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TALONS OVER CORDOBA REPORT

August 8-24 1940
Attracting over 330,000 visitors during the fortnight of flying the ninth ‘Talons over Cordoba Contest’ has been another big success with a record breaking crowd. This year Talons was again held at the Cordoba Air Base to limit disruption at the airport. Most of the resident unit, Aerea Regimenta No1, has moved to Mercedes Air Base but two squadrons of I-02 Pulqui fighters remained. Once again this international event is a chance for the best pilots in the world to show off their skills allied with the best fighters available and it is now the world’s foremost fighter exhibition. Air forces from across the world fly and compete to be the best while showing off their latest fighters and comparing them against the best available elsewhere.

The exhibition display area once again attracted many companies eager to make sales. FMA (Fabrica Militar de Aviones) had a large exhibition in one of the hangars with four prototype I-02 fighters which flew demonstrations most days, a sole I.Ae6T trainer was in attendance along with the prototype I.Ae 22 advanced trainer and a production four-engined FMA I.Ae 7 airliner in Aeravias Argentinas S.A. colours that made several flypasts during the event. The small FMA I.Ae 8 light aircraft and the new I.Ae.20 El Boyero (The Herdsman) two-seat light cabin aircraft were also on display. FMA also had a mock-up of their new 450hp El Gaucho 9-cylinder radial on display. Tucan brought their T-18B NB-2 private-venture dive-bomber and flew it on the third day of the event
ENAER, the Chilean constructor brought a production Alicanto naval bomber and to mark licence construction by Fanaero for Brazil an upgraded Coati was also on display and flown during the event. For a possible Argentine order Constellacion showed off their new Twin Condor, a Serie-300 modified as the Serie-400 testbed, with FMA radials. It was eagerly looked over by many Argentine pilots and officers in the display tent.
From France Hanriot displayed their new H.250 high speed bomber, Latecoere had a scale mock-up of their new Late.631 flying boat. The same firm also shared a stand with Breguet who showed off their respective torpedo-bomber and dive-bomber designs of the Epaulard carrier-based bomber. Bloch was showing off one of the three test aircraft MB.1050 Milan carrier-based fighters. A type that no doubt will attend Talons in the future. From Italy Caproni displayed their new 2005 Sagittario fighter and the 1001 Astore fighter-bomber. Nordmark had single examples of the Saab F-21 Mk 1 and Orkan Mk 4 fighters on display and the new VL Puuska light fighter was flown. From America Grumman displayed a F4F carrier-fighter and the new Avenger torpedo-bomber, Curtiss showed off their P-40 and P-42 series, Boeing had a static B-17F and few airliner cabin mock-ups, Douglas an A-20 light bomber, DC-3 and DC-4 airliners. The German exhibitors included Dornier with a Do-215 and a Do-217, Focke-Wulf with two Fw-190s and an Fw-205 Condor, Heinkel displayed a He-100 B-6 as used by Turkey and Junkers flew their Ju-88 bomber. They also brought along a scale model of the aborted dive-bomber design now undergoing development in Argentina by FMA. From Britain Supermarine were displaying a brand-new Spitfire Mk IV and flew two Mk IIIs. Hawker flew a display Typhoon and Tornado and had a scale model of the new Tempest as on show as well. Boulton Paul were advertising their new P.94 export fighter and flew the prototype in Greek markings on one side and Irish on the other. They also had a full-scale mock-up of a fighter “designed by Martin-Baker” in their tent, presumed to be the M.B.5. Fairey brought a Firefly carrier fighter and made several excellent flying displays with it. From Atlantis both Spartan and Accrisius brought a dozen aircraft between them. The South African team also brought along a F-6F two-seat fighter trainer for joy rides for the public and potential customers.
As usual the best fighter pilots in the Fuerza Aerea Argentina made a spectacular aerial aerobatic display every day of the contest in their blue and white FMA I-02 Pulqui fighters. Japan sent a display team only this year. The Navy sending the 11. Air Demonstration Squadron "Blue Impulse" (a.k.a. "The Air Demonstration Squadron Formerly Known As Manzo's Flying Circus"). The squadron currently flies 6 A7K1 fighters with a new colour scheme. The pilots were; #1 Leader: Captain Fuchida Mitsuo, #2 Left Wing: Lieutenant Sakai Saburou, #3 Right Wing: Lieutenant Nishizawa Hiroyoshi, #5 Slot: Lieutenant Sasai Junichi, #6 Lead Solo: Captain Genda Minoru and #7 Opposing Solo: Lieutenant Iwamoto Tetsuzou.

All contesting pilots have been assigned numbers in the order of application and nationality has not been a factor in the order given.

No 1 Major de Aero Antonio Valdez, commander of Squadron 1/2 of the 1st Grupo of Aerea Regimenta No1 based at Cordoba [two confirmed kills in the South American War], he is flying his personal silver FMA I-02 Pulqui C/N1044 with a blue tail for the second time at Talons.
No 2 Major de Aero Carlos Claudio, commander of Squadron 2/2 of the 2nd Grupo Aerea Regimenta No 2 based at Bahia Blanca debuts at Talons is flying his personal silver FMA I-02 Pulqui C/N 1106 with a red cowling and tail.
No 3 Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck is a newcomer to Talons and he is flying a standard production Hawker Tornado F.Mk.I MN231 powered by a 1,980hp RR Vulture II 24-cylinder engine.
No 4 Squadron Leader Douglas Bader returns to Talons this year and he is flying Hawker Typhoon F.Mk.I WG891 powered by a 2,180hp Napier Sabre II 24-cylinder H-24 engine.
No5 Porucik (Senior Lieutenant) Lidiya Ivanova returns to Talons yet again to represent Bulgaria, this year she is flying a new aircraft a Fairey Firefly Mk I.
No 6 Comandante de Escuadrón (Lieutenant Commander) Baltasar Arismendi makes a debut representing Chile and he is flying an American-built Naval Aircraft Factory ZF1N airship-carried lightweight fighter
No 7 Teniente Colonel Horatio Bereguer, the commanding officer of the 2nd Fighter Regiment, his also making a debut for Chile and is flying his personal F2E fighter, an ENAER-built I-02.
No 8 Edmond Marin La Meslee is representing France for the first time; he joined the Armee de l'Aire in 1931 and graduated officer candidate school in 1937. He now leads the first escadrille of Groupe de Chasse I/5. He is flying an Arsenal VG.39bis.
No 9 Marcel Haegelen is also a newcomer to Talons for France, he served in the Great War as a SPAD pilot, and accrued 21 kills; since the end of the war, he has been employed as a test-pilot for Hanriot, and a reserve officer in the Armee de l'Aire. He is flying an all-white standard Arsenal VG.39bis fighter.
No 10 Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär is a newcomer to represent Germany from Jagdgeschwader 51, flying a Focke Wulf Fw-190A powered by a BMW 801 radial engine.
No 11 Feldwebel Anton Hafner is also a newcomer and is from Jagdgeschwader 51 and is flying an identical Focke Wulf Fw-190A.
No 12 Capitão Nero Moura, who flew at Talons 34 and last year, took part in the Bolivian War with two kills and another nine during the SA War and the Brazilian Civil War. He will be again flying the EMBRAER EMB-39.
No 13 Lieutenenat Guilherme Marx-Niemier, currently serving in 1 Grupo aboard the Chilean carrier Mapuche is representing Brazil again flying Brazil's carrier fighter, the Sienar V-31.
No 14 Horia Agarici is a newcomer to Talons and is representing Romania flying a standard production IAR-81 in a camouflage scheme.
No 15 Constantin Cantacuzino is another newcomer and is the second Romanian pilot and is also flying an IAR-81.
No 16 Captain Kamol Arthit is representing Thailand for the first time at Talons and the Navy pilot is flying an Italian Re-2001 fighter.
No 17 RCNAS Cmdr. Reginald Antilles of the 65th Fighter Group returns this year to represent Canada and he is flying a production Burnelli Aviation CF-38b twin-engined fighter similar to last year’s but with upgraded 2,000hp Orenda Oneida II V-12 engines in standard RCNAS Livery.
No 18 RCNAS Cmdr Mark Stele of the 181st Fighter Group returns to represent Canada for the fifth time and is flying the forty-sixth production Avro Canada CF-12 Viper fighter powered by a 1,750hp Orenda Oneida III V-12 in a pusher configuration, an unusual type that crashed last year. The CF-12 is painted in standard 181st Fighter group Livery (including red striping) and named "Doom On You."
No 19 Captain Andreas Schrieber returns this year to represent Denmark and is flying a white production DAF(s)4v3 Falcon III twin-boom swept-wing fighter powered by a 1,850hp Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine
No 20 Lt. Bo Qvist also returns for Denmark and is also flying a red production DAF(s)4v3 Falcon III fighter
No 21 Capt. José María Bravo Fernandez-Hermosa, senior instructor at the Ejército del Aire's Advanced Air Combat School returns this year flying a red Focke Wulf Fw-190 A-1 fighter powered by a BMW-801 radial engine
No 22 Capt. Fernando Sanchez-Arjona Courtoy, senior test pilot at the Ejército del Aire's flight testing squadron returns this year for Iberia flying a black Focke Wulf Fw-190 A-1 fighter
No 23 Tenente Salvi, currently a member of the Bergamini Air Combat School, is again representing Italy and is flying a Fiat G.55 Centauro Serie I fighter but this year painted in a dull green-grey scheme.
No 24 Tenente D'Aguilero, makes a debut for Italy and is also flying a Fiat G.55 Centauro Serie I fighter painted in a dull grey-green scheme.
No 25 Episminagos (Squadron Leader) Ionnis Leventis represents Greece for the first time for Greece’s second Talons showing. Leventis is leader of 4 Sqn based in Tanagra and is flying a Boulton Paul P.94 powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 engine.
No 26 Group Commander Klaas Mathusen, DSO, NB, PG and two time recipient of the Combat Medal who achieved confirmed victory in 20 air-to-air battles and last year’s Gold Eagle Winged Trophy Winner will use his personal JFM F-6H Swallow named "Bad Temper II". Although he is eager to repeat his stunning success at the Grand Dual, he will also act as a lurker for the RSAF to see and learn as much about foreign tactic developments as can be drawn from such an event. developing combat doctrines for the Fighter Command. is flying the F-6H
No 27 Flt. Captain Alberto Vargas, a native Grand Uruguayan who fought in the South American War of 1935-36 (four kills is flying a FD-5 Wasp II twin-engined fighter) represents SAE for the first time and is flying a Foller FD-5 Mk II Wasp called "Sleepy-Time Gal", the fighter is painted in dark blue and black with a nice lady in a transparent negligee under yellow stars and moon at her nose.
No 28 Colonel Fabris "Jester" Lavidicus, the commander of the Atlantean Air Force adversary training squadron, returns again to represent Atlantis and this year he is again flying the forty-eighth production Spartan SP-35 "Viper" in an all-over red scheme.
No 29 Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian again returns to Talons, this year he is flying the thirty-third production Spartan Sp-40 “Spirit” fighter, a Spartan-built I-02 Pulqui painted black overall.
No 30 Yarbay (Lieutenant Colonel, squadron commander) Sabiha Gökçen returns to Talons representing Turkey and is flying the fifteenth Heinkel He-100 B-6 fighter to be delivered to Turkey painted in a fetching red and black scheme.
No 31 Vecihi Hürku also returns again representing Turkey and is flying the twenty-fourth Heinkel He-100 B-6 fighter to be delivered to Turkey in natural metal finish.
No 32 Major Henry Pillichody, representing Colombia again this year, is flying a brand-new production Spartan Sp-35 Viper pained in the national colours
No 33 Teniente Delfín Torres Duran also returns to represent Colombia this year and is flying his usual black Ripon-Bloch RB.132 "Renegade II" fighter
No 34 Captain Kenan Sunay also returns to Talons after a break to represent Byzantium flying a new Spartan Sp-40 “Spirit” fighter, a Spartan-built I-02 Pulqui painted purple and red
No 35 Captain Leigh Wade returns to represent the Unites States flying Lockheed P-38 Lightning in normal olive drab and grey camouflage
No 36 Group Captain Otto Larsen returns to Talons from his desk job to represent Nordmark yet again and is flying his favourite mount, a SAAB F-21 Mk 1 pusher-engined fighter.
No 37 Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen, a young and promising pilot makes his second appearance at Talons for Nordmark flying a camouflaged SAAB Orkan Mk 4 fighter.
No 38 Commander Nikolajas Balodis, the commander of the First Tactical Air Squadron, is representing Latvia for the first time flying a LKOD-Aero Sieremdres built by Aero in Czechoslovakia.
No 39 Lt. Liu Chui-Kang returns for China this year flying a red E.W.I.L. (Eastern Wind industries Ltd.) EW 205C fighter
No 40 Lt. Zhu Jia-Xun also returns this year for China flying a licence built Focke-Wulf Fw-187 fighter painted black all-over with yellow stars
No 41 RA Singh debuts for India this year flying the tenth production Syen III (Falcon) fighter with a 1,400hp IA 500 V-12 engine
No 42 Captain Subroko Mujerkee is representing India again for their fourth attendance at Talons. He was commissioned in the BVS (Imperial Indian Air Corps) in 1932 and is a veteran of the Asir, Afghan Border Conflict and the Baluchistan Operation with two confirmed combat kills during his career. He is flying a standard Imperial Aeronautics Garu (Eagle) twin-engined fighter
No 43 Rear Admiral Carlos Castillo Breton, in a surprising move, is representing Mexico this year at Talons as the Armada de Mexico makes a debut showing and he is a highly experienced pilot and is the head of the naval aviation school. He is flying a brand-new all-black C-2 Centellas (Mitsubishi J2M2 Raiden) fighter
No 44 First Lieutenant Joachim Edid is the second Armada de Mexico and is a young and fiery pilot who has come to Talons to win. He is also flying an all-black C-2 Centellas (Mitsubishi J2M2 Raiden) fighter
No 45 Captain Robert (Bobby) Gibbes returns yet again for Australia and is flying the fortieth production Fokker America/ Australian Aviation AA-13 Mustang I
No 46 Captain Roberts also returns to represent Australia and is flying the fourteenth production Gloster S.44 Reaper twin-engined fighter powered by two 1,185hp Rolls-Royce Merlin V V-12 engines
No 47 Capitan Maurice Huber returns to represent Switzerland yet again flying a production EKW D-3801 with a 1,050hp Hispano-Suiza 12Y51 engine and painted in a fetching red and white scheme Swiss flag scheme
No 48 Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher is representing Czechoslovakia for the second time this year flying the ninth production an all-blue Fokker-Avia B-139 fighter powered by a new 1,450hp Minerva-Avia 105 V-12 inline engine. This is the latest fighter of the Czech Air Force and is a modified B-137 design fitted with the new engine and some modest aerodynamic improvements.



GROUPS
The groups are divided between single-engined and twin-engined fighters. Group 8 is solely for twin-engined fighters. This year all the groups are arranged according to engine horsepower to make the events closer and to give the lower-end fighters a chance to shine.
Group 1 Numbers 4, 5, 3, 18, 19, 43 (Bader, Ivanova, Tuck, Schrieber, Qvist, Breton)
Group 2 Numbers 44, 23, 24, 18, 10, 11 (Edid, Salvi, D'Aguilero, Stele, Bär,
Hafner)
Group 3 Numbers 20, 21, 28, 37, 8, 39 (Fernandez-Hermosa, Courtoy, "Jester" Lavidicus, Juutilainen, La Meslee, Chui-Kang)
Group 4 Numbers 32, 9, 36, 48, 26, 12 (Pillichody, Haegelen, Larsen, Kuttelwascher, Mathusen, Moura)
Group 5 Numbers 14, 15, 41, 30, 31, 1 (Agarici, Cantacuzino, Singh, Gökçen, Hürku, Valdez)
Group 6 Numbers 2, 7, 29, 34, 25, 33 (Claudio, Bereguer, "Bulldog" Hadrian, Sunay, Leventis, Duran)
Group 7 Numbers 2, 13, 45, 6, 47, 16, 38 (Marx-Niemier, Gibbes, Arismendi, Huber, Arthit, Balodis)
Group 8 Numbers 17, 27, 35, 40, 42, 46 (Antilles, Vargas, Wade, Jia-Xun, Mujerkee, Peters)

Looking good!

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
Bloch was showing off one of the three test aircraft MB.1050 Milan carrier-based fighters. A type that no doubt will attend Talons in the future.

Almost certainly so.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
No 37 Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen, a young and promising pilot makes his second appearance at Talons for Nordmark flying a camouflaged SAAB Orkan Mk 4 fighter.

The Chilean Air Force still has that bet going about Juutilainen winning Talons before 1944.

Quoted

Originally posted by Hood
The groups are divided between single-engined and twin-engined fighters. Group 8 is solely for twin-engined fighters. This year all the groups are arranged according to engine horsepower to make the events closer and to give the lower-end fighters a chance to shine.

Oh, good idea. There does seem to be an increasing range between the aircraft of first and second-ranked powers; that's a smart bit of thinking, there.

100km MILE RACE
Four laps of a 25km circuit with four corners. This event this calls for great speed and momentum management skills and the ability to fly fast in a close group without mishap. This year overtaking in the corners has been banned as too hazardous and overtaking must be done during the straights of the course.


100km RACE GROUP 1
The six contenders in the first event were; Squadron Leader Douglas Bader in the Hawker Typhoon, Porucik Lidiya Ivanova in the Fairey Firefly, Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck in the Hawker Tornado, the two Danes Capt. Andreas Schrieber and Lt. Bo Qvist in their DAF Falcon III fighters and the Mexican Rear Admiral Carlos Castillo Breton in the Mitsubishi Raiden (C-2 Centellas). The punters favourite to win was Bader in the Typhoon, like last year, as the massive Napier Sabre dwarfed anything the other fighters could compare with.
The race began with a rolling start (all six planes wings level at 250mph) and four laps of 25km were undertaken. From the start Breton in the Raiden had the better acceleration and took the lead but Ivanova in the Firefly was close behind. Bader and Tuck were facing stiff competition from the Danish fighters and eventually they began to edge away. During the second lap Ivanova overtook the Mexican at the third attempt due to the Rear Admiral’s superb airmanship. The Danes had passed both by the end of the lap and Bader just nipped past just before the turn. Ivanova proved very skilful in the corners and she made a wonderful series of high-momentum turns. During the third lap the two Danes had their own duel as Qvist challenged Schrieber only to slip behind his teammate. Bader had the better of Tuck but on the final lap Tuck briefly held third place. Qvist challenged for the lead down the final straight but his engine ran out of puff and he couldn’t get past Schrieber who took first. Bader was third, Tuck fourth and Ivanova by the final straight had edged out a safe lead from the Mexican who had briefly almost gotten past the Bulgarian earlier during the lap.


100km RACE GROUP 2
The next group to compete consisted of; First Lieutenant Joachim Edid in the second Mitsubishi J2M2 Raiden, the two Italians Tenente Salvi and Tenente D'Aguilero in the FIAT G.55 Centauro Is, RCNAS Cmdr Mark Stele flying the Avro Canada CF-12 and the two debut German pilots Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär and Feldwebel Anton Hafner in the Focke Wulf Fw-190As. The punters favoured the two sleek Italian fighters with the gritty and determined Salvi the favourite to take the win. Many more were taking bets that the strange ‘Pit Viper’ would crash yet again.
From the rolling start Edid and Stele were neck and neck as both fighters howled as their throttles were pushed into the gates. The sluggish radial-engined Focke-Wulfs took time to accelerate but by the end of the lap they were pushing hard on Stele’s tail with Hafner taking the lead over Bär. The two Centauro’s were taking it modestly easy building up speed and momentum and both Italians made graceful and controlled turns at the corners to keep up the speed. Soon they passed the gaggle of Focke-Wulfs and the Raiden. Edid was proving a difficult man to pass, he was brutal in his side-slipping to prevent Stele getting ahead and the Canadian was playing it safe and being gentle on the controls, thus giving away much of the advantage he had in the turns. Losing too much speed in the corners the Fw-190s sped ahead on the following straights and Bär had his sights on Edid’s tail. Edid proved tough for D'Aguilero but the Italian eventually powered past him. The German had more difficulty and he didn’t get past until the third lap. Stele gave Hafner some pressure and eventually the German made a wrong move and the CF-12 slipped past but both fighters were going flat out down the straight. The final lap saw Salvi fend off the attempts of his teammate to pass but both Italians were safely ahead of the melee behind. Bär too six attempts in two laps to pass Edid but he did so eventually to take third place, Stele just nipped past to secure fourth but he was only a hairbreadths ahead of Edid and Hafner who finished up the rankings.


100km RACE GROUP 3
The contenders in this race were; the two Iberians Capt. José Fernandez-Hermosa and Capt. Sanchez-Arjona Courtoy in the Focke Wulf Fw-190As, Colonel Fabris "Jester" Lavidicus flying the Spartan SP-35 Viper, the young Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen in the Saab Orkan Mk4, Edmond Marin La Meslee flying the Arsenal VG-39bis and Lt. Liu Chui-Kang in the E.W.I.L EW-205C. "Jester" Lavidicus was the better’s favourite with La Meslee second favourite to win.
At the rolling start La Meslee’s VG-39bis seemed to jump as it screeched off down the straight with the HS 12Z V-12 engine roaring. The Spartan Viper and the Orkan weren’t far behind the young Juutilainen gave "Jester" Lavidicus a hard time with constant probing down the straights and in the turns the Orkan seemed to float round. Chui-Kang was making excellent progress and was heading up the pack having some trouble getting past Courtoy during the second lap. Fernandez-Hermosa was clawing up to La Meslee who lacked the pace to stave off the Chinese pilot’s advance and he found two Focke-Wulfs buzzing his tail as "Jester" Lavidicus nipped past them and then maintained his lead round the corner and into the next straight where he made a slight lead. Juutilainen got caught in the pack and lost speed and found himself passed by Courtoy but he managed to pass the Frenchman at the second attempt. Juutilainen was able to take advantage of the Fw-190s in the corners as they seemed to lose momentum at every corner. The third lap was very intense and close but by the start of the final lap "Jester" Lavidicus was able to squeeze past Chui-Kang and both changed places on the next lap only for "Jester" to secure the lead on the final straight. Chui-Kang was a comfortable second, Fernandez-Hermosa just kept third by half a fuselage length from Juutilainen, La Meslee was able to get past Courtoy to hold fifth but was just unable to get past the Nord. That left Courtoy in sixth but it was a very close finish and any of the last four could have beaten the other.


100km RACE GROUP 4
This race comprised the following pilots and aircraft; Major Henry Pillichody flying the Spartan SP-35 Viper, Marcel Haegelen in the second Arsenal VG-39bis, Group Captain Otto Larsen in the pusher-propeller Saab F-21 Mk1, Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher in the new Avia B-139, Group Commander Klaas Mathusen flying the JFM F-6H Swallow and Capitão Nero Moura in the pugnacious EMBRAER EMB-39. The betting kiosks were full once again and many spectators were hoping that the local lad Moura would win and show the European pilots a thing or two. The large Grand Uruguayan crowd at the event of course favoured their man Klaas Mathusen.
Kuttelwascher had a slight lead at the start but Haegelen soon swept past and he found himself under pressure from Moura and Mathusen. The latter was skilled enough to get past without fuss on the next straight and Moura eventually did the same but not until Pillichody had taken him by surprise and the Colombian was soon on Haegelen’s tail. The second lap saw Larsen building up his speed to ease himself into third place but Mathusen was proving hard to dislodge from the lead position. Kuttelwascher squeezed past the Frenchman but found Moura too fast to catch down the straights. Although the Brazilian was losing speed in the corners Larsen was taking wide lines to preserve speed but eventually he was overtaken by the EMB-39. During the third lap Pillichody was gaining the feel for the new Sp-35 and he felt daring enough to leapfrog Mathusen who neatly swept in front of Moura preventing him from passing. Larsen proved unable to get nearer the top three but slowly he was able to rob Kuttelwascher of his attempts to pass. Haegelen on the final lap got past the new Avia B-139 but was unable to close on Larsen. Moura made the most of a lapse of concentration by Pillichody in the corner to take, and hold, first place, Pillichody was second, Mathusen was very close behind in third, Larsen took fourth, Haegelen fifth and Kuttelwascher sixth.


More races to come...

Ah, heh. Yes - the Arsenals just don't have the raw speed to keep up with most of these fighters. Still, speed isn't everything; so long as the plane's competitive, it's pilot skill which matters, and Haegelen has that in spades. de la Meslee, not so much at this point.

A nice start for Pillichody! Seems the Vipers overall this year have gotten off to a good start.

I´m glad Mathusen could use his experience to gain third place in his race. A lesser pilot would hace scored less, for sure.

The JFM F-6H used by Mathusen simply is not made for races at relatively low altitude. Raw power and acceleration is not good enough to compete with the latest stuff fielded by other airforces. However, I´m still confident her time will come during the duels, where speed and agility at altitude will pay for her.

Great writing, James. As always.... :o)

A good start for Moura, I must say I find it amusing that the slowest or second slowest plane won in Group 4. Just goes to show speed isn't necessarily everything.

Nice writing though James.

100km RACE GROUP 5
The race was contested by the following pilots and aircraft; the two Romanians Agarici and Cantacuzino flying identical IAR 81 fighters, RA Singh in the Syen III, the two Turks Yarbay Gökçen and Vecihi Hürku in the sleek He-100B-6 fighters and Major de Aero Valdez in the FMA I-02 Pulqui. The home crowds were betting on Valdez to sweep to victory.
Five of the planes in this event had identical horsepower but these engines were not all the same and the sleek Heinkel dominated the first lap with Valdez pushing Gökçen hard and passing on the start of the second lap. The I-02 was slightly disadvantaged by its slightly lower acceleration and the sleek Heinkels were able to squeeze past. Singh pushed past the two Romanians at the start and had his sights firmly set on third place. His ambitions were thwarted during the second lap as Valdez kept drifting ahead blocking his path and forcing the Indian to fly wide and he lost speed on the third corner which allowed Agarici to slip through on the following straight. The third lap saw Gökçen pass Hürku on the second straight and Valdez was close behind waiting for either Turk to make a mistake. Singh drifted into Cantacuzino’s path and managed to pass the other IAR 81 with ease with the throttle shoved into the gate. Cantacuzino passed is teammate on the start of the final lap and was able to hold a slender lead. Hürku made a brave dash down the portside of Gökçen to take first by 0.8 seconds. Valdez held third but Singh was able to almost pass down the penultimate straight but he couldn’t keep up the pace around the next corner. Gökçen took fifth and Agarici sixth.


100km RACE GROUP 6
The sixth race comprised; Major de Aero Carlos Claudio flying an I-02, Teniente Colonel Horatio Bereguer in another I-02, Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian in a Spartan Sp-40 (another I-02), Capitan Kenan Sunay flying another Sp-40, the Greek Episminagos Ionnis Leventis flying the Boulton Paul P.94 and the stalwart flier Delfin Duran in his favoured RB.132 Renegade II fighter. With no less than four I-02 fighters in the race the outcome would rely most on pilot skill to determine the winner. The punters favoured their home favourite Major de Aero Claudio to win but those in the know put their money on the talented "Bulldog" Hadrian to win.
From the rolling start the Renegade II took the early lead but after the first turn the I-02 pack had surrounded the plucky Colombian and largely passed him. Leventis briefly held onto fourth place for two straights as he managed to keep his Merlin-powered P.94 ahead of Bereguer. Up front Hadrian and Claudio were flying fast getting the most from the engine and taking the best corner lines to preserve speed and momentum. Bereguer was slightly less acquainted with his I-02 but by the third lap had passed the Greek and was hovering off Sunay’s port wingtip as the Byzantine pilot was aiming to slice inside Claudio. He tried to make his move but found the Chilean outboard of him blocking his path and he was forced to chop the throttle and use a little flap to dump speed to avoid a collision with Claudio ahead. Duran was unable to get past Leventis and down each straight the P.94 was eking out a further lead. After the next corner the Greek had the power to sail past Sunay but two straights later lost is position to Sunay. Claudio found Bereguer almost past but he forced him to go tight in the corner and he emerged with enough of lead on him to keep second place. During the final lap "Bulldog" Hadrian proved impossible to pass easily and it was the Atlantean who took first, Claudio second, Bereguer just nipped third as Sunay was attempting to power past even over the finishing line, Leventis took fifth and Duran was about four seconds behind in sixth.


100km RACE GROUP 7
The last single-engined group race was composed of the following pilots and aircraft; Lieutenant Marx-Niemier in the Sienar V-31, Captain Robert (Bobby) Gibbes in the AA-13 Mustang, Comandante Baltasar Arismendi in the unusual airship-carried NAF ZF1N, Captain Huber in the D-3801, the Thai Capitan Kamol Arthit flying the Italian Re-2001, and the Latvian Commander Nikolajas Balodis in the LKOD-Aero Sieremdres. This was the last single-engined group and covered those with the least horsepower but there was still a giant gap between sleek fighters like the Mustang and the small and dumpy D-3801 and Sieremdres. The favoured winner was Gibbes.
After take-off the ZF1N dropped its temporary undercarriage and joined with the others for the rolling start. The ZF1N being lighter than the Mustang, but having a nearly identical engine, took the early lead and held it for two straights. By then Gibbes had the power to squeeze past and hold a slim lead. The other four were closely bunched and the order changed several times but by mid-way through the second lap the Mustang and ZF1N had worked out a safe lead. Balodis was out-flying Arthit and keeping him from overtaking with some smart work in the corners. Marx-Niemier had the power to compete and kept ahead of the Latvian but could not stop Huber from passing. Balodis passed the Brazilian during the third lap but could not challenge Huber who flew perfectly the correct lines and indeed by the end of the lap Marx-Niemier was challenging him. Arismendi past Gibbes on the fourth straight of the third lap but Gibbes was able to pass down the second straight on the final lap and this time he edged a slight lead for safety. Arthit pushed Marx-Niemier aside and Balodis attempted to pass Huber but lacked the engine power to complete the move before the corner. He flew a much better line than Huber and briefly passed for four seconds before the stubby D-3801 passed by again. Marx-Niemier determined not to be last pulled out all the stops and gave Arthit a brutal time and the Thai pilot’s nerve broke and he gave way. So the final rankings were; Gibbes first, Arismendi second, Huber third, Balodis fourth, Marx-Niemier fifth and Arthit sixth. Arismendi then flew to a rendezvous with his mother airship over the far end of the air base and the spectacle of a fighter hooking up made an interesting sight for the crowds.


100km RACE GROUP 8
The twin engined group this year comprised; the Canadian Cmdr. Reginald Antilles in the Burnelli CF-38b, Flt. Captain Vargas in the Foller FD-5 Wasp Mk II, the American Captain Wade flying the sleek twin-boom Lockheed P-38, Lt. Zhu Jia-Xun in a licence-built Fw-187A, the Indian Captain Subroko Mujerkee flying the Imperial Aeronautics Garu and the Australian Captain Peters in the Gloster S.44 Reaper. The betting man in the crowds tended to favour Wade to win but the Grand Uruguayans seemed to belong to the Vargas fan club and they felt he would win no matter what the competition.
Antilles in the CF-38b made a good start and had a lead but he was taking it easy round the corners and the big fighter was graceful if perhaps lacking punch. The size of all of the twin-engined fighters precluded too much passing but the similar looking Reaper and Wasp were content to mix things. Peters had faith in his two Merlins that purred around the lap and he was soon easing past Antilles to hold first place. Vargas was eager to show off his fighter and he made some tighter banks and still managed to almost pass Antilles. Wade in the P-38 was no slouch and perhaps in the attempt to outdo each other they forgot to watch out for him and he sliced through to take second and only Antilles proved a serious challenge as he regained first place. Mujerkee saw off any threat from Xia-Jun in the second lap and edged out a slender lead the Focke-Wulf seemed incapable of clawing back. The Indian made a rash move against Vargas but had to break off and Peters used the confusion to pass Antilles from below and to slipstream behind Wade. The third lap saw Wade coax first place from Antilles and Vargas got the better of Peters. The final lap was tense as Antilles pushed past Wade down the first straight only to loose his lead in the next and for Peters to nudge past on the third. Vargas attempted the same but pulled away just as Mujerkee had gained enough momentum to gain on his port quarter. Antilles powered past Peters and both were almost level over the finishing line. Wade took first place, Antilles second by a nose, Peters third, Vargas fourth, Mujerkee fifth and Xia-Jun sixth.


100km RACE GRAND FINAL
The winners of all eight races face each other in the Grand Final.

The pilots and aircraft in the final were; Lt. Qvist flying the DAF Falcon III, Tenente Salvi in the G.55 Centauro I, Colonel Fabris "Jester" Lavidicus flying the Sp-35 Viper, Capitão Nero Moura flying the EMB-39, Vecihi Hürku in the He-100B-6, Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian flying the Sp-40 Spirit, Captain Gibbes in the AA-13 Mustang and Captain Wade flying the P-38.
The noise of nine aero engines at full throttle at the start was indescribable. The fighters jockeyed for position and several pilots found themselves squeezed out at the first turn. "Jester" Lavidicus and Hürku were leading the pack at first but by the third straight on the lap Salvi had pushed past the Sp-35 to gain second place while Gibbes was keeping Moura behind him and "Bulldog" Hadrian found the P-38 hard to get past. The race during the second lap opened up a little and Salvi made a good run and by the end of lap had taken first place but Hürku was hanging on behind. Qvist was third having pushed "Jester" Lavidicus out of the way and "Bulldog" Hadrian was gaining fast on his teammate. Moura eventually passed Gibbes but the latter retook his place on the first straight of the third lap. Wade wasn’t far behind. Wade managed to push ahead of Gibbes but the sleek Mustang proved hard to keep down and he soon leapfrogged the American and the Brazilian. "Jester" got past Qvist but the Dane wasn’t about to give up and by the start of the final lap he had regained third place. Salvi couldn’t hold the Heinkel behind him and despite some great flying Hürku swept past and seemed to ease away from the FIAT. As they passed the finishing pylon the results were; Hürku first, Salvi second, Qvist third, "Bulldog" Hadrian took fourth as he managed to slipstream past his teammate who took fifth, Gibbes sixth, Moura was only half a length behind in seventh, Wade was last partly because he had cooling problems during the third lap.

NAVIGATION CROSS-COUNTRY FLIGHT

This year the new much longer flight was retained. The route was from Cordoba Air Base to Bahia Blanca Air Base via a waypoint only told to the pilots five minutes before take-off to test their navigation skills. This year the waypoint was Telen in the Province of La Pampa making the route 860km long. Every 100km is a judges station which photographs each plane as it passes over, but should any pilot miss just one marker then half of his score (if any) for this race will be lost, if he misses more than one no points at all will be scored. No aircraft can fly over 5,000 feet along the course but the choice of height below that is left to the pilots’ discretion. All aircraft took off at one minute intervals from 08:00 and were timed from take-off to landing at Bahia Blanca. The planes refuelled at Bahia Blanca and returned to Cordoba after the event. This year the weather was almost perfect with only light clouds near the coast which did not seriously hamper visibility and the winds were moderate from the north.

Here are the rankings in order after all the times were in and the photographs examined by a panel of multi-national judges.

Major de Aero Antonio Valdez in his personal silver FMA I-02 Pulqui was first after a blistering low-level run with perfect accuracy. Colonel Fabris "Jester" Lavidicus was second after he made a perfect run in his Spartan SP-35 "Viper". Tenente Salvi who has local knowledge from previous events did very well but he missed a marker and was deducted half of his score. Talons stalwart Capt. José María Bravo Fernandez-Hermosa in his Focke Wulf Fw-190A-1 was used to the countryside and made an excellent flight to take the fourth points place. The Brazilian Capitão Nero Moura also had no mishaps and came fifth only two minutes behind Hermosa. The two Atlantean pilots have flown for years at Talons and they knew the landmarks as well as the local pilots and Lt. Colonel Tyrus "Bulldog" Hadrian flew a blistering pace in his black Spartan Sp-40 “Spirit” fighter. RCNAS Cmdr. Reginald Antilles made an effortless flight with no real hurry and he flew at 4,500 feet using his excellent navigation skills without recourse to flying low and reading the road signs! That was the trick of Flt. Lt. Bob Stanford Tuck in the Hawker Tornado F.Mk.I since he was a newcomer to Talons. He still managed a very good pace. MN231 powered by a 1,980hp RR Vulture II 24-cylinder engine. Ninth place went to Group Commander Klaas Mathusen who has covered this territory in combat and he flew very low with gusto. Captain Andreas Schrieber in his DAF(s)4v3 Falcon III twin-boom swept-wing fighter took the last points position. powered by a 1,850hp Hispano-Suiza V-12 engine. Newcomer Feldwebel Anton Hafner was just a minute behind but he had missed a marker anyway early on in the route. The Frenchman Edmond Marin La Meslee in the VG-39bis had tagged along behind the German during the second half of the route to post a nearly identical time. Captain Roberts flying the twin-Merlin powered Gloster S.44 Reaper flew a very good second leg to gain some time over several slower pilots. Teniente Colonel Horatio Bereguer flying his I-02 made an excellent run but missed out on a points place as did Tenente D'Aguilero in the second Fiat G.55 Centauro Serie I fighter. Porucik Lidiya Ivanova in her new Fairey Firefly was getting used to her mount still but posted a very respectful time only 27 seconds slower than the Italian. Captain Subroko Mujerkee landed at Bahia Blanca airport instead but promptly took off again and made the short hop to the airfield but it cost him time and a points position. Captain Robert (Bobby) Gibbes had the local knowledge and tried to exploit it but a series of minor mishaps prevent a points finish but he was only a minute behind the Bulgarian Ivanova.

The next bunch of pilots had flown more or less as a gaggle along the route vying for position and speed with plenty of overtaking and attempts at short cuts between the ground markers. Vecihi Hürku landed first as leader of this motely group with Teniente Delfín Torres Duran in the stubby RB.132 only seconds behind him. First Lieutenant Joachim Edid had flown like a demon at high speed and had roared over several villages at low level but found himself lost and he made up time but wasn’t fast enough to beat Hürku. He made a fast landing, overran the landing strip and nearly flipped the Raiden onto its back. Flt. Captain Alberto Vargas was next to land (he had local knowledge of the area and tended to be the leader the newbie pilots followed until they got nearer to Bahia Blanca) and Horia Agarici, who had missed a waypoint, made a quick dash past Lieutenant Ilmari Juutilainen landing his IAR-81 before the Nordish pilot could get down. Yarbay Sabiha Gökçen in the second Turkish He-100 had flown a pretty smooth flight much higher than the other pilots around her and had largely made her own way to Bahia Blanca. Major Henry Pillichody had made great pace but had made a low-level beat up of a school playground in his brand-new Spartan Sp-35 Viper losing time but certainly giving the schoolchildren an exciting time! Lt. Liu Chui-Kang had flown well and made every marker as did the highly skilled Group Captain Otto Larsen, trim problems has prevented him from getting the best from his fighter. The Latvian Commander Nikolajas Balodis made a good flight but was lagging behind the others, he only just touched down before the American Captain Wade. He had gotten lost and had spent time cruising up the coast as he ended up some twenty miles south of Bahia Blanca. Squadron Leader Douglas Bader had a poor flight as he concentrated on nursing his temperamental Napier Sabre engine but he refused to turn back and doggedly flew on. RA Singh in the Syen III was a newcomer and he found the course tough and he missed five markers and indeed after several detours he landed at Bahia Blanca with his fuel very low. Capitan Maurice Huber landed a few minutes later but had posted a faster flight time than Singh.

Rear Admiral Carlos Castillo Breton in the second Mexican Mitsubishi Raiden was taking things easy and he made careful navigation and took care of the aircraft flying at modest power and therefore didn’t post a faster time. Marcel Haegelen had gotten lost at low level and tagged along with the Brazilian Lieutenenat Guilherme Marx-Niemier who has first-rate navigational experience but not the horsepower to post a faster time. Comandante de Escuadrón Baltasar Arismendi in his unusual Naval Aircraft Factory ZF1N airship-carried lightweight fighter made a good flight as did Lt. Bo Qvist and Capt. Fernando Sanchez-Arjona Courtoy, only 30 seconds separated their respective flight times. Arismendi did not land, but instead he made a dummy approach to pass the finish line and then climbed off over Bahia Blanca harbour where his airship was waiting. He made a prefect hook-up under the interested gaze of onlookers in the harbour and the airship then headed north back to Cordoba. RCNAS Cmdr Mark Stele in the Avro Canada CF-12 had missed on marker late in the flight but had certainly taken the flight easy at moderate power. Captain Kamol Arthit flew flat out and made a decent course with his naval navigation skills but he lacked the speed and accuracy to really make a mark on the event and score higher up the pack. Kapitán Karel Kuttelwascher was doing very well and was not far behind Vargas when he spilled coffee on his only map, trying to dry it he opened the canopy and the map flew out of his grip. Flying somewhat blind he descended to low level and took to reading road signs and factory roofs to clumsily stumble from marker to marker. He landed without mishap. Lt. Zhu Jia-Xun suffered engine trouble and her port engine was overheating all the way but she was determined to finish and pressed on. Eventually she landed but posted the slowest time to finish last.

Five pilots failed to complete the course. Constantin Cantacuzino got lost after realising he had compass error and he landed at Santa Rosa airbase. He took off again in the direction of the coast but again the compass gave trouble and on reaching the coast he skirted the coast heading northeast but just as Bahia Blanca loomed into sight he suffered a bird strike with a large seabird which smashed his canopy and he was forced to make a forced landing in a field. At first thinking it was smooth he hit a rut and the fighter flipped onto its nose. It was recovered by dusk and transported to Cordoba by railway overnight. Captain Kenan Sunay also failed to finish when his Spartan Sp-40 “Spirit” withdrew after the undercarriage failed to lock up on take-off and a suspected pneumatic fault was investigated. The work unfortunately ran over past the take-off deadline. Major de Aero Carlos Claudio was making a fine run some two miles astern of Major de Aero Valdez and was looking towards a good points position when his propeller pitch mechanism broke and the blades suddenly went into fine pitch. He chopped the throttle to avoid a runaway engine and made a good dead stick landing on a tarmac road about six miles from Bahia Blanca airbase. He flew back to Cordoba in the early morning the following day following the fitting of a replacement propeller. Oberleutnant Heinrich Bär also had rotten luck, he missed a marker about a quarter of the route in and as he attempted to make up time increased speed. He suffered an oil cooler failure and was forced to turn around and attempted to reach Telen but was forced to land his Focke Wulf Fw-190A at Santa Rosa. A team of German technicians arrived in the later afternoon and the aircraft flew back that evening. The Greek Ionnis Leventis flying in his Boulton Paul P.94 was making a decent run when he was circling a small landmark to check his position when he let his airspeed drop too low and he stalled. He made a perfect recovery but within a few minutes coolant was spraying from the header tank cap which had been loose and had been flung off. Forced to land he landed on a small plantation, narrowly avoiding some trees, and incurring minimal damage. He flew back to Cordoba the following day.

Hm, looks like it was a fairly exciting cross-country race.

Good read. Bugger the luck on that cap. Oh, well. Better luck next time as I think Leventis will be a regular now.

hm. if Stele doesn't get his act together and stop babying his aircraft, it's going to be his last year at Talons.

Quoted

Originally posted by ShinRa_Inc
hm. if Stele doesn't get his act together and stop babying his aircraft, it's going to be his last year at Talons.

Considering his aircraft, I'd think he'd be best to baby it or it might be his last year at Talons for a different and more permanent reason...

Interesting read as always. I can't help but feel that the cross country flight would result in a lot of retirements. 890km at low altitude and high throttle settings would leave the vast majority of competitors out of fuel.

I agree - and some planes are optimized for high altitude. Why should they fly low - either by rule or by decision of their pilots?

At least at the judge's station, the plane would presumably need to be low enough to be identifiable in the photos. Without radar, I expect at least some of the pilots cheat regarding altitude...

Quoted

Originally posted by Brockpaine

Quoted

Originally posted by ShinRa_Inc
hm. if Stele doesn't get his act together and stop babying his aircraft, it's going to be his last year at Talons.

Considering his aircraft, I'd think he'd be best to baby it or it might be his last year at Talons for a different and more permanent reason...

Agreed, the CF-12 realistically cannot be the most stable aircraft to fly.

Well the race isn't meant to be flown at full throttle, yes its a race but is not a flat-out whoever crosses the line first race. You need mot to miss the checkpoints to keep in the running for points. Navigation is the key more than outright speed. That is why the planes have to fly reletively low, so the pilot can be sure he's flwon over the checkpoint and so the judge can be sure which plane has just flown over.


TEN MILE STRAIGHT
Each pilot was timed along a ten mile straight course during which the aircraft attempted a top speed run after a shallow dive run-in to build up speed. The run was done at 15,000 feet to equalise the chances given the variety of aircraft and engines.

Here are the speeds reached from fastest to lowest; Cmdr. Antilles took first place with a speed of 716.1kmh, Hürku took second with a speed of 715.1kmh, Gökçen was third with 709.8kmh, Salvi achieved 682.5kmh to take fourth while his teammate D'Aguilero achieved 680.9kmh, sixth place went to Qvist with 674.9kmh, "Jester" Lavidicus 669kmh, Schrieber took eighth with 668.3kmh, Valdez and his teammate Claudio took the remaining points positions with speeds of 665.9kmh and 664.2kmh respectively, "Bulldog" Hadrian was not far behind with 664kmh, Bereguer 663.9kmh, Moura 661.2kmh, Sunay 660.7kmh, Mathusen 654.8kmh, Bader 652kmh, Chui-Kang 649.3kmh, Bär 642.3kmh, Singh 641.5kmh, Hafner 641.2kmh, Stele 640.9kmh, Tuck 640kmh, Larsen 639.4kmh, Wade 635.1kmh, Gibbes 629.3kmh, Peters 625.4kmh, Haegelen 625.2kmh, Agarici 624.8kmh, La Meslee 623.4kmh, Kuttelwascher 623.3kmh, Juutilainen and Vargas tied with identical speeds of 622.8kmh, Cantacuzino 622.7kmh, Courtoy 619.5kmh, Fernandez-Hermosa 617.8kmh, Ivanova 614.4kmh, Arismendi 602.1kmh, Edid 596kmh, Mujerkee 594.2kmh, Breton 594.1kmh, Leventis 577.3kmh, Duran 551.8kmh, Huber 532kmh, Jia-Xun 529kmh, Arthit 524.5kmh, Balodis 522.4kmh and lastly Marx-Niemier 516.4kmh.

Interestingly compared with last year the highest speed achieved was 729.8kmh in the Fw-187C but poor Marx-Niemier was the slowest pilot again and was slightly slower than last year. Two years in a row a twin-engined fighter has taken the crown spot while the majority of the fighters are tightly grouped around the 669-663kmh and 626-619kmh marks.

One pilot failed to complete the event; Major Henry Pillichody suffered a magneto problem which prevented him from competing.


ALTITUDE TRIAL
This trial was a timed mock interception. The pilot was timed from ‘Contact’, taxiing, take-off and a climb to 3000m or as high as the aircraft can reach to this figure.

The fastest to slowest pilots this year were; Salvi scored the top points with a rate of climb of 20.8m per second proving the Centuaro’s dominance again this year, his teammate D'Aguilero took second with a rate of climb of 20.3m per second, Wade took third with 20.2m per second, Antilles took fourth with 18.5m per sec, the Mitsubishi Raiden designed as a fast climbing interceptor did very well with Edid achieving 17.6m per sec to take fifth and Jia-Xun took sixth with 17.4m per second, Breton was seventh with 17.3m per second, Hafner was close behind at 17.2m per second, Fernandez-Hermosa achieved 17m per second in the Fw-190 and his team mate Courtoy was just 0.5 seconds less behind with an identical climb to the German Bär to tie tenth. Haegelen just missed a point place with 16.6m per second. Gibbes was close behind with 16.5m per second, La Meslee achieved an identical time to Kuttelwascher with 16.5m, Hürku achieved 16.2m per second, Huber was just behind with 16.1m per second, Mathusen and Singh both managed 16m per sec and Gökçen had a poor climb owing to a propeller pitch problem and only achieved 15.7m per second narrowly beating Leventis in the Boulton Paul P.94 who managed 15.6m per second. Schrieber in the DAF Falcon posted 15.3m per second, Stele achieved 15.2m per second, Qvist achieved 15m per second equalled by Chui-Kang in the EWIL 205C, Cantacuzino in the IAR81 achieved 14.8m per second while Larsen in the F-21 achieved 14.7m per second, Agarici posted 14.3m per second which Moura in the EMB-39 equalled. Major Pillichody achieved 13.8m per second with "Jester" Lavidicus close behind with 13.6m per second which Peters in the S.44 Reaper nearly equalled. Vargas achieved 13.4m per second and the I-02/ Sp-40 clan posted very close times with "Bulldog" Hadrian achieving 13.1m per second, Valdez and Bereguer 13m per second, Claudio 12.9m per sec and Sunay 12.8m per second. Bader in the Hawker Typhoon posted 12.8m per second as well with Tuck just 0.3 seconds slower. Juutilainen achieved 12.5m per second in the Orkan Mk 4, Marx-Niemier achieved 12m per second equalled by Arthit in the Re-2001 and Duran. Balodis achieved a climb of 11.5m per sec and Arismendi brought up the rear with a climb of 10.1m per second.

Ivanova had to withdraw when the oil filler cap began leaking over her windscreen and fumes entered the cockpit and she decided that rather than risking being overcome or the chance of a fire she quickly made a skilful spin to loose height rapidly and then landed. Captain Mujerkee again failed to finish this event, this year his port V-12 engine suffered a severe oil leak from the sump and eventual seizure requiring him to make an emergency asymmetric landing which he completed very skilfully.

Measuring airspeed at 15,000ft is likely to prove very problematic. Lots of cine-theodolites needed on the ground, and very good eyes. Italy might suggest conducting this at ground level instead, notwithstanding the benefits this will bring to the Centauro.

Things aren't looking too bad for Italy this year yet, just need a lot of luck.

Well...Im not finishing dead last