The Saltby Open marked a big step for many of the team, with most of the Advanced pilots flying an Advanced sequence in a judged competition for the first time. Nerves were understandably high.
It was also slightly unusual, as Neil Oakley had been organising the event logistics and acting as Competition Director, while still hoping to compete. Not ideal, but necessary to help the event run safely. It was also great to be back at Saltby after a short break while the team had been training at Nympsfield.
Friday began with the main briefing at 9am. Pilots and judges arrived hopeful, and for once the Saltby weather looked perfect. Unfortunately, Neil woke with a worsening cold and decided he wasn’t fit to fly, which at least solved the Competition Director problem for the day.
After a short delay for Dave Gethin to refresh his Advanced flight evaluation, the first flights launched mid-morning, with Sports pilots Simon and Chris leading the way. This was Chris’ first ever competition.
The Advanced Known followed, with flight after flight heading into the box while the judges watched from the far side of the airfield. One of the best parts of the day was the atmosphere: team and non-team pilots openly critiquing each other’s flights, sharing advice, and treating mistakes as learning points rather than failures.
With efficient operations and excellent weather, all Known flights were complete by mid-afternoon. With three more good days forecast and only Unknown sequences left to fly, the decision was made to stop, complete a few maintenance jobs, and enjoy dinner at a sensible time, kindly provided by Buckminster Gliding Club. The evening was spent preparing for Unknowns, discussing possible “gotchas”, before finally unwinding with a film.
On Saturday, Neil felt slightly better and, after discussion with the judges and British Aerobatics directors, was added to the flying order as H/C due to his Competition Director role. At that point the team spirit really showed: the pilots spoke with the judges and suggested Neil should be allowed to compete fully. The judges agreed, meaning Neil had to fly Friday’s Known sequence first to catch up. Toby Jones, the 2026 Team Manager kindly agreed to step in as Comp Director, running a flawless operation for most of the day.
As expected, the Unknown sequence brought some painful lessons. With no opportunity to practise, small errors had big consequences. Neil and Laura both hard-zeroed the tailslide — Laura for a direction change of more than 45 degrees during the tumble, and Neil for performing a clean slide, but in the wrong direction.
When the scores were published, it was clear those errors had likely cost medal positions. The lesson was simple but important: at this level, perfection matters — but sometimes it is better to fly safely for a lower score than risk a complete zero. Dan Weston took the gold, Alex Phillips the silver, and Elliot Cox the bronze. Everyone was smiling from ear to ear!
Sunday was hot — already 26°C by 10am, with no cloud cover and almost no wind. The team started the day by de-rigging the Fox, before Dan headed home with his shiny gold medal.
The rest of the team made an ambitious start, with Laura, Alex, Elliot and Neil all getting airborne before the peak heat arrived. Once it did, energy levels inevitably dropped — but these are exactly the conditions the team needs to experience ahead of flying in southern France in August and September.
Graham Saw stayed on to judge sequences and provide detailed feedback on individual figures. Having that level of critique immediately after each flight is invaluable, helping the pilots find the small improvements that add up to real gains.
By mid-afternoon, everyone paused to hide in the shade, before heading back out for a few more flights as the temperature slowly began to ease.
A takeaway dinner and the Canadian Grand Prix on the big screen rounded off another excellent day — and a fantastic weekend.
