District X - 2012/09

The 2012 season of Giant Scale
Pylon Racing has officially ended
with another nail-biting three-race
season coming down to the last race
of the year to crown the new series
champions. Some of the closest racing
heats ever recorded were witnessed
during this 17th season.
If you have not yet been to one of
these events, you owe it to yourself
to load up the car with the family
or flying buddies and go check out
these pilots. Airplanes flying in excess
of 200 mph and costing anywhere
from $4,000 to $10,000 race on two
1,600-foot-long Pylon courses. With
five airplanes in the air at a time, the
action is both loud and crazy. Exciting
and spectacular is all that can be said to
describe it.
The 2011 Series Champions are:
Formula l GT, Marty Treat of Arizona;
Formula l Pro, Randy Ritch of Texas;
and Unlimited, Tom Easterday of
California.
Races were held in Hearne, Texas
El Dorado, Kansas, and Victorville,
California. As you read this, the 2012
season is underway. The finale will
once again be right here in District X
at Rabbit Dry lake bed near Victorville,
California, October 26-28. Check the
Unlimited Scale Racing Association
website at www.usrainfo.org for
details, and make plans to attend.
Two events were held the weekend
of June 23 in Davis, California, that
were close together geographically, but
worlds apart in terms of aeromodeling.
The first event was the Woodland
Davis Aeromodelers annual Jet Fly-In.
The event was run professionally, and
thanks to some preplanning, the local
NBC affiliate covered the event on its
evening news. Both EDF and turbines
tore up the sky, pleasing everyone in
attendance.
The second event of the weekend
was the Sacramento Valley Soaring
Society’s (SVSS) summer Soaring
Challenge. This was a Thermal
Duration competition in which each
round had a time that had to be flown,
aboth winches to launch traditional
Sailplanes, and electric motors for
the Altitude Limited Electric Soaring
(ALES) models.
SVSS members enjoy ALES, which
has an onboard unit that limits both
motor run time and altitude, cutting
off power when either of the limits is
reached. Maximum score is awarded
to the pilot who touches down at the
exact end of the time and at the bull’seye,
with deductions per second and
inch from the target.
Please remember to check out our
District X website (www.ama10.org)
to see many more photos from these
three events and other exciting district
news.
Until next month, may you have
nothing but happy landings.