Piennes 2009

The French Grand Prix was held over the weekend of the 4th and 5th of July at the wonderful, purpose built, flying site at Piennes. This was our sixth time at the competition and we had high hope of a good performance.

Mike and Sharon North met Jill and I at Dover for the channel crossing and together we travelled out to Piennes. Our journey out was uneventful as we took the payage route which has always been worth the extra cost because there are seldom any hold ups en route. We arrived at about 4pm. This year we had elected to camp on site. The weather was fabulous with light winds and almost 300C. The tents were pitched in pretty quick time then it was off to the circle for a practice. The good weather really does suit F2C models with both the No1 and No2 models circulating at around the 18 seconds for 10 laps mark. The way we set these models is to leave them lightly “Soft” and expect that they will heat up in a race and go faster. Our No1 model uses a pressure fed fuel system with a pressure operated valve between the engine and the tank. It is a superb piece of engineering and proved to be the equal of anything else there. Following the practice session it was back to the tent for a barbecue and a couple of beers, a very pleasant evening.

Our first round race was at 14:45 on the Saturday and for this race we chose to use the good gear. It is such a good feeling when everything works almost perfectly. The stops were on time and the motor started well (Not first flick every time but close), we achieved a personal best time in this race of 3:18.4 – to say we were happy is an understatement! I was a bit worried at the end because the main display board failed to stop at the end of our race and showed 99 laps. But it was just a bit of finger trouble with the time keepers, the official time stood. Our time was good enough for third place overall and an almost guaranteed place in the semi finals. The two teams ahead of us after the qualifying rounds were the top two French teams; both were finalists in last year’s World Championships.

We elected to use the No2 model for the remaining heats and despite running beautifully in practice; the setting was rubbish once we got in the race causing us to retire at lap 71. We tested after the heat and established a good setting once again – it would appear that there must have been some muck floating about in the fuel system.

On the Saturday evening there was the traditional banquet held in a function room about a mile from the flying site. It was a cold buffet with lashings of red wine and another highly sociable evening. The weather was so good that we sat out and had a night cap. The evening sky was lit up by a fantastic firework display celebrating Bastille Day (we were confused by the date too!). Round 3 started at 08:30 Sunday morning. We were not first on for a change. The No2 model behaved itself this time although it was a bit slower than the other we still recorded 3:29.6. None of the teams improved significantly in the remaining heats of round 3 which left us still in third place.
The semis were fast and furious. Despite a tweak to the port prime, the No1 model still wouldn’t quite start first flick and at this level of competition that’s what we needed. A 3:20.1 in round 1 of the semis kept us in third position with a place in the final beckoning. It was all or nothing in the second semi so we went for it the motor still didn’t quite catch and a slower time of 3:26.7 the result. It wasn’t until the last race that we got knocked out of the final, the French father and son team of Perret/Perret sneaked in a 3:15.5 and then in a reflight the joint Belgian/Swiss team (3:16.3) edged us another place lower. Fifth overall was easily our best position and all of our times under 3:30 (a perpetual target of ours).

As we waited for the final, the sky was getting darker and darker and it became clear that the heavens were about to open so the sensible decision was taken not to fly the final, control lines and lightning don’t mix!! The result was declared on heat times. One of the great things about this competition is that all competitors and officials get a present from the organisers, the higher up the results table you are, the more significant the prize. We received a bottle of wine and a small hamper with sweets, pate and other odds and sods in it. The prize giving was held in the clubhouse whilst the thunder and lightning pounded the field outside – and then it was gone! Jill and I had a barbecue made up of what we had left with the obligatory bottle of vin rouge. This had been a very busy day with lots of good flying and I was knackered. Mike and Shaz had left early to catch the late evening ferry but Jill and I had decided to stay the extra night and take a more leisurely drive up on the Monday. I was really glad we had made that decision.

 

As with the drive down, the return journey was completely trouble free, we met the ferry on time and even had a reasonable run around the M25, getting home about 19:00. This had been a wonderful weekend and the team of Barker/North were extremely happy with what we had achieved. We now need to consolidate the performance back here in the UK (If we ever get some good weather) with an eye on selection for the World Championships next year in Hungary.

Chris Barker