Now the fun really begins

The contest got underway today following a briefing from Contest Director Pavol Kavka during which we drew our numbers for the flying order. I was hoping for a number somewhere in the teens or early twenties so that I could get the Q out of the way, but not be one of the first pilots to fly. In the end Paul drew 24th, David J and John 43rd and 45th with me the last to fly in 54th.  So not a bad draw.


After a few false starts the warm up pilot took to the skies to allow the judges to calibrate their eyes. The warm up pilot flies lines along the box in both axes at the base height (200 metres) and disqualification height (100 metres) to show the judges what these heights look like from where they are sitting. If any pilot is deemed to have flown below these heights in the competition they will be penalised accordingly.

Then it was time for the first pilot drawn to fly - a German by the name of Holger Kwoczek flying a Zlin 50. We all really felt for him. It's not easy being the first up, but he made a fair stab at the sequence, though inevitably received fairly average scores. After 2 more flights things were brought to a halt for the day in time for the opening ceremony. A quick return to the hotel to change into our whistles and we were back in time for the Pilot's parade across the apron led by the charming girls of the local Slovakian traditional dance troupe. We were treated to speeches and warm wishes by the contest officials, music and dancing, and an airshow which began with a series of skydivers dropping out of an ancient (and very Russian) Antonov AN-2 and finished with a very tidy display by a Yakovlev YAK-52. Dinner was then served and after a plateful of delicious food, a couple of non-alcoholic beers (well... there is a strict anti-doping policy), we were ready to toddle of home to bed.

Check out the video of the opening ceremony here: http://www.eaac2011.sk/index.php/sk/video_show/1

We have heard various, conflicting weather forecasts for tomorrow, but if all is well flying will start again following an 8am briefing.


Paul will be the first of our team to fly and the rest of us will rally around him to support him as he gets himself ready. If the weather holds we may all get to fly tomorrow, but with 60 pilots to get through and an average of 5 flights an hour, it seems unlikely that I will even if John and David J do.


We returned to our hotel to find a Slovakian wedding in full flow. As I write the strains of The Birdie Song can be clearly heard wafting through my bedroom window!


More news will follow tomorrow, weather permitting.


Goodnight.
David T