15 December 2014
The British Aerobatics team has returned from the inaugural World Intermediate Aerobatic Championships in South Africa with a team Silver medal.
The competition was disrupted by bad weather forcing the organisers to cut the flights from four to two – but not before Paul Brice, flying an XtremeAir XA42, flew an outstanding Free programme to take an individual Bronze medal. The team achieved the team Silver medal, with Paul Brice finishing seventh overall, Mike Collett in ninth and Chris Sills coming 14th, to make up the top three British pilots.
“The team faced a steep learning curve on arrival in South Africa,” said Steve Todd, team manager. “To return with team silver and individual bronze medals is an outstanding result, and a great endorsement of the flying skills of the pilots. We were only beaten by a strong South African team, with home advantage and an outstanding world champion in Michel Leusch.”
“We knew it was going to be a challenge, getting to know new aircraft with such little time,” said Mike Collett, who, along with most of the British team, was flying the South African-designed-and-built Slick 360. “But we were all very proud to be representing our country; to come home with the Silver medal is just a superb result!”
“This exceeded our expectations,” commented Alan Cassidy, BAeA Chairman. “The team flew exceptionally well in difficult conditions and showed the world that the UK is a growing force in international aerobatics.”
<a href=’http://www.aerobatics.org.uk/’ target=’_blank’>www.aerobatics.org.uk</a>
