Peter Fardell's lovely Bleriot XI cruised slowly and realistically round the hall as we have come to expect, getting the third highest flight score in the class. C.Greenock photo.
Final entrant was Graham Banham's charming Botali P.A.M.A.
In CO2/electric there were only five entries, which reduced further to four when my Airco D.H.5 flew into the wall on Saturday evening - the resulting crash caused so much damage that I fear the model is now a write-off.
Class winner was Richard Crossley with his 54" span Short Shetland, powered by four Voodoo 25 electric motors. The model lead something of a charmed life as it periodically flirted with the edge of the hall or the pits barrier - a couple of good catches saving damage. It was was also attacked from above by a wayward model while sitting on the static judging table, happily resulting in only a small tissue puncture. Ironically, the model involved was a Lockheed Vega - one of Richard's own designs! The Shetland's fourth flight was the best, with the model launched from the farthest corner of the hall to give the maximum possible take-off run. Danny Wynn-Fenton photo.
Why have only four engines on your flying boat when you can have six? Pete Smart brought along his new Blohm und Voss BV.222. The model showed promise and would successfully launch from its take-off dolly but sadly couldn't be persuaded to circle for the required qualifying time of 15 seconds.
Tonda Alfery had to miss rounds one and two with his marvellous North American FJ-1 Fury due to something coming adrift in the electronics. A call went out for a soldering iron, repairs were made and the model successfully took to the air in rounds three and four, finishing second in class.
Graham Banham had made some adjustments to his lovely Armstrong Whitworth Ensign since Nijmegen, namely adding some downthrust to the motor mounts and returning the nacelles to their correct orientation. The model flew extremely well, getting a higher flight score than the Shetland, and finished third in class. Danny Wynn-Fenton photo.
The Intermediate Scale Class had a bumper entry of 15 models, though a few people dropped out and on the day only 11 were put in for static judging. Of these, just six managed to achieve the qualifying time of 15 seconds.
Winner was John Cooper with this spectacular Lockheed Vega built from Richard Crossley's plan. The complex colour scheme had been beautifully masked and painted. This model would make a great open rubber entry - maybe next year John?
To show that you don't need an airbrushed finish to place well in the class, here is Ken Bates's Keil Kraft Auster finished all in coloured tissue, which finished second.
Peter Fardell placed third with his new Cessna Comet. This model shared joint highest static mark with John Cooper's Lockheed Vega and Chris Brainwood's Sopwith Camel, shown below.
Chris's fifth placed Sopwith Camel in its unusual blue colour scheme is CO2 powered.
Unusual and attractive subject chosen by Tim Horne was this nicely finished Parnall Imp. Despite showing promise, the model sadly failed to achieve the 15 second qualifying time.
C.Greenock (aka "Lurk") has had this splendid Hillson F.H.40 (also known as the slip wing Hurricane) flying well at our Trinity School meetings so it was a shame that the model was damaged before he could get a qualifying flight. The model is based on the Vintage Model Company Hawker Hurricane kit, but of course with an extra wing added.
Pete Smart finished sixth with his familiar BE2c, the plan for which was featured in Aeromodeller magazine a couple of years ago.
I really liked the Norwegian air force scheme featured on Chris Chapman's Interstate Cadet.
The kit scale class remains very popular and we had 20 entries of which 17 achieved the 10 second qualifying time. This year, for the first time, The Vintage Model Company generously donated a trophy and cash prizes for the top three places in the class.
Dave Whitehouse won the class with this Stinson 125, built from a Micro-X kit. Span is 24" and it only weighs about 30 grams. It was an amazingly slow and realistic flyer. To achieve the cream/brown transition on the fuselage, Dave covered the model with mylar first, then applied the cream and brown tissue over that.
As in 2023, John Cooper finished second with his Rearwin Speedster built from the old Flyline kit. The model scored higher in static than the Stinson, but lower on flight score and in kit scale, because of the weighting of the marks (approx. 3:1 in favour of the flight score) it's the flying that makes the biggest difference. So - build your kit scale entry as lightly as you can to maximise your score.
Nice to see one of the old Tern Aero kit designs flying so well - Chris Chapman placed third in class with his neatly finished D.H.82 Tiger Moth.
Making it two Micro-X designs in the top four was Stephen Haines's Pilatus PC-6. If you fancied giving kit scale a go, this would make an ideal beginner's subject. The kits may not be available any more, but some of the plans, including this one, can be downloaded from Outerzone.
Chris Blanch's Veron Harvard placed fifth and won the Veron Tru-Flite trophy, finishing just one place ahead of Gary Flack's Aeronca Champ which won the trophy last year. In the background you can see the Bowers Bi-Baby that Chris entered in the Intermediate Scale class.
Pete Startup got the highest static score in the class with his Aerographics Auster J.4.
Dave Crompton's Stinson Voyager from the old Flyline design had a distinct 1970's feel to the colour scheme, which was very neatly executed in coloured tissue.
I think this is the third Guillows Fairchild 24 that Peter Fardell has built, this time in a USAF olive drab scheme.
Ted Griffiths was a first time entrant with his Vintage Model Company Cessna 140 - another great subject for a first kit scale model.
Richard Moore decided rather late in the day to build and enter this very nice Keil Kraft Globe Swift and only just got it finished in time. Sadly the model couldn't be persuaded to fly well enough in the time available to achieve the 10 second qualifying time.
Peanut scale entries were a healthy 18 of which 14 posted flight times.
Tonda Alfery won the class with this beautiful foam Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk.IXe and was the only competitor to get a maximum flight - in fact he did it twice, and achieved a perfect 120 seconds. If it wasn't for the oversize prop, you'd think this was a very well built plastic model - the finish was outstanding.
Although my Kingfisher isn't a new model, I'd been working to improve the trim over the winter and it now circles for the whole of the flight rather than heading for the wall when the power rolls off. I was rewarded with a best flight time of 56 seconds from a take-off - just 4 seconds away from the magic 60. My next best flight was only 52 seconds, but a total of 108 seconds plus the second best static score was good enough for second place. It has to be said though, that if Mike Hadland hadn't terminally broken his Bucker Jungmann before putting in any official flights, I would have probably have finished a place lower. Thanks to C.Greenock for the photo.
Brian Seymour entered the peanut class for the first time and came away with an excellent third place with his Peck Andreasson BA-4B.
Chris Chapman placed fourth with his Piper Cub - the model's best flight was just 2 seconds away from a 60 second max.
I always look forward to seeing what new foam peanut John Valiant has produced - he seems to have a new one every year. This time it was a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4, finished to his usual high standard and it placed fifth.
Sixth place was taken by Steven Haines's Nesmith Cougar, which I think is the Clarence Mather design kitted by Peck Polymers.
Mats Johansson's beautifully detailed Bristol Scout got top static mark, as it did last year.
Roel Lucassen had brought along a new peanut scale entry - this very pretty Benes-Mres Be.252 Beta-Scolar.
Chris Brainwood converted the Peck Polymers D.H.60 Moth kit to the D.H.60X Cirrus Moth version. It has been challenging to trim, but Chris is making progress and was able to put in some flight scores.
We had six Pistachio entries, all of which registered flights.
Just as he had in peanut, Tonda Alfery achieved two maximum flights in pistachio scale with his Avia BH-21R, as well as getting the highest static score. Needless to say he won the class by a considerable margin.
There was a battle of the foam FW 190's for second place, with Richard Crossley's green example coming out on top due to slightly better flight times.
For the first time ever, I think, we had two Nats entrants with the same name. One Chris Chapman only entered pistachio with the brown FW 190 shown above and placed third. Any other mentions of the name in this report are for a different Chris Chapman who entered kit scale, peanut and Intermediate scale. I'm just grateful they didn't enter models in the same class or things would have got even more confusing! Peter Fardell photo.
Chris Blanch finished fourth with his Bower Fly Baby, just two points behind the Focke-Wulf.
Fifth was Roel Lucassen - his Rogozarski Brucos seems to like flying for exactly 34 seconds, which were the model's best flight times, both this year and last. If I could get a 30 second flight out of a pistachio, I would be very happy indeed, so I just look on in admiration!
The Starter No-Cal class models are flown during the peanut/pistachio sessions and flights of over two minutes are now required to be competitive. Models are limited to 16" wingspan with a minimum weight of 6 g and final score is the sum of the best two flights out of six (in seconds). Eight models were entered of which six flew.
There was a close fought battle for first place, with Richard Crossley's Douglas Destroyer winning by just three seconds from Chris Blanch's Cessna 195 Turbo, seen below.
Roel Lusassen placed third with his Mitsubishi Zero.
One of two Grumman F6F Hellcats entered was this example by Bernard Bruins. This is built from Paul Bradley's design using the tissue artwork you can download with the plan here. There are lots of other designs there to tempt you if you fancy building a no-cal for next year. Peter Fardell photo.
Gert Brendel chose a more colourful target drone scheme for his Hellcat.
The final event of the day was the air race, made all the more entertaining by Pete Smart's commentary. Winners were Tim Horne and Dave Crompton with a peanut Hergt Monoplane, second were Merv Harris and Dave Hanks with a Farman Renault and third Peter Fardell and Gary Dickens with a Comper Swift.
On behalf of the organising team I'd once again like to thank everyone who helped make the event such a success - the static and flying judges, timekeepers, scorers, IT wizards and the door team/raffle sellers who all gave up their time to help out and to whom we are very grateful. I'm very pleased to report that once again we covered our costs and as a result have made a provisional booking for the weekend of 26th - 27th April 2025, with RC on Saturday and FF on Sunday. This is a week later than usual to avoid a clash with Easter weekend. Make a note in your diary - it would be great to see you there, either as a competitor or spectator.