Welsh Open 2009 - Reflections..

Before we begin to analyse the proceedings, let F3X Insider be the first to congratulate young Graham 'glitch' Reed on his first Eurotour triumph and FTD! Graham made the most of the (albeit excellent) air that he was given, but more importantly managed the psychological overhead of winning Round One to successfully defend his position against some of Europe's best pilots.

In terms of conditions, there remained a significant level of variance during the five Rounds flown. The top three pilots all enjoyed 40 second air (or faster) on at least one occasion and rightly capitalised on their 'natural' advantage, forcing some pilots to use their fastest time of the five rounds as a discard!

Disappointingly, the key Eurotour Competitors of Torp and Rondel flew very well but were rarely blessed with the conditions required to win an international event, placing 20th and 16th respectively. That said, Espen's 37.xx was a joy to behold, showing the potential of the Cyril once on step in quality air.

Bjorn Tore Hagen, on the other hand supplemented his podium position at the Norway Open, by flying his repaired Ceres Lift to a well deserved second place. In fact Bjorn may well have won the Eurotour league out right had he entered the mandatory three scoring competitions.

Cedric Grandseigne enjoyed five excellent rounds, and really showed the quality of the Martinet in the variable UK conditions. Cedric advises F3X Insider that the model can handle a considerable amount of ballast in all but the lightest of conditions, and may benefit from a new (and slimmer) fuselage moulding in the not too distant future.

The top UK pilots faired reasonably well in the conditions, with Simon Thornton sealing a well earned third place with a Ceres F3B, Kevin Newton in at sixth position also with a Ceres F3B, and John Phillips showing great consistency with his Predator at seventh place. Messrs Dakin and Garnett completed the picture with ninth and tenth position.

The Spanish contingent of Elizondo, Plaza and Silgado as always looked to be having a great time, and showed the virtues of their German technology (Radical/Freesyler) both in the competition and during the epic sport flying on Saturday. By close of play, the 'Watering Cans' had comprehensively beaten the rest of the field and deservedly took the team prize!

For those looking to procure new hardware, there seemed little to choose between the established designs - particularly the Freestyler, Ceres F3B, Lift and Cyril, all of which seemed to offer similar performance in the conditions.

The Skorpion again showed its pedigree in 'Big Air' conditions, whilst the RCRCM Predator served to prove that a cost effective F3F model can be flown competitively at European level.

Thanks to the SWSA club and in particular Andrzej Tabero and Kevin Newton for organising an excellent event.

Welsh Open 2009 - Top 10 (of 50) Pilots

1. Graham Reed

2. Bjorn Tore Hagen

3. Simon Thornton

4. Cedric Grandseigne

5. Inaki Elizondo

6. Kevin Newton

7. John Phillips

8. Gerardo Plaza

9. Greg Dakin

10. Paul Garnett

F3X Insider