A Rookie in Rhiedt (englisch Version)

F5D 3. Competition German Championships in Rheidt 2009

For the last time this year F5D Pilots from all over Europe gathered in Germany to compete in a pylon race. This time the airfield wasn’t that far away, so I set off on Saturday morning. (Not my time of day…). Before sunrise I did have doubts. Why was I doing this? Some strong coffee and my friend Frank got me back on track.

A cold and windy day greeted us as we got out of the car that morning at the Rheidt airfield. I did have a look at the weather forecast so I brought the right clothes. A good idea as this day would not get any warmer. I saw many familiar faces and the preparations were already underway.
After a lot more coffee I got registered. The competition got started and the first group was already off before I opened the RC box. That’s what I call organised. Well, the competition, not me…
Jens was calling Jörg in group four and proved to us that you don’t need a megaphone to be heard all across the field. I would definitely not be having any trouble hearing him, which was comforting.

I was getting a raised pulse before the start of my run. I couldn’t use “Newbie” as an excuse anymore because I wasn’t, but then again I wasn’t feeling new anymore. After a cut at Pylon 2 and a respectable time I was getting the hang of it and was getting better. This was rudely interrupted by rain so we had a break.

What I find confusing is when the Marshalls call a flying height safety in one run, and your caller screams „lower, lower“ in the next to avoid a mid-air. There was only one mid-air this time and again I wasn’t watching…

The Catering provided for sandwiches, coffee, salad and BBQ. The guys from Switzerland had a great idea an brought a fondue so everyone could dip some bread into liquid cheese.
Five Pilots from the British Empire also joined in the competition, and they were having a great time. We got along quite well and I was able to help out with some of the translation issues.
The planes were checked to confirm that they were according to the rules, but that wasn’t a problem once the scale was known to measure 16g under.

At the end of the day we all got together in the “Alte Post” for dinner. We had a great time, lots of food and drink. The translation of the menu didn’t produce exact results but the food that did reach the Table was delicious too.

The daylight saving time got me an extra hour of sleep the I really needed.
The next day was a warm and sunny autumn day and I started off with a rich breakfast from the catering at the airfield. After adding enough caffeine to my blood I could get started.
I got one more good run before the wind turned around. After it did that I was having a very hard time. The last two runs felt like the limiter cut off the engine in round 7. I was having an untranslatable German saying state of mind thing after that, but that’s how it goes.
Meanwhile Jens was plotting a conspiracy. He arranged for everyone to keep me in the dark about the results. I had already accepted the fact that I would end up in the middle of the List.
When position 4 was called and I was still not mentioned I thought they forgot me.
Position 3 was called and still no mention, so thought oh well, next year…But No! Position 2 called for my name and I couldn’t resist an slight outcry.

But that was not the end of the conspiracy. As the positions for the German Championship in F5D Limited was called I though oh well, can’t have gotten far there, I only attended two events. I was baffled to hear Jens my name again for the bronze medal. Jens was also very pleased with the result, but I think even more pleased about his well planned conspiracy.
So the day blurred in amazement and content.

I would like to thank Jens for his help and for calling me around the course, the marshals, the organisers and in fact everyone there for a great event.

Until next time.

READY! TURN!

Kai Falkenberg

All the pictures you will find here