Your name could soon be alongside those of J.Boothman or Jimmy Doolittle on the famous Schneider Trophy.

Yours sincerely

John Kelsall. RV7 G-KELS Promotions Group Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Assn.

Schneider Trophy 2005 report. From John Kelsall.

A great weekend for the Air Racing RVs!  Sunday 28^th May saw the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally Association 22^nd Schneider Trophy Air Race Sponsored by Breitling Watches and Fly-BN the Owners and operators of Bembridge Airport, the spiritual home of the Schneider since it was flown over the nearby waters of the Solent in the inter-war years  where the Race was staged until it was won outright by Great Britain in 1931.

The Airborne Cup flown as a precursor  on Saturday 27^th was a very entertaining race not least because of the horrendously turbulent conditions prevailing at the time. The very strong wind made handicapping difficult but Tim (Flash) Constance and Anne Westwood in their Yak 52 kept a straight and level course and won beating Roger Hayes in a Bulldog  and Phil Wadsworth in his AA5 into second and third places respectively.

Sunday was an entirely different day with very little wind and a far better opportunity for the handicappers to put their very clever software to good use to establish start times for the enthusiastic racers. After a very hard fought race between John Kelsall and Nigel Reddish for second and third places over the line neither were able to catch John Village in his beautifully finished RV6 G-OJVA This was John (owner of a motor racing team in his other life’s) first win. Well done John good luck for the rest of the season. The final result after the handicappers had done their worst was John Village first, John Kelsall Second but Peter Earp third as Nigel was moved a couple of places back due to a time adjustment at the start.

The dates for the remaining meet for 2005 can be found on www.Airraceuk.com or if you are interested in trying you hand at air racing call Judy Hanson on 01467 860606.

2004 Schneider Trophy at Bembridge Isle of Wight

 - By John Kelsall

Sunday the 30th of May 2004 dawned bright and shining after a somewhat miserable Saturday on the Isle of Wight. The day was a little auspicious as it was for the first time in more than five years that the World's most famous air race the Schneider Trophy was to be run at its spiritual home over the waters of the Solent.

The Schneider Trophy became the property of Great Britain in 1931 when it was won for a third consecutive time by the John Boothman of the RAF high-speed flight. It was never flown for again until 1981 when the Royal Aero Club Records Racing and Rally association resurrected the competition for land planes and not seaplanes for which it was originally raced. The race was also to become a handicapped event so that all type and sizes of piston engined aircraft could compete.

          The typical air racing weekend is a two-day event consisting of both practice and a race on Saturday followed by the more important race on the Sunday. I like to travel to the race early, usually of the Friday from my home club The Sheffield Aero Club, at our little grass strip at Netherthorpe Nottinghamshire, in case the weather turns sour overnight. The weather for the Saturday race was indeed a little on the marginal side but with a cloudbase of more than a 1000 feet and visibility of over 5 kilometres we were set to race.

          After a practice period of an hour during which one is hopefully able to find up to seven turning points usually marked by an orange tent atop which is a small windsock we land and refuel ready for the race proper, in this case The Airborne Cup originally sponsored by D.J. Noel Edmonds during his time helping disabled children.

          Satisfied that I knew where all the turning points were and re-fuelled I was ready for the race. Flying alone I have to concentrate not only on the navigation between turning points but on the whereabouts of around 20 other aircraft all on the same track.  I felt that I had flown a good race as tight as I could being as close to each turning point without cutting inside and without losing too much speed by pulling too much "G" around the corners. In the event I came in 4th, which was a very satisfying position given that the competition were aircraft ranging from Grumman AA1's through Bonanzas to Barons all flown by very experienced pilots. (See list of entrants later)

          The Royal Aero Club Air Racing scene is something of a rolling social club as each Saturday night of a race weekend sees the getting together of all the Pilots and support staff for a dinner, sometimes formal and sometimes a more relaxed informal occasion. In any case a great "do".

During the post dinner relaxation period I was asked if it would be possible for me to carry a passenger with me, Dave Calderwood the Editor of a popular aviation magazine. I considered the consequences of his extra weight upon my handicap and, upon the basis that I could re-declare a maximum top speed for my aircraft I agreed. After a new speed check we declared a speed some 3 mph slower that my solo speed of 201mph. Not bad for a Homebuilt aircraft!

          The aircraft I fly is a Van's RV7, built from an American kit. Probably the best and certainly the most popular kitplane in the world the RV7 kits are extremely well sorted and designed. The build time for me was 20 months (although this is my second such project the first was an RV6) and the intention was to build a racing aircraft from the word go!

The power comes from a 200hp Lycoming engine originally from a second hand RAF Bulldog Trainer and re-built.  The instrumentation is minimalist save for a couple of good navigation instruments and a state of the art GPS receiver a Garmin 196. (highly recommended).

          The Schneider Race was scheduled to start at 12 noon but as the wind direction had changed overnight we would have to use the runway which ran the opposite way to the initial direction of the race course. This meant that it is necessary to employ the use of "Scatter" points. These are turning points marked by a high visible marker placed one at the end of the runway and another off to the left of that. It is important that all aircraft attain a good airspeed before making steeply banked turns to get on to the course and the scatter points ensure that we fly pretty much straight and level for long enough.

          Because of the change of course all race pilots have to practice the new turning points and this meant a delay of 30minutes to the start for the Schneider.

          Now the nerves start to become a little tense, I don't believe anyone can say that they are not excited to take part in this race, I was ready to be off.

          Our start time was 21 minutes and 55 seconds after the first and slowest aircraft a piper Tomahawk and sitting in the aircraft with the engine running waiting to be called to the line by the starter seems to be interminable. Eventually we are called to the start line to take off 20 seconds after the Beech Bonanza flown by John Spooner. They are flagged off and the starter turns to us.

Brakes applied to the full stick held back the flag goes up, engine revs to 2000 she's running sweetly, the flag is held up for 10 seconds and I mentally count down from the point it is raised 3 seconds to go and I apply full power. The little RV strains at the brakes and the flag falls, brakes off and concentrate on keeping the aircraft straight on the runway. Take-off performance for this aircraft is great and the tail is up almost immediately giving much improved visibility. We are able to let the plane fly off the runway but keep it in ground effect for as long as possible to maximise acceleration. The first scatter point marker zips past the left wing tip and I roll on a gentle bank to the left to align us with the next scatter point marker, this time a somewhat difficult to see tent in the middle of a field of standing corn. We see it and pull a straining 41/2G to turn almost 180 degrees to get into the course proper and fly on past the town of Bembridge turning over the Lifeboat station and off across the Solent heading towards Gilkicker point on the mainland near Southsea. This is obviously a long straight leg and we now have time to make sure all is well with the aircraft and that we are trimmed and settled at our chosen height for the course of 800 feet above the sea. This should keep up at the legal height of 500 feet minimum above ground level when we turn back over the island. We reach Gilkicker and are already catching the slower aircraft which took off before us. We are allowed to overtake on either side but the safety of the overtaking manoeuvre is the responsibility of the overtaking pilot. We make the turn and roll out initially on the highly visible Osborne House, the former summer residence of Queen Victoria. We know that the next turning point is about 500 yards to the right of the house as we approach and after a couple of practice laps yesterday we can pick it out easily from half way across the Solent.

After the Osborne House turning point the next one is just behind a prominent marina and I make a quick check as to my next roll out point as we approach the Osborne turn. I roll in and immediately feel the wake turbulence of the Beech Bonanza some distance in front of us.

        Steady my nerve and concentrate on rolling out in the right direction. This turning point is only a short distance and I immediately prepare for the next leg. The wake turbulence is still there and I look to make a shallow climb to find some cleaner air. Flying through the disturbed air in someone's wake will lose time and make it more difficult to catch him. We are now on the last leg of the first lap heading back towards the airfield turn and I am satisfied that I am indeed catching the Bonanza and the Cessna 337 who is someway in front of the Beech. We make a crisp 90-degree turn over the airfield and the now substantial crowds and are off onto the next lap.

          My navigator has been thoroughly briefed and has three main jobs 1) to keep a very watchful eye open for other aircraft both from a competitive point of view and also a safety point, 2) to note carefully which lap we are on and finally 3) To remind me to change tanks halfway round the third lap.

          The race consists of 5 laps each of some 22.75 miles so fuel management is a must. The 200hp lycoming running at full revs of 2700 rpm will consume something in the region of 50litres of fuel during the race and with 80 litres on board we need to keep an eye on each tank.

          We continue on keeping as best we can to 800 feet and to as straight a track as possible between the turning points and by the end of the third lap we are overtaking some of the 21 other aircraft for the second time. To win we have to overtake all those who took off before us and stay in front of those who took off behind us. Already we have been passed by a Beech Baron but we have heard over the R/T that there has been some discrepancy in the start time for some aircraft and he seems so far in front that we hope that he is one of these.

          As we approach Bembridge airfield for the last time to run in for the finish we pass still more of the slower planes having passed the Bonanza and the 337 at the Gilkicker turn and I can only see one in front. Our special dispensations allow us to fly down to a minimum height of 75 feet over the airfield for the finish and we are allowed to commence this decent from a point some distance out. All the pilots take advantage of this to gain a few mph and to try to make up a little distance on the run-in. In the event we cross the line just behind another aircraft but ces'la'vie.

          All the aircraft cross the line and land safely and we all need a stiff cup of tea (we still have to fly home) to unwind a little whist we wait for the final results. We are all aware of the infamous 1% rule which states that if one's performance is better on the Sunday than it was on the Saturday by more than 1% of the average field improvement then you are liable to be disqualified. Fortunately for us this happened to aircraft in front of us and much to our great surprise and satisfaction we were pronounced winners.

          It is one of the proudest moments in my aviation career to have won the Famous Schneider Trophy in an aircraft I have built myself as it was the magic of the Schneider and Supermarine story which enthralled me and stirred my interest in aviation so many years ago. I have been air racing for five years now and after some small success I have, at last achieved my long time ambition, to win the Schneider Trophy.

It is testimony to the quality of the kit and its design. Thank you Van's for a stunning aircraft. Now lets look forward to the King's Cup.

If you are interested in taking up Handicapped Air Racing under the auspices of the Royal Aero Club Records, Racing and Rally association then visit the Website at WWW.Airraceuk.com  for details.

Pilot and aircraft details:

Name:                             John Kelsall

Age:                                54

Occupation:                     Company Director, Prodec Precision Manufacturing Worksop Notts.

First Learnt to Fly:            1994 at Netherthorpe Airfield Near Worksop. Now Chairman of Sheffield Aero Club there.

Started Air Racing:           1999. First Race at Leicester (the Schneider Trophy).

Ambitions:                      To win the Schneider Trophy and the Kings Cup. 

Aircraft Type:                   Van's RV7, Homebuilt Kitplane built by John Kelsall

Time to build:                  20 months. (Second such project, the first was an RV6)

Engine:                            Lycoming fuel injected 200hp engine taken from an ex-RAF Bulldog training aircraft and re-built.

Propeller:                         MT. 3 Bladed Constant Speed Prop.

Aircraft first flew:              13th June 2003 at Netherthorpe.

Aircraft configuration:       Two seat (side-by-side) all aluminium tailwheel aircraft. With an endurance of 31/2 hours, a cruising speed of 170mph and a top speed of 201mph.

Instrumentation:               Standard VFR panel with VOR, DME and GPS.

Colour Scheme:                Yellow and White with Chequered rudder.

List of entrants.

John Strong            Piper Tomahawk              G-BMML        Race No. 62

Craig Beevers          Beagle Pup                      G-IPUP         Race No. 12

John Pressey          TB9                                 G-BKUE        Race No. 11

Rex Levi                 Grumman AA1B               G-BERY        Race No. 79

Alan Turner            Grumman AA1C               G-BTLP         Race No. 28

Phil Marsden           Slingsby T67M 160           G-BNSP        Race No. 160

Roger Hayes           Bulldog                            G-BPCL         Race No. 121

Len Smith               Piper Cherokee 180          G-AVNW       Race No. 63

Phil Wadsworth       Grumman AA5                 N136SA        Race No. 49

Cliff Hawkins          Socata 200                       G-OBEI         Race No. 200

Tim Constance        Yak 52                            G-FLSH         Race No.52

Richard Marsden     Mooney M20                     N7423V        Race No.23

Bruce Hook             Cessna 337F                    G-AZKO        Race No. 305 

John Spooner         Beech Bonanza                 G-COLA        Race No. 36

Terry Grimward      Glasair                             G-KSIR         Race No. 96

John Kelsall            Van’s RV7                        G-KELS         Race No. 15

Nigel Reddish         Van’s RV7                        G-SEVN        Race No. 777

Geoff Boot              Siai Marchetti                   G-NRRA       Race No. 431

Robert Miller           Beech Baron                     N55BN         Race No.1

Peter Earp              Beech Baron                     G-DAFY        Race No. 5

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