Roaring Forties conquer the 2018 APA Masters.

     

Tasmanian Competitors at the APA Masters
from left Tony Sheppard (RFAM), Mike Rutledge (RFAM), Mike Ralph (RFAM)
and Scott Kay (NWA)

Early Thursday 8th March and I am in the yard packing the VW for a trip to the APA Masters at  P&DARCs an hour to the East of Melbourne.  Carol and I are to meet Mike Ralph (Ralphy) and Mike Rutledge (Ratters) on the Spirit of Tasmania in the evening.  Carol can't understand why I want to leave early, it is not because I am worried about missing the ferry, I am worried there will be no beer left for me.

Ralphy's ute packed and ready to go.

The trip north is uneventful and we meet up with Ralphy and Ratters at the bar on the ferry.  A couple of ales, a meal in the cafeteria and off to bed for us.  I think the two Mikes stayed up a bit longer and downed a few more ales.

My VW carried the precious cargo.

A calm crossing, so we were all fresh for the trip to Pakenham.  Carol and I were booked in at the local caravan park and the Mike and Mike had arranged for a caravan to be delivered to the field.  We arrived at P&DARCS met up with John Tonks and the South Australian contingent and started to assemble models that had been disasembled to fit into vehicles.  Once the models were assembled we joined the queue for a practice.

John Tonks, Tony Sheppard Mike Ralph and
Mike Ruttledge lined up for practice.

Ralphy trying a home brew.

The queue was two hours long so I put my model in the queue and went to the caravan park to check in. Returned two hours later and had a practice flight.  Decided not to join the queue for another two hours and instead went to crack the keg.  A reasonable home brewed lager, if I do say so myself.



The competition started 9.00am Saturday morning.  Sportsman and Advanced first to go with four flights each.  I had not experienced two flight lines on the one strip before.  A flight line to the east of the strip and another to the West with not a great deal separating the competitors.  Two flights on each line with different judges on each.  Ralphy was sitting in the judges chair for the Saturday morning.  You did a great job Ralphy, but next time a couple of 10s in the mix would be good.

Ralphy in the judges chair?  Surely not!

Rattles judging F3A.

Rattles and I both posted some good scores and were happy with our flying for the day. Both of us in a good position before the last two flights to be flown on Sunday.

Tasmanian and South Australian planes with NZ at the far end.

Scott Kay and Ralphy starting the YS, which ran perfectly all comp.

No flying for The Roaring Forties in the afternoon, it was the F3A boys turn.  Some amazing flying in some strong winds.  Scott Kay was flying well with the assistance of Ralphy as caller and general assistant.  Rattles was in the judges chair, not a job I envied, it would be very difficult to step in cold and judge F3A.

A well earned beer after a big day,.

The campsite

After a visit from family over lunch I was at a loose end, so went back to the campsite and poured myself a "special coffee".  Back to the flight line to watch the flying and the hard work of my team mates.  Then back to the camp site to pour some more coffee then to the flight line to watch more flying. Then more of the same. An enjoyable afternoon.

Rattles was exhausted at the end of the day.  Flying in the morning and judging in the afternoon took a huge effort. Well done Mike.

Plenty of secure storage for the planes overnight.

Scott had a good day and posted some great scores which would set him up for the final.  Ralphy did a great job assisting Scott. Both Mikes had certainly earned a cold beer or two by the end of the day.

Carol and I headed back into Pakenham to a great counter meal while Rattles and Ralphy hosted a mob at their campsite.

Sunday morning was Ralphys turn to show the experts how to fly.  The wind was strong and gusty but Ralphy managed to turn in some excellent flights and ended the morning leading the Expert class.  F3A also flew again.  It was amazing watching John Tonks fly in the wind, would have thought there was not a breath of wind.

The Roaring Forties'  Mike Ralph.
Second by a bee's .......whisker.

Sunday afternoon and back to Sportsman and Advanced.  I don't think I have flown in conditions as windy as Sunday.  Flights were terrible but judges were kind and some reasonable scores were posted.  By the end of the day I was second in sportsman, Rattles was fourth in Advanced, Ralphy was leading the field in Expert and Scott Kay had made the finals in F3A.  The lads from Tasmania had acquitted themselves well.

A few beers and a spit roast finished off the day.  Another great day at the Masters.

Monday and day 3 of the Masters.  Expert had a couple of flights to complete the comp and the top 10 in F3A were in the finals and flying the F19 schedule.  Ralphy was just edged out of first place by six points.  Very close when we are talking total points of around 4,000.  Well done Ralphy, an awesome effort after a long break from flying of over 10 years.

The Podium for Sportsman.  Mike Smith, Tony Sheppard and Mario Shembri.
If I knew ho to photo shop I would have photo shopped me in.

Scott Kay made 8th place, a personal best and expatriate Tasmanian Tonksy (Colleen and Jack's Tonk's son, John)  made commendable 3rd place.

Rattles, Ralphy and I all gained a promotion point so I am now up to Advanced while Rattles is one point away from Expert and another two comps and Ralphy will be competing with the big boys in F3A.

The podium for F3A. Glenn Orchard, Andrew Palmer and John Tonks.

In summary a great experience for us all.  We witnessed some great flying and were able rub shoulders with the Masters.........and we enjoyed a beer or two.

Coolum next year anybody?


Tony Sheppard.
Images from Mike Ralph and Mike Rutledge.

Thank for a great trip.