WHAT DO YOU do when you live in a place where paved fields are rare, the grass is thick, and it rains a lot? You race hand-launched airplanes, that's what. I recently received an update from Roy Stubbs (Seattle WA) of the Snohomish Radio Aero Club (SRAC), which holds contests on the third Saturday of each month from October through April for 1/2A (AMA event 423, with variations). Speed 400 electric, and a one-design class for the Sig Doubler with an O.S. Max .15 engine. Over to Roy. "Greetings. We have been racing 1/2As here for more than 25 years. At SRAC we comply with the AMA rules for event 423, except that we do allow crankcase pressure. This we have found gives very good starting characteristics with consistent engine runs around the course. The modification to the engine of removing the backplate and replacing it with a commercially available backplate with a pressure nipple is simple and costs a few dollars. "We also limit the nitro content of the fuel. Most of us use PowerMaster '/2A fuel which I believe is no more than 30%. This is easy on the engines and our Cox plugs often last several seasons. Also, some of our Cox Tee Dee .049s are more than 20 years old. "Our starting procedure is unique. We have a prerecorded tape, starting with a three-minute warning and intermixed with music from Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines and Reno Pylon Racing sound effects. There is a one-minute countdown from 'Gentlemen, start your engines' to the very exciting flying start. Of course, hand launching is mandatory. "The start line is a line projected from Pylons Two and Three, with your airplane leaving Pylon Two on the left wingtip. This takes you away from the course if you are over early. You must hold your course until countdown is to zero, otherwise it is counted the same as a cut. The actual lap count starts from the conventional start/finish line opposite the starter. This we have found is a much safer Contestants at the SRAC (Seattle WA area) season finale, held April 21, 2002. arrangement for a flying start and prevents airplanes that jump the gun from turning back with possible midairs or other hazards. "Over the years we have found ViA racing both exciting and easy on the pocketbook. My teenage son, Trevor, is racing a Taperwing from Model Aviation plans that is over 10 years old. He first started '/:A racing when he was 11 and finds it as exciting as ever." Roy also expressed some concern about the setback distance required and whether it is appropriate to have the same setback for '/:A as for events using larger, heavier aircraft. Although you still need 300 feet between the racecourse and the pylon judges on the sideline, for '/:A the current rule book does not require an additional ISO feet between that sideline and the spectator area. So '/:A is still a good choice for smaller fields. (The rule-book text is posted at www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/PDF-files/Rulebook/rc-pylon.pdf.) The contest director for SRAC is Bill West (of Mukilteo WA at [4251 513-8098). who supplied the following race report from Author's Little Toni for off-road sport and racing. See text. Father/son team of Roy and Trevor Stubbs. Roy won the Sig Doubler class with a .15. Trevor won ViA with his Taperwing. its end-of-season contest in April 2002. Since I have enough lead time. I'll pass along the first three dates for the 2002-2003 season: October 19, November 16, and December 21. "The last race day of the 2001/2002 season was held in reasonably good conditions. If a tad chilly, there was absolutely no sun to get in your eyes rounding Pylons Two and Three—always a blessing. This finished off one of the most successful flying seasons we've had for some time. We managed to race six race days out of the seven scheduled, with extremely good participation both in pilots and our all-important pit-crew members and pylon judges. Many thanks to all of you! "Highlights of the day: " I) Tom Richards with his Bugatti Racer actually made the starting and finishing line on all but one of his heats. What a sight to see: a Bugatti Racer, a Bf 109. and Group Captain Peter Townsend's Princess Margaret Hurricane, all rounding Pylons Two and Three together. This is the variety of designs that the ViA. racing formula promotes, and although these may not be the most competitive configurations, there are other immeasurable factors in flying airplanes of this type other than crossing the line in first place. "2) Maddog brought his usual level of excitement to the event. While diving for the flying start of the first Doubler race he somehow managed to literally shred his Doubler through the trees. The noise as his airplane disintegrated brought aaahs and ooohs from the spectators. Maddog spent the rest of the race day climbing through brambles and up trees and managed to salvage all except the battery. Quite an accomplishment; we all really look forward to racing with Maddog again next season with his rebuilt Doubler and brand new GLHs. "3) One other disaster of note was when John Reifel's Doubler's wing parted company with its fuselage rounding Pylon Two. Too bad. John! An inspection of the wing-to-body joint showed a bonding failure of the CyA [cyanoacrylate] adhesive. John agreed that 30-minute epoxy is probably more appropriate in this type of critical joint. "4) We were very pleased to welcome Paul Cole back to the '/2A racing fold. I don't believe he has turned out for at least the last 10 years. He quickly got back in the swing of things, started and finished all heats, and crossed the line first in his last heat. Great job. Paul! "5) There were several battles for overall season points. Traditionally, trophies and prizes go to the first three places in both classes. These are awarded at SRAC's annual Christmas Banquet. Shane Jensen with his Norvel-powered Taperwing and John Reifel with a Speed 400 electric racer went into the final '/:A race with close to even points for third place overall. "Shane managed to cross the finish line in first place in what will be his very last SRAC race before leaving us to start training as an airline pilot in Phoenix. Congratulations. Shane, in all respects — we will miss you. "Van Caryl wrapped up third place in Doublers, and Trevor Stubbs and dad (Roy) literally raced neck and neck all day for a first and second in both classes with an overall win for Trevor in '/:A and for Roy in the Doubler class. "Congratulations to all! However, I do believe that in whatever place we ended up, it is participating and the associated camaraderie of an event of this nature that makes every one of us winners." Indeed it does. Roy and Bill E-mailed some nice photos of the action, but unfortunately we are still in transition between the age of analog (film) photography and high-resolution digital. To reproduce properly in a magazine like this one, digital photos need to be an absolute minimum of 300 pixels per inch. Most consumer digicams produce images of approximately 70 pixels per inch unless you change the settings, which reduces the number of photos you can store on one of the disks they use—which is why they're programmed for only 70 to begin with. We'll get it figured out eventually! In the meantime, if you have photos to share, please do it the old-fashioned way. Heavy Metal Revisited: This column started out with one strategy for conquering unpaved fields: the elegant strategy of hand-launching a lightweight little airplane and avoiding the whole wheels-in-the-grass thing. However, there is another strategy, and it's called brute force. In this case, I'm talking 3'/:-inch wheels, four horsepower, and a 12-inch propeller disk. Enclosed is a snapshot (yes. on film) of my prototype Little Toni, which is designed to compete head-to-head with the Great Planes Shoestring 60 Almost Ready to Fly (ARF), the World Models Midget Mustang ARF, and hopefully a whole series of similar-size ARFs yet to come. By the time you read this, there should be complete formula specs posted on Pylon World (www.pylonworld.com). If there's enough interest, the specs will be submitted as a "provisional" event for the 2005 AMA rule book. The model in the photo uses a Sport-Jett .90L engine. It is fast, fully aerobatic, lands as gently as a Quickie, and at 64 inches in span, will fit in the car. Since this photo was taken, the specs have been amended to require a more compact, in-cowl muffler in place of the gawky, cigar-shaped thing in the photo. That should make mounting and cowling the engine even easier than it is now, and perhaps save the crankcase in the event of a ... Well,all-righty then! Until next month, keep the shiny side up! AM
Edition: Model Aviation - 2002/09
Page Numbers: 131, 132
WHAT DO YOU do when you live in a place where paved fields are rare, the grass is thick, and it rains a lot? You race hand-launched airplanes, that's what. I recently received an update from Roy Stubbs (Seattle WA) of the Snohomish Radio Aero Club (SRAC), which holds contests on the third Saturday of each month from October through April for 1/2A (AMA event 423, with variations). Speed 400 electric, and a one-design class for the Sig Doubler with an O.S. Max .15 engine. Over to Roy. "Greetings. We have been racing 1/2As here for more than 25 years. At SRAC we comply with the AMA rules for event 423, except that we do allow crankcase pressure. This we have found gives very good starting characteristics with consistent engine runs around the course. The modification to the engine of removing the backplate and replacing it with a commercially available backplate with a pressure nipple is simple and costs a few dollars. "We also limit the nitro content of the fuel. Most of us use PowerMaster '/2A fuel which I believe is no more than 30%. This is easy on the engines and our Cox plugs often last several seasons. Also, some of our Cox Tee Dee .049s are more than 20 years old. "Our starting procedure is unique. We have a prerecorded tape, starting with a three-minute warning and intermixed with music from Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines and Reno Pylon Racing sound effects. There is a one-minute countdown from 'Gentlemen, start your engines' to the very exciting flying start. Of course, hand launching is mandatory. "The start line is a line projected from Pylons Two and Three, with your airplane leaving Pylon Two on the left wingtip. This takes you away from the course if you are over early. You must hold your course until countdown is to zero, otherwise it is counted the same as a cut. The actual lap count starts from the conventional start/finish line opposite the starter. This we have found is a much safer Contestants at the SRAC (Seattle WA area) season finale, held April 21, 2002. arrangement for a flying start and prevents airplanes that jump the gun from turning back with possible midairs or other hazards. "Over the years we have found ViA racing both exciting and easy on the pocketbook. My teenage son, Trevor, is racing a Taperwing from Model Aviation plans that is over 10 years old. He first started '/:A racing when he was 11 and finds it as exciting as ever." Roy also expressed some concern about the setback distance required and whether it is appropriate to have the same setback for '/:A as for events using larger, heavier aircraft. Although you still need 300 feet between the racecourse and the pylon judges on the sideline, for '/:A the current rule book does not require an additional ISO feet between that sideline and the spectator area. So '/:A is still a good choice for smaller fields. (The rule-book text is posted at www.modelaircraft.org/templates/ama/PDF-files/Rulebook/rc-pylon.pdf.) The contest director for SRAC is Bill West (of Mukilteo WA at [4251 513-8098). who supplied the following race report from Author's Little Toni for off-road sport and racing. See text. Father/son team of Roy and Trevor Stubbs. Roy won the Sig Doubler class with a .15. Trevor won ViA with his Taperwing. its end-of-season contest in April 2002. Since I have enough lead time. I'll pass along the first three dates for the 2002-2003 season: October 19, November 16, and December 21. "The last race day of the 2001/2002 season was held in reasonably good conditions. If a tad chilly, there was absolutely no sun to get in your eyes rounding Pylons Two and Three—always a blessing. This finished off one of the most successful flying seasons we've had for some time. We managed to race six race days out of the seven scheduled, with extremely good participation both in pilots and our all-important pit-crew members and pylon judges. Many thanks to all of you! "Highlights of the day: " I) Tom Richards with his Bugatti Racer actually made the starting and finishing line on all but one of his heats. What a sight to see: a Bugatti Racer, a Bf 109. and Group Captain Peter Townsend's Princess Margaret Hurricane, all rounding Pylons Two and Three together. This is the variety of designs that the ViA. racing formula promotes, and although these may not be the most competitive configurations, there are other immeasurable factors in flying airplanes of this type other than crossing the line in first place. "2) Maddog brought his usual level of excitement to the event. While diving for the flying start of the first Doubler race he somehow managed to literally shred his Doubler through the trees. The noise as his airplane disintegrated brought aaahs and ooohs from the spectators. Maddog spent the rest of the race day climbing through brambles and up trees and managed to salvage all except the battery. Quite an accomplishment; we all really look forward to racing with Maddog again next season with his rebuilt Doubler and brand new GLHs. "3) One other disaster of note was when John Reifel's Doubler's wing parted company with its fuselage rounding Pylon Two. Too bad. John! An inspection of the wing-to-body joint showed a bonding failure of the CyA [cyanoacrylate] adhesive. John agreed that 30-minute epoxy is probably more appropriate in this type of critical joint. "4) We were very pleased to welcome Paul Cole back to the '/2A racing fold. I don't believe he has turned out for at least the last 10 years. He quickly got back in the swing of things, started and finished all heats, and crossed the line first in his last heat. Great job. Paul! "5) There were several battles for overall season points. Traditionally, trophies and prizes go to the first three places in both classes. These are awarded at SRAC's annual Christmas Banquet. Shane Jensen with his Norvel-powered Taperwing and John Reifel with a Speed 400 electric racer went into the final '/:A race with close to even points for third place overall. "Shane managed to cross the finish line in first place in what will be his very last SRAC race before leaving us to start training as an airline pilot in Phoenix. Congratulations. Shane, in all respects — we will miss you. "Van Caryl wrapped up third place in Doublers, and Trevor Stubbs and dad (Roy) literally raced neck and neck all day for a first and second in both classes with an overall win for Trevor in '/:A and for Roy in the Doubler class. "Congratulations to all! However, I do believe that in whatever place we ended up, it is participating and the associated camaraderie of an event of this nature that makes every one of us winners." Indeed it does. Roy and Bill E-mailed some nice photos of the action, but unfortunately we are still in transition between the age of analog (film) photography and high-resolution digital. To reproduce properly in a magazine like this one, digital photos need to be an absolute minimum of 300 pixels per inch. Most consumer digicams produce images of approximately 70 pixels per inch unless you change the settings, which reduces the number of photos you can store on one of the disks they use—which is why they're programmed for only 70 to begin with. We'll get it figured out eventually! In the meantime, if you have photos to share, please do it the old-fashioned way. Heavy Metal Revisited: This column started out with one strategy for conquering unpaved fields: the elegant strategy of hand-launching a lightweight little airplane and avoiding the whole wheels-in-the-grass thing. However, there is another strategy, and it's called brute force. In this case, I'm talking 3'/:-inch wheels, four horsepower, and a 12-inch propeller disk. Enclosed is a snapshot (yes. on film) of my prototype Little Toni, which is designed to compete head-to-head with the Great Planes Shoestring 60 Almost Ready to Fly (ARF), the World Models Midget Mustang ARF, and hopefully a whole series of similar-size ARFs yet to come. By the time you read this, there should be complete formula specs posted on Pylon World (www.pylonworld.com). If there's enough interest, the specs will be submitted as a "provisional" event for the 2005 AMA rule book. The model in the photo uses a Sport-Jett .90L engine. It is fast, fully aerobatic, lands as gently as a Quickie, and at 64 inches in span, will fit in the car. Since this photo was taken, the specs have been amended to require a more compact, in-cowl muffler in place of the gawky, cigar-shaped thing in the photo. That should make mounting and cowling the engine even easier than it is now, and perhaps save the crankcase in the event of a ... Well,all-righty then! Until next month, keep the shiny side up! AM