1. The Heaviest Aerial in the world
This event was one of the Winter Sunday morning series held in an around Manchester by members of SMRC. Chris Plummer had braved the February frosts to attach tone end of his wire to the beams under the M6 Thelwall Viaduct, this effectively loaded the bridge steelwork and radiated a good strong signal back to the start in Sale.
By happen chance the aerial loaded the bridge a ¼ l from its landing point on the north side of the river Mersey which also happened to be the opposite side to where Chris was hiding. This spit of land nestled between the Manchester Ship Canal and loops of the Mersey, and was only accessible by car from a side road in the back streets of Warrington some 1.5 miles away, but foot bridges cross the river ½ a mile downstream, and a rowing boat acts as a ferry across the ship canal.
Some time passed and contestants appeared on the north bank of the river (opposite the hide), but every time the transmitter was turned on the six or so teams ran to the bridge girders, only to loose interest when it was switched off again. Time and again they returned as Chris watching from behind a clump of dead bracken across the river switched on again. It was as if they were on a yoyo, off away, on back again. This went on for 30-40 minutes until the more adventurous competitors climbed over a spiked steel rail gate, onto the catwalk under the bridge, crossed to the right side of the river, climbed down to the top of a concrete parapet, and swung down 20’ to the ground on a rope left by the local kids. These then had to find the station, and non had yet found the thin black wire that was by now gleaming with dew against a clear blue sky.
When found, much relief was had, especially by Chris who had been dying for a pee, but if he had stood up he would have been seen from across the river. One contestant later complained in the pub, that when driving over the viaduct and the TX came on , his monitor set had lept off the rear parcel shelf and joined him in the front of his car; the response being ‘What do you expect if you drive over the aerial?... It may not have been the longest aerial used for DF, but it was by far the heaviest approx. 50,000 tonnes