Dungannon MFC held their first club event for 2008 (The F3p Open Indoor Championships) at Dungannon sports centre on the 2nd March. This was the second event for F3p flying to be held in the Northern Ireland area, the first being organized by the Banbridge Aeromodelling Club in December, an excellent well run event.

The Dungannon team led by Richard and Adrian Boyd, spent over two month organizing and promoting the event, and this showed through on the day. Pilots from England,Scotland,Ireland and of course our own northern boys, 35 pilots in all, battled for the fantastic selection of prizes sponsored by over 14 of the top model companies around the U.K. The days proceeding began at 8.00am with the setting up of the PA system and tables and the various areas for the pilots and models, all marked out on the floor with bright tape. The doors opened at 10.00am for pilot registration, with practice flights starting at 10.30am with each pilot allowed only30 seconds to trim their model and fix any problems before the competition began, all under the control of Trevor Poots flight line controller and John Pearson compare for the event.

The event Competition Timetable was as follows:

10.00am Doors Open Pilot Registration
10.10am Practice flights begin 1x30 sec flights per Plane Judges Briefing
11.10am Practice flights end
11.15am Pilots Briefing
11.30am BASIC Competition Round 1
11.55am F3p-C Round1
12.50pm F3p-B Round1
1.05pm David Nolan Indoor Heli Display
1.15pm Aero musical Round 1
1.50pm BASIC Competition Round 2
2.10pm F3p-C Round 2
3.00pm F3p-B Round 2
3.15pm David Nolan Indoor Heli Display
3.25pm Aero musical Round 2
4.00pm Raffle Draw
4.15pm Basic Fly Off Top 3 Pilots
4.25pm F3p-C Fly Off Top 3 Pilots
4.35pm F3p-B Fly Off Top 3 Pilots
4.50pm Aero musical Fly Off Top 3 Pilots

5.15pm Prize giving

Highlights of the day was Dave Nolan's indoor heli routine, an unbelievable display of skill and timing, indeed at one stage Dave touched the floor with the blades while inverted to a great cheer from the large crowd watching, it's easy to see why this guy is one of the top heli pilots in the U.K. Another highlight of the competition was the Aero Musical round, where the pilots fly their models in time with a selection of music tracks played over the PA system, some interesting music and some fantastic flying.

The day proved to be a great success for the Dungannon boys and an even greater success for the promotion of the N.I. area, indeed according to some of the comments received by Richard and Adrian from the visiting English and Scottish pilots, this event was by far, one of the best events for indoor flying, they had taken part in and has firmly put Northern Ireland at the fore front of F3p flying in the U.K.

For all the results go to www.dungannonmfc.co.uk

John Pearson (Area PRO)