Highveld Thermal League
This year’s league could not have got off to a better start.
The first event at Midrand Model Soarers was set up by Mark Stockton
with Mike Spalletta as CD. With good weather and a great turnout
of pilots the event ran smoothly and was enjoyed by all. Mark
introduced a single slot per round concept with rounds of 45 minutes
each, with very few frequency clashes the idea worked out great
and six rounds were flown by around 15h.30. Mark’s report
on the event has probably been seen by most of you, thanks to
Mark and his team as well as Midrand Model Soarers for a very
enjoyable day.
Next up was the event held on 22 May at White Hills. This is
a really great club with excellent facilities. White Hills Radio
Flyers is Mike Spalletta’s home ground and he and his fellows
from the host club really put in a lot of effort in running the
event with Mike organising some really good sponsorship which
resulted in great prizes to the top performers including the top
three juniors. We had perfect weather which produced excellent
thermal conditions which at one point even saw some scoresheets
being carried skywards. Special thanks to Mike for again being
CD and to his scorers and caterers for their hard work. Thank
you to the thirty odd pilots for their support – a just reward
for the organisers’ efforts.
The league was set up by the MGA to promote competition flying
on the Highveld and has been running for some years now. Over
this time various lessons have been learnt and various aspects
have been adapted to better suit the wishes of pilots and organisers.
The objective of the league is to introduce pilots to competition
and to provide an intermediate step between the National Postals
event and the more serious competition of F3B, F3J and the Nationals.
The competition format places a low demand on pilots and equipment
but is a good indicator of ability especially when results over
the full year are assessed. The MGA want to keep entry fees and
prizes at a level in keeping with the spirit of the events.
Of course there is always room for improvement and in this regard
input from all involved is a great help.
Organising clubs have a large degree of discretion in how they
run the league events awarded to them and the MGA hope that the
experience gained will result in more clubs developing the ability
to hold major events such as Provincial and National Championships.
I really believe we can continue with the high standard set by
Mark, Mike and their host clubs and make this the best year yet.
If you have not yet participated in the league please join us,
we will enjoy your company and your flying will benefit from the
experience.
John Nevin
