Events counting towards the club championship are shown in bold type in the calendar. All slope events are on Table or North Hill, all thermal events are at Fish Meadow, Upton-upon-Severn.   All events counting towards the club championship start at 10:30 am; Hand Launch starts at 2pm. Entry fee to club championship events is £1.50 including a draw ticket (£1.00) for the end of year raffle of an almost ready to fly new sailplane, value approx £200 and other valuable prizes. Club nights are in Colwall Village Hall and start at 8pm. Indoor flying takes place at The Elms School, Colwall and starts at 7pm.

The idea behind our club competitions is that they should be low-key events that are not over demanding on the pilot or the model. Their aim is to encourage you to improve your flying skills and to provide that little extra edge to go further, fly higher, stay up longer or whatever, in the company of other members. We do have a range of skilled and novice pilots in the MSA, so you can measure your progress this way. Competition has always been a really enjoyable element of our sport - so why not give it a try? There will be an award at the end of the year for the "best novice". A novice is anybody who has never previously won either the club open, the thermal or slope championship or the best novice award.

For the slope events a three channel model in not strictly necessary; a responsive model with a reasonable speed range (by adding ballast) is the most suitable, "Foamies" are popular for some events. For the thermal events anything from a light two channel, two metre model upwards with a wing capable of withstanding a winch, bungee or hand tow will suffice. Members are expected to share launching equipment in club thermal competitions. Towlines and bungees should both be 150 metres unstretched length; winches, when set out, are restricted to 200 paces from winch to turnaround, which should equate to no more than 175 metres of line before launch.

The MSA Club champion, who wins the Autogroom Trophy, is decided from the results of all 12 club competitions, by taking the best four scores from the six slope and the best four scores from the six thermal events and adding them together. The Thermal Champion, who is awarded the "Jim Kirk Memorial Shield", is decided by taking his best four scores from the six thermal events. The Slope Champion, who is awarded the "Gordon Waite Memorial Shield", is decided by taking his best four scores from the six slope events. Competitions will be postponed a week or cancelled if it is agreed on the day by those who entered that the weather conditions are unsuitable. If four events or less are held at either venue then one score in that category (slope or thermal) can be dropped. The scoring system is 100 points for a win, 2nd-90, 3rd-80, 4th-70, 5th-65, 6th-60, and so on down to a minimum of 30 points for flying. All entries have to be in by 10:30 am sharp. The events normally finish before 1 pm.

Our Competition Secretary has produced this guide to the events in the competition programme:

SLALOM - This competition is flown between two pairs of gates, set at right angles to one another, in a pre-described pattern. The object being to complete (fly through) as many gates as possible in a given time.

LIMBO - This competition relies on the competitor flying his model through a pair of gates below a certain height. Again the object is to complete as many passes as possible in a given time.

SPINS & LOOPS - Here the pilot has a set time to gain height and then a further set time to record as many spins & loops as possible in that time. The total that counts towards his score is based on an equal number of each manoeuvre being flown ( if 5 loops are flown but only 4 spins then the score will be 4).

CROSS COUNTRY/DISTANCE - In this competition the competitors start from a given point on the hill and then proceed to fly a pre-planned route around the adjacent area. A set task is allocated at certain positions on the route and competitors are awarded points for each successful task. Points are also deducted for each landing out that occurs. The final task is a spot landing back at the original start point.

SPEED - The object here is self explanatory in the title. In a round, each competitor flies (only one at a time) a preset number of laps over a given course determined by two sets of gates. The winner being the one with the lowest total aggregate time over a number of rounds.

LOOPS & LANDINGS - In this event the competitor is required to fly an increasing number of loops followed by a landing. Points being awarded for each loop and landing achieved. The sequence is as follows - one loop followed by a landing, then two loops followed by a landing and so on achieving as many points as possible in the time allowed.

PRECISION DURATION - This event requires the competitor to make a flight lasting for one of a set of pre-specified times. The target time can be decided during the flight. For example, times set could be - 4 minutes - 6 minutes - 8 minutes etc. All target times set must be attempted only once. The pilot with the smallest total error in seconds wins, one discard is allowed.

BARCS RES Rules. Competitors, flying in groups, attempt to fly for ten minutes within a 12 minute slot, using a model equipped only with rudder, elevator and (optional) spoilers. The flight, after a duration as near to possible to 10 minutes, ends with a spot landing. The competitor with the highest score is awarded 1000 points and the rest are percentaged against the winning time.

LONGEST FLIGHT - The longest flight made during the competition is his final score.

3 FLIGHT AGGREGATE - Similar in style to the previous competition however the aggregate of his three longest flights made during the competition is his final score.

PROGRESSIVE TIME - This event relies on the competitor flying for specified times in a progressive manner with no discard flights being allowed. Each flight ending with a spot landing. Times for example could be - 5mins - 7mins - 9mins etc. These having to be flown in sequence.

BARCS RULES - Simply put the rules for this consist of the competitors flying in 10 minute slots. Launching on the sound of an audible signal and landing as near to possible to the completion of 10 minutes with a spot landing. The competitor with the highest score is awarded 1000 points and the rest are percentaged against the winning time.

REGRESSIVE TIME - This competition is the direct opposite of the progressive time shown above.