THE DORCOL CUP FOR F1D. BELGRADE. 27.08.05.

Bob Bailey, Clive King, Geoffrey Lefever and I flew out of Heathrow for this event after seeing it advertised on the FAI website and with shots of the hall on the ‘Modelar' site as well.

Our main contact beforehand was Voja Stojkovic, aided by Slobodan Midic and both greeted us at the airport, together with several other fliers, officials, a charming translator and friends. We had graciously been allowed extra practice time for two days before the contest and much had been done to make us feel welcome. After hiring a car, we headed to our hotel in convoy and settled in.

The flying site is a 22 metre barrel vaulted exhibition hall at the Belgrade fair complex near the middle of the city. The ceiling is scrubbable although the moving air near the roof makes this inadvisable. For the next 2 days, we trimmed and tested before the rather hectic schedule of a 6 round contest on the third day. The air was good during practice and Bob Bailey flew a 30 + test flight, upping the hall record by several minutes.

In a break during practice, we were given a guided tour of a much bigger hall a few hundred yards away, which is the proposed site for the 2007 European Champs and is also a serious possibility for a future World Champs. Excellent relations between Voja Stojkovic and the Director of the Trade fair site have made all these facilities available.

We were surprised by the small entry – only ten seniors and 3 juniors. The hall is a very good site and the annual contest deserves better support. Next year it is likely that the 6 contest rounds will be spread over 2 days rather than one and this will make things easier to manage. On the day, the air was buoyant, although again, turbulence near the ceiling limited the safe usable height to round 60 feet. Luckily, a supply of balloon gas had been secured and Bob Bailey's mylar balloon and steering expertise were often needed by others.

VP props were essential for long flights and Bob demonstrated his fine tuning ability by matching his 30 + practice with 30:25 and a back-up of 29:52 to win by a wide margin. The contest ended with a short closing ceremony and the distribution of certificates and hand-made ceramic trophies.

The next day, we had a chance to explore a small part of the city centre which looks lively and modern and then spent a pleasant afternoon with our hosts, discussing various aspects of indoor and Champs preparation while sitting in a pretty park, overlooking a splendid panoramic vista of Belgrade and the Danube and Sava rivers.

On behalf of the ‘Britpack', I thank Voja and all our hosts for their enthusiasm and welcome. For me, the experience was very hard work, but also highly enjoyable and we all returned home with new friendships that will continue to prosper.

Nick Aikman.04.09.05.