112 M ODEL AVIATION
(Editor’s note: Duane Gall has graciously offered his column
space this month to Henry Bartle, who wrote a report on the 2001
F3D Pylon Racing World Championships held July 30-August 3.
This report was received too late to run as a feature article, but
we are happy to be able to bring it to you in this format.)
F3d World chAmPion—that has a nice sound to it. The
best three pilots and mechanics the US had to offer went to
Bundaberg, Australia—a town of 20,000 people, three hours north
of Brisbane—which is locally known as the town where the Great
Barrier Reef begins.
We all departed from Los Angeles International Airport for the
trip overseas. The group consisted of pilots Stu McAfee (Los
Angeles CA), Bob Smith (Atascadera CA), and I (Battle Ground
WA), and mechanics/callers Bruce de Chastel, Lyle Larson, and
Bruce Thompson, with team manager Barry Leavengood.
Upon arriving in Bundaberg, we settled in for a week of
practice and competition. The flying field was magnificent, with a
clearing one-third of a mile in diameter which was ringed with
trees. The pits were in the tree lining.
There were 16 nations and 42 competitors in attendance. Five
brands of engines were used: the Nelson from the US, the IR from
Russia, the Phelan-Rossi from Australia, the MB, and the MB
front-induction from the Netherlands. When practice was finished
it became apparent that the Nelson, which had been so dominant
in years past, was severely outclassed.
Chris Callow of Australia and I clocked top speeds of more
than 250 mph. We were both using homemade front-induction
MB engines produced by Robert Metkemeijer of the Netherlands.
Opening ceremonies were well done. As each nation’s anthem
was played, that team would sing along. New Zealand won the
sing-along; half of the members of its team are professional
performers. The opening ceremonies were quite moving.
The US team decided to tour Bundaberg in our uniforms.
Bundaberg is famous for its Bundy rum; a tour of the brewery was
the first and last stop.
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F3D is different
from racing in the United States. F3D is a timed trial every race.
This is by far the most nerve-wrecking of any Pylon Racing.
There are four airplanes per race, and your clock starts when your
flag drops. You race the clock—not the other airplanes—and your
time is converted to points. For instance, 1 minute, 3.29 seconds
is 63.29 points.
After four rounds your worse (highest) score is removed. After
nine rounds your second-worse score is removed. If you cut
(don’t go around) a pylon, 10% is added to your time. Two cuts
give you a score of 200 points or 3 minutes, 20 seconds.
The racecourse is triangular. From the starting line to Pylon
One is 585 feet. The airplane has to go around the pole then come
back to Pylon Two, which is 100 feet behind the starting line.
Then 138 feet from Pylon Two is Pylon Three. The starting line is
100 feet in front of Pylon Three. You must fly 10 laps as quickly
as possible. After lap one the approximate time to complete a
lap—one-third of a mile with three turns—is 5.5 seconds. The
airplanes pull 40-50 Gs in each turn.
The first day of racing was a cool 60°, and there was not a cloud
Duane Gall, 1267 S. Beeler Ct., Denver CO 80231; E-mail: [email protected]
RADIO CONTROL PYLON RACING
Front (L-R): H. Bartle, B. Smith, C. Hyde, S. McAfee. Back: B. de
Chastel, B. Thompson, B. Leavengood, T. Lopez, L. Larson.
Left to right on the podium are Lyle Larson, Stu McAfee, Kevin
Callow, Chris Callow, Henry Bartle, and Bruce de Chastel.
From left to right are Donna Bartle, Linda de Donato, Linda de
Chastel, Marilyn Larson, Pam Smith, and Sonia Leavengood.
January 2003 113
in the sky. The wind was blowing 20-30
mph at a 45° angle to the racecourse.
August is the middle of winter, and the sun
does not get high off the horizon. They
have very dark over glasses to combat the
problem of flying through the sun.
Round One: Chip Hyde (1999 World
Champion) was the winner, followed by
Stu McAfee, Robert van den Bosch of the
Netherlands, me, and Chris Callow in
fifth. The piston of Bob Smith’s Nelson
came apart, and he scored a 200.
Round Two: Chip Hyde had fast time
of 1:01.3 for a score of 61.3 points. Chris
Callow was next, followed by me and Stu
McAfee, and Paolo Mucedola of Italy was
fifth. Bob Smith put a score on the board
of 67.7.
Round Three: Chip Hyde did not start.
Stu McAfee won this round, followed by
Chris Callow, Bob Smith, Robert van den
Bosch, and Ranjet Phelan of Australia. I
scored a 59 but had a cut that added 10%
to my score.
Round Four: Chris Callow posted a
60.9-second win, followed by Robert van
den Bosch, Chip Hyde, me, and Brian
Steele of Australia tied with Milos Malina
of the Czech Republic for fifth. Bob
Smith’s Nelson pipe snapped apart for his
second 200 score.
Round Five: Bob Smith did not start.
He scored his third 200. This was
devastating because you’re only allowed to
remove two high scores. Bob had to stay
clean the rest of the World
Championships for the US team to have
an opportunity to medal. Chris Callow
was fastest, followed by Stu McAfee, me,
Brian Steele, and Jean Y. Perret of
France. Chip Hyde also received his
second 200 score.
This concluded the first day of racing.
Chris Callow was leading, Stu McAfee
was in second place, and I was in third.
Robert van den Bosch and Peter van
Doesburg, both of the Netherlands, were
in fourth and fifth. Team competition had
the Netherlands in first, Germany in
second, and France in third. The US team
was in eighth place.
day Two was cold, and the wind had
lessened to 15 mph.
Round Six: Chris Callow did not waste
any time setting a world record of 58.6
seconds. Chip Hyde was next, followed by
Robert van den Bosch, Bob Smith, and
Ranjit Phelan. I had a great run going, but
on the eighth lap the propeller main shaft
broke and spit the propeller off, and my
model glided the last two laps. Under FAI
rules, any parts that are jettisoned or fall
off constitute a score of 200.
Round Seven: To go from hero to zero
took Chris Callow only one round. After
he set the world record, his airplane would
not start and he scored his first 200. Chip
Hyde also scored a 200, which gave him
114 M ODEL AVIATION
his third. There was no chance of him
repeating as World Champion. Stu
McAfee was on top this round. Next was
Ranjit Phelan, Nobuyuki Chujo of Japan,
and Thomas Erikson of Sweden. I had a
hard time settling down after the problem
in the previous round. Bob Smith had a
problem on takeoff but did put a score on
the board.
Round Eight started with a big surprise.
Chris Callow did not start for the second
time. Milos Malina topped the round,
followed by Chip Hyde, Stu McAfee,
Ranjit Phelan, and Brian Steele. Bob
Smith and I posted scores of 65.2 and
66.0.
Round Nine started with Chip Hyde not
starting for the fourth time. He decided he
would go for the world record during the
rest of the Championships. Chris Callow
lead this round, followed by Thomas
Erikson, me, Brian Steele, and Milos
Malina. Bob Smith was sixth, and Stu
McAfee was ninth in this round.
Round 10: Ranjit Phelan knew that he
was out of contention for the World
Champion title, so he attempted the world
record fast time. Ranjit Phelan won the
round but was three seconds slower than
the world record, followed by Chip Hyde,
Bob Smith, Stu McAfee, and Brian Steele.
Round 11: Ranjit Phelan won this
round, but was again three seconds slower
than the world record set by Chris Callow.
Chris and Stu McAfee tied for second, and
Brian Steele and Chip Hyde rounded out
the top five. Bob Smith and I posted good
times.
Day Two was in the books. Chris
Callow was leading, Stu McAfee was
second, Brian Steele was in third, and I
was in fourth. Bob Smith was in 30th and
Chip Hyde was in 34th place. Sweden led
the team competition, followed by
Germany and the US in third.
day Three was cold, and everyone was
greeted by 20-30 mph winds.
Round 12: Chip was going for the
record, but his Nelson engine just didn’t
have the power. He won the round, with
Chris Callow in second, Nobuyuki Chujo
in third, me fourth, and Ranjit Phelan fifth.
Bob Smith was sixth and Stu McAfee was
seventh.
Round 13: Chip Hyde was fast again,
but two seconds slower than the record.
Ranjit Phelan was second, I was third,
Chris Callow was fourth, and Brian Steele
was fifth.
Round 14: Stu McAfee and his caller
Lyle Larson had secured second place;
they scored in every round. Their next two
rounds could be their throwaways. Ranjit
Phelan won this round, followed by Stu
McAfee, Chip Hyde, me, and Robert van
den Bosch. I had worked my way back to
third place. Brian Steele was three seconds
back. Bob Smith did not start for the
fourth time, and the team fell from first
place to sixth place.
Round 15: Everyone was gunning for
the world record. Chip Hyde and Ranjit
Phelan were first and second but fell well
short of the record. Chris Callow took
third, which was enough to clinch the
championship; he became the youngest
World Champion at the age of 21.
Stu McAfee was fourth fastest in this
round, and he was the only contestant to
score in each round. The pylon workers
later informed him that Lyle Larson had
him within six feet of Pylon One on eight
of 10 laps, noting that the other two laps
were very close also.
I posted a one-minute, four-second
time. Brian Steele was in the last heat of
the World Championships; if he flew oneminute
flat or faster, he would take third
place from me. When the flight ended,
Bruce de Chastel and I were extremely
worried. Our watch had Brian at one
minute. The official time was one minute,
one second, which was Brian’s personal
best. Unfortunately he had a cut, which
added 10% to his score to make it a 67.88.
Bruce and I could finally breathe.
The 2001 FAI F3D World
Championships is history. Stu McAfee
finished second, and I was third. Bob
Smith was 35th and Chip Hyde was 31st.
The team standings were Sweden in first
place, Germany took second, and
Australia finished third. The US team
ended up in sixth place.
The winning combination came from
Bruce de Chastel at
www.bigbruceracing.com. He designed
and built the Evolution airplane. He also
developed and produced the propellers
and pipes for the first-, third-, and fourthplace
finishers. All three of those pilots
used the front-induction MB engine.
Chris Callow went to Japan two weeks
later for the Japan Nationals. His slowest
time in 10 rounds was faster than the
world record; he set the Japanese record at
56.0.
The FAi F3d World Championships was
extremely well organized and officiated.
There are many people to thank, including
Contest Director David Axon and starters
Barry Murphy and Warren Hathaway. The
Bundaberg Radio Control Club members
should be proud that they put on a great
world-championship race; many thanks to
them.
The next FAI F3D World
Championships contest will be in the
Czech Republic in the summer of 2003. MA
