The Challenge
- Launch from one of the Fife hills – Bishop Hill, West Lomond or East Lomond
- Fly the 15Km triangle that includes a 400m exit cylinder above the weather dome on Bishop, the summits of West and East Lomond, and then back to the first one to complete the triangle then a final goal of a 1000m cylinder around my house (Newton of Strathenry Farmhouse) where there are plenty of nice fields.
The Objective
- A fun additional challenge that can last a whole season.
- Good for lower airtime pilots to get used to flying around a course in a safe environment with no pressure to fly as fast as possible.
- Good for experienced pilots to lead the way
The Prize
- The first person to complete the route in any one calendar year wins the cup
- A bottle of whisky/ fizzy wine/ case of beer or other prize of equivalent value to each year’s winner
Tips
Its more difficult than it sounds – on really good days we often go to better XC sites. On good days of flying in the Lomonds, the sea breeze comes in quite early and shuts down the sites in sequence from the east. I’ve been trying to do it for years and yet to manage.
If you complete the task, if anyone’s at home, we’ll give you a lift back to your car!
Probably easiest to start at West Lomond in a northwesterly, head to east Lomond, then to bishop, back to west Lomond and then downwind to goal
If setting it yourself, the 1000m goal cylinder is easiest set around ‘pigeon all day long’, our neighbour’s business on google maps or use one of the QR codes below:
These are the waypoints but can be done in any order, although the goal is fixed.
Having recently retired after over 35 years as an Obstetrician and having delivered around 5000 babies, the Strathenry Cup is made from real instruments all associated with childbirth. The wood of the base is from an Apple tree that came down in the UK hurricane of 1987 – the year I started in Obstetrics.
Dr Graham Tydeman