Equinox Cup held in cold and windy weather

30/9/2010
The bad weather for our 2010 events on Barkston Heath continued for the Equinox cup. Despite the cold weather and the strong winds, there were some excellent performances. Click here to learn more.

Nationals badly affected by the weather again

31/5/2010
After the perfect weather for the 2009 nationals, it was back to bad weather again for the 2010 event. Saturday was very wet. but the Streamer and helicopter classes were flown. S8 was cancelled because of the rain. The Sun shone on Sunday, but the wind blew so strongly the flying had to be abandoned for the day. The details are on the Recent Results page.

Greystar becomes a sponsor of the GBR team

20/5/2010
Greystar UK has become the latest sponsor for the British team. Greystar provides Operations and Maintenance Services to the UK’s Gas and Liquids pipeline industry. The company was formed from the Unipen subsidiary company of Penspen following its acquisition of ProGas. Both companies have long-established and exemplary track records in their respective sectors. Unipen was a previous sponsor of the team and we are delighted the new owners are continuing with this relationship.

First qualifier held on Salisbury Plain

1/5/2010
The first qualifier for the 2011 team to attend the European Championships in Romania was completed successfully on Salisbury Plain along side the London Gala free flight event. The big winner was Mike francies, who took first place in both S4A and S9A. John Jacomb took the win in the other class flown, S6A. In the end it was too windy to fly parachute and the only S1 Altitude model on show, from Trevor Seabrook, also succumbed to the bad weather.

Gold and Silver for team GBR at the Spanish world cup

1/5/2010
For the third year running it was a successful year for members of the British team who competed in the Spanish round of the world cup. Nigel Bathe took the gold in S6A streamer with only two flights (both maximums). Mike Francies took the Silver in S8E/P rocket glider. We hope to have a full report here soon.

2010 Event calendar Updated

7/1/2010
The calendar of events for 2010 is now available here on this web site. As in previous years the three team qualification events are being held at Salisbury Plain, Barkston Heath and Sculthorpe.

First information published for 2010 World Championship

29/12/2009
The 2010 world championships will be held on 21st to 28 of August in Serbia. The site will be very close to that used for the 2009 European Championships and the event will be headquartered at the same Spa Hotel. For this championships we will be back to our full 8 classes and for the first time the altitude classes will be flown using electronic altimeters. You can download the first bulletin for the event from here

First Equinox Cup a great success

21/09/2009
Competitors came from four countries to compete in the four classes at the Equinox cup. The four winners each came from a different country; Germany in Boost glider, Spain in Streamer, Slovenia in Rocket Glider and Great Britain in Helicopter. One of the most popular winners was in the non-world cup parachute competition in Which Verney Montague took gold in his final event before retiring from competition space modelling. Read the full report of the event here.

British team competes in European Championship and Belgrade Cup

01/09/2009
Mike Francies, Nigel Bathe and Trevor Seabrook competed at the European Championships in Serbia before heading up to Belgrade for their round of the World Cup. Conditions were hot and the air was difficult to read. The performances improved as the week went on and the team learned to read the air better. The highlight was 6th place in streamer by Trevor Seabrook at the Belgrade cup.

S1B Altitude to be added to the team qualifiers using 2010 specifications

03/05/2009
With the return of eight classes to the European and World championships, it has been decided to run the S1B altitude class at future team trials. Our class will be flown with the use of altimeters rather than using observation to measure the peak altitude.

Eight classes to be flown again at the European and World Championships from 2010

15/04/2009
At the annual CIAM meeting of the FAI, a proposal from the American aeromodellers to return space modelling World and European championships was approved. So from the Serbian World Championships of 2010 all of the current roster of classes will be competed for.

Success for British Team members at Spanish World Cup

05/04/2009
The Catalunya Cup is the Spanish round of the World cup and the season opener. This year Britain ran of with the medals. John Jacomb started the success with gold in the S9 Gyrocopter class. Mike Francies followed this up with gold in both the S6 streamer class and the S8 rocket glider. In the fly off of the S8 class Mike had a perfect 6 minute flight, landing on the target - shades of Poland 2004. A great start to the season for team GBR.

Nigel Bathe awarded the Clark Trophy

15/01/2009
The Clark Trophy is awarded each year to the space modeler who has done the most to promote the sport. For 2008 it has been awarded to Nigel Bathe for his long term support of the juniors in the British teams and for his outstanding 2nd place in S4A at the world championships.

Provisional Calendar for 2009 season published

15/11/2008
The initial dates for the 2009 season have now been published. They include the National Championships, the team qualifiers and the Equinox cups. Check the Calendar section to see the dates.

Equinox Cup to be the Great Britain round of the World Cup

30/10/2008
After a gap of several years, Great Britain will again host a round of the Space Modelling World Cup. Barkston Heath has been booked for the event on the 19th and 20th of September, and we are working hard to get some of the top competitors from Europe to come to this event. More information will be published on the web site soon.

Nigel Bathe wins silver at the WSMC in Spain

30/8/2008
Nigel Bathe won silver in the S4A boost glider class at the world championships in Spain. After three perfect maximum flights using his mark II Jacomb special, it was a quick preparation of his backup model when the original landed on a farm track and was driven over. The fly off was at dusk and the time keepers were able to keep the large flying wing from the Romanian competitor longer than Nigel's small white glider. Still Nigel was delighted with his silver medal, the first medal won in a duration class by a British competitor at a world championships since 1972.

Edgecam sponsors the British space modelling team

15/8/2008
Just ahead of the world championships, we are delighted to announce that EdgeCam, a worldwide, leading CAM software company have very generously agreed to sponsor the UK Space Modelling Team. The Edgecam software has already been invaluable, as the UK team strive to perfect their models, and the ability to accurately reproduce airfoils and components using CNC machines will enhance the team's chances of future success. The models used in Spain will be the first to extensively use this technology and the team would like to express their thanks to EdgeCam for such generous support.

Team ready for Spanish World Championships

18/8/2008
The final practice on Barkston Heath was a great success although the "Barkston Breeze" blew as usual. The Mark III Jacomb special boost glider took to the air with great success with a number of spectacular flights. One of the best flights of the weekend was Benedykt Klejnow's S9 helicopter. After a couple of failures and some almost flights, the final effort was a spectacular effort of 4 minutes 27 seconds. That's what trimming is all about.

2008 Sponsors announced

29/6/2008
We are delighted to release the names of our sponsors for the British Team going to the 2008 World Championships. Visual Nexus have renewed their uniform sponsorship and Unipen are a new team sponsor this year. Sponsorship is vital for a small team such as ours competing in a major international event and we would like to extend a huge thank you to our sponsors.

Results from the 2008 National Championships

30/5/2008
The weather at the national championships was again wet and very windy. All the main events, except for scale, were completed. The scale event has been rescheduled for the Barkston Heath event on the 20th and 21st September. The results have been posted on the results page here.

Results from the first team trials posted

15/5/2008
The first qualifier for the 2009 team to compete at the European championships was held on Salisbury plain over the May day bank holiday. The results are available on the results page.

Gold For Nigel Bathe in Spain

17/3/2008
A five strong contingent from the 2008 national team competed in the Spanish world cup. Nigel Bathe won gold for S9A helicopter and other team members had great performances for this early in the season. Check out the full report here

Details of the 2008 British Space Nationals available on this Web site

09/3/2008
Details about the 2008 British Space Modelling Championships Can be found here. You can download an entry form from here.

TV program featuring the European Space Championships available on the web

08/3/2008
The 2007 European space modelling championships were recorded and transmitted on Sky Sports1 as part of a series of programs about air sports. They can now also be viewed on the internet. To watch it click here and click on the European Space Model link

First practice day on Salisbury Plain confirmed for 6th April

8/3/2008
Contact events@fairocketry.org.uk for more details

Geoff Seabrook awarded the Clark Trophy

23/2/2008
The Clark Trophy is awarded every year for achievement in British model rocketry. At the annual SERFs dinner in February it was awarded to a very surprised Geoff Seabrook, who has organized the past few British championships and been part British Team management for the past 3 years.

First information added to web site on 2008 World Championships

04/2/2008
Check here to find out more

Initial 2008 Event Calendar released

20/1/2008
The FAIR events, including the team qualifying dates, have been added to the calendar
 
Largest ever BMFA team to attend a Space Modelling championship to go to Spanish world championship this year
20/1/2008
The BMFA has approved the largest ever space modelling team to represent Great Britain at the 2008 World Championship in Spain. This demonstrates that the BMFA recognizes the progress FAIR has made since it was first set up in 2004.
 
Despite Bad Weather, British team do OK at European Championships
20/9/2007
The weather throughout the European Championships, held in Kosice, Slovakia was terrible. Strong winds and heavy rain persisted through out the Championships, turning the flying site into a sea of mud. Despite this the British team competed hard with our best result being a 5th in the S8E/P rocket glider class.
 
Wet, windy but some good performances at FAIR Open
20/8/2007
The FAIR open event held over two days in August at Barkston Heath was again disrupted by some very poor weather with strong winds and rain. Despite the poor weather the event was judged a success by those that took part.  John Jacomb won the national parachute duration championships, which had been held over from the nationals, with a pair of maximums.  Rookie Jef Ott won the S8 rocket glider class with an almost perfect score. 
 
GBR team members win medals at Spanish world cup for the 2nd year running
20/5/2007
Despite difficult weather and lost models the members of the GBR team that traveled Spain came home satisfied with their performances.  Nigel bathe won bronze in S8E/P despite losing his model following radio interference in the fly-off.  Nigel, Ian Dowsett and John Jacomb also gave the new S4 boost gliders their first serious competitive outing.  Although no medals were won they performed very well.  Now we must sort out the D/T so we can get them back.