SEBMFA SCALE DAY 2005
Keith Miller reports on the fixed wing and helicopter event at the Bickley club field
Following the postponement of this event earlier in the year, when local restrictions prevented us from running it at the North Downs club site, we were most grateful to recieve an offer from the Bickley club to use their excellent field near Sutton at Hone for the re-run. Due to manning problems on our part, we were only able to accept an October date and whilst this late date obviated the possibility of clashes with other events, the Autumn weather was a bit of an unknown quantity.
We need not have worried however, as on the day it was bright sunshine and white fluffy clouds. Later on however, the wind strength increased and some people opted not to fly, understandably bearing in mind the high quality of many of the models. The entry list was as follows -
Some awe inspiring demos were performed particularly by the two gas turbine entries of Bob Ryan and Geoff Wallace (seen in pic with his F15) and it was extremely pleasing to see three WW1 biplanes all cavorting round the sky together. A heart stopping occurance was when the Sukhoi of young Lee O'Brien had the topside covering of its port wing neatly stripped off during a manouvre. However, showing great skill, Lee managed to get the model back on the ground otherwise unscathed.
At this event, the judging is done by the pilots themselves, choosing what they think is the best model, the only stipulation being that the model must have flown on the day. At the end of the day, the fixed wing winner was Dave O'Brien with his immaculate Sopwich Camel gaining the Towner Memorial Trophy. Second was Don Coe's SE5a and third Bob Ryan with his L39 Albatross.
This year for the first time, we had a separate class for helicopters with a brand new Len Mount Scale Helicopter Trophy up for grabs. We were honoured to have with us for the day helicopter guru Len Mount, who was able to present his trophy to Bob Cook who won with his beautiful Bell 47G. in second place was Charles Daniels with his Alhouette. Bob Cook also won the "Rotor World Best of Show Cup".
| List of entrants | Club | Model |
| Dave O'Brien | Leatherhead | Sopwith Camel |
| Lee O'Brien | Leatherhead | Sukhoi |
| Don Coe | Croydon Airport | SE5a |
| Stephen Archer | North Downs | Spacewalker |
| Bob Ryan | Bickley | L39 Albatross |
| Michael Smith | Croydon Airport | Tempest 11 |
| Joe Barrington | Croydon Airport | CAP 232 |
| Joe Barrington | Croydon Airport | Extra 300 |
| Colin Agate | Croydon Airport | BE2c |
| Geoff Wallace | Bickley | F15 (see pic) |
| Steve Mansell | Concorde | DH 9a |
| John Pendry | Croydon Airport | Cessna 028 |
| Dave Roberts | Bickley | Tiger Moth |
| Barry Thomas | Bickley | P51 Mustang |
| Charles Daniels | Eynsford | Fournier RF4 |
| Charles Daniels | Eynsford | Alouette |
| Bob Cook | Eynsford | Bell 47G |
| Bob Cook | Eynsford | Apache |
| Andrew Hall | Eynsford | Airwolf |
| John Hutson | Sanderstead | Airwolf Camouflage |
| John Hutson | Sanderstead | Hughes 500 |
We would like to express the grateful thanks of the South East Area Committee to the Bickley club for their hospitality, use of their equipment and assistance in running the event, particularly as they have invited us to repeat the exercise in 2006, hopefully at an earlier date in the summer.