On the 1st Sunday of the month, Croydon Airport Model Flying Club runs a Fun Fly event at the Fickleshole Flying Site. These monthly competitions are fantastic fun for members who get to fly outside of their comfort zone.

Scoring

If you come 1st place in your completion you’ll score 10 points, 2nd 9 points, 3rd 8 points etc. Your best 8 scores out of the 10 competitions are added up throughout the year and the person who has the highest score overall is awarded a prize at our AGM in January. This means you can have a couple of months off and still be in with a chance of winning.

2022 monthly competitions and how they work:

December Fun Fly - Satsuma Drop

Aim: Drop a satsuma as close to the target as possible.

How:

The pilot has to drop a satsuma as close to a pre-determined centre spot as possible. The pilot places a wooden ‘spike’ on the model, and placed on the ‘spike’ a satsuma. The pilot then flies over the target area releasing the satsuma in what ever manner they wish (roll, bump, etc) so that the satsuma lands as close to the target as possible. A measurement is taken from the final resting place of the satsuma, not where it first touches the ground. Each Pilot has 3 attempts, the closest distance in cm or inches is taken as the final score. The winner is the pilot who’s satsuma lands closest to the target.

Results:

PilotDrop1Drop2Position
Simon1.2m-1st
Trevor6.1m-2nd
Emay12m10m3rd
John11.9m-4th
Ian15.4m-5th
Mike22.9m26.6m6th

Video:

Coming Soon!

November Fun Fly - Limbo / Touch & Go

Aim: As many Touch and Goes as possible  within 2 minutes..

How:

Touch and goes or Limbo require the pilot to touch the wheels in a pre
designated square on the strip or fly under a pre-set tape as many

times in 2 minutes. Each pass must be completed in the same
direction(i.e into wind). Touch and gos must be in the square and at
least 1 wheel must touch inside. Limbo’s must be completed without
cutting the tape or touching the ground. Cutting the tape will be the
end of the attempt, limbos completed to this point will count. The
winner in either round is the person who makes the most successful passes

Results:

PilotNumber of Touch & Goes
Emay25 (1st)
Trev24 (2nd)
Ian22 (3rd)
Peter18 (4th)
Simon12 (5th)
Mike10 (6th)

August Fun Fly - Water Carrying & Short Landing

Aim: Complete a circuit with the most amount of water remaining & land in the shortest distance.

How: Take off while carrying a cup full of water on the wing, fly one circuit and land in the shortest distance over the top of the tape. Extra points are awarded if you do a loop at some point in the flight!

Results: 

PilotScore
Pete+42 (1st)
Trev+26 (2nd)
Ian+15 (3rd)
Simon-14 (4th)
James-22 (5th)
Emay-26 (6th)
Shane-34 (7th)
John-47 (8th)

Video:

July Fun Fly - Touch and Go Pylon Racing

Aim: Complete in the fastest time possible, 5 touch & goes while racing to the pylon.

How: Time starts from the moment wheels are up, then the pilot flies to the flag and returns to the runway to do a touch and go. The pilot repeats this 5 times in the fastest time possible and after the 5th & final touch, the pilot can land.

Results: 

PilotTime
James1:20.5 (1st)
Emay1:25.6 (2nd)
Trev1:28.2 (3rd)
Ian1:35.4 (4th)
Shane1:14.5 (5th)
Pete1:52.0 (6th)
John2:20.3 (7th)

Video: 

June Fun Fly - Tripple Thrash

Aim: Complete a series of manoeuvres in the shortest possible time.

How: Time starts on the first touch with each pilot completing: three touch and goes, three rolls and three loops. The clock stops after a final touch and the pilot with the fastest time wins.

Results: 

PilotTime
James31.06s (1st)
Trev42.06s (2nd)
Ian47.93s (3rd)
Emay55.12s (4th)
Shane72.25s (5th)
JohnD.N.F (6th)

Video: 

May Fun Fly - Limbo

Aim: Fy under the tape as many times as possible in 2 minutes.

How: A 2 metre high line of old video tape is strung up across the runway, facing into wind. Contestants are given two minutes to fly under the tape as many times as possible or until the tape is broken.

Results: 

PilotNumber of passes
James20 (1st)
Trev11 (2nd)
Pete11 (2nd)
Shane10 (3rd)
Emay9 (4th)
John5 (5th)

Video: 

April Fun Fly - Easter Egg Drop

Aim: Score as many points as possible by dropping a Cadbury Creme Egg onto a target!

How: Score points by hitting a target painted in the middle of the runway which has 100, 50, 20, 10 point scores on it. Each flyer has multiple attempts (usually three), to drop your egg as close to the middle as possible. Points scored for where your Egg ends up (not where it first lands).

Results:

PilotBest Attempt (out of three)
Pete2.43m (1st)
Emay4.15m (2nd)
James5.15m (3rd)
Trevor7.8m (4th)
Shane8.25m (5th)
John9.5m (6th)
Ian17.8m (7th)

Video:

March 2022 - Carrier Deck Landing

Aim: Land on a carrier deck without going off the edge.

How: A Carrier Deck will be spray-painted on the runway with numbered areas 20, 40, 60, 80, 100. Each flyer has three attempts to fly a circuit then land on the deck from any direction. You must touch down and stop on deck.

Results:

PilotAttempt 1Attempt 2Attempt 3Total
James808080240 points (1st)
Trevor606080200 points (2nd)
Ian406080180 points (3rd)
Emay06080140 points (4th)
Pete60060120 points (5th)
Shane060060 points (6th)
John0000 points (7th)

Video: