RADIO CONTROL PYLON RACING
Duane Gall 1267 S. Beeler Ct., Denver CO 80231 E-mail: [email protected]
AAAAAND THEY'RE OFF! As I write this, the first buds are appearing on the trees and the first advertising circulars for window-cleaning services are appearing on garage doors here in Suburbia. But in sunny Phoenix, Arizona, the first of the annual JR Gold Cup Series has already come and gone. It's time to wake up and smell the nitro!
Organized by the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) and sponsored by JR Remote Control, Horizon Hobby Distributors, and PowerMaster Fuels, in addition to local hobby shops and hosting clubs, the Gold Cup Series is established as the "gold standard" on the high-zoot Radio Control (RC) pylon circuit. It's second only to the Nationals in terms of prestige, and it is somewhat more accessible because four to six races are held each year at various locations across the country. The rule formula is Quarter 40, AMA event number 422.
Conceived by then-NMPRA president Vern Smith in 1998, the Gold Cup program solves two problems at once. Problem One is that local clubs are often reluctant to invest the money and effort to put on a major race when there's no guarantee that anyone will come from outside the immediate area to pay his or her entry fees and fill out a decent matrix.
Problem Two is that an individual pilot, or pilot/caller team, may be reluctant to travel a long distance and pay for the hotel, meals, and entry fees when there's no guarantee that the site, facilities, turnout, or officiating will be up to par.
So, in exchange for meeting specific site and organizational criteria (see www.nmpra.org under "JR Criteria"), the hosting club is guaranteed a financial contribution from NMPRA plus the publicity that comes from a healthy turnout including many top-caliber pilots.
2003 Gold Cup — Speedworld R/C Flyers, Whittman, AZ
The 2003 Gold Cup Series opened February 22–23 at the Speedworld R/C Flyers' field in Whittman, Arizona. Club President Randy Dauer and his crew put together a contest that was by all accounts the best ever—which is saying something considering the excellent reputation the Phoenix group has always maintained.
With a full matrix of 53 entries and some spectacular weather (I wish this column could be printed in full color so you could see the photo of Saturday night's sunset), this contest treated everyone to a full-on, take-no-prisoners start to the season!
Top honors went to Randy Bridge, with young Gino DelPonte finishing as first runner-up after winning a flyoff with Gary Freeman Jr. The next four places were also decided by flyoff: Jim Allen, Craig Grunkemeyer, Bob Brogdon, and Darrol Cady, in that order. Rounding out the top 10 were Mike Tallman, Jim Henderson, and Mike Helsel.
Top 10 finishers:
- Randy Bridge (1st)
- Gino DelPonte (2nd) — won flyoff with Gary Freeman Jr.
- Gary Freeman Jr.
- Jim Allen
- Craig Grunkemeyer
- Bob Brogdon
- Darrol Cady
- Mike Tallman
- Jim Henderson
- Mike Helsel
Of all those, the one with the slowest best time of the contest (who shall remain nameless for now) was still fractionally quicker than my personal best ever. But then, getting beaten by the best is the most effective way to learn, isn't it? I'm mentally preparing for my next such "lesson" at the Nationals.
An accompanying photo showed the season point champs from the 2002 Gold Cup Series, all of whom happened to be in attendance this year. Congratulations to (front row, from left): Dub Jett (fourth), Randy Bridge (first), Lyle Larson (second), Travis Flynn (third), and Darrol Cady (fifth). The sleek airplanes shown are available, although you must know where to look for them. NMPRA maintains a list of more than 50 approved designs, with the name of the designer/supplier of each, on its Web site. Many are sold as fiberglass-and-foam "semikits" at reasonable rates. The site now features pictorial how-to articles about some of the more sophisticated assembly techniques such as sealed, flutterproof hinges. Yet another reason to join!
Southern Exposure
Another race report that includes a happy ending—or a happy beginning, depending on your point of view—is a first-person account from Jeremy Chinn of Collierville, Tennessee.
"Upon getting back into RC flying two years ago, my first new project was to finish a Q-500 airplane that I'd started 10 years previously when my life was taken over by cars, girls, and high-school football.
"On getting the airplane done and in the air, I started asking my club members where I could go to race. Unfortunately, I found that the two races a year in my local area were not enough to get my racing 'fix.' Again, I am hooked!
"Around the same time, Don Stegall put his 'PylonWorld' pylon racing forum on the RCUuniverse website: http://www.rcuniverse.com/forumdisplay.php?f=3&daysprune=&forumid=55.
"Reviewing the posts, it appeared to reach a large group of people, so I decided to put a message up on the forum asking if there was any racing in the South anymore.
"Months went by with no answer, and then it appeared. I received a response from a person only identified as 'Alabama Racer.' He mentioned that he was planning an AMA 424 (Sport Quickie) race and asked if I was interested in attending on October 12th. I responded to the email and promptly found out that the person organizing the race was none other than my old friend Brad Clayton of Decatur, Alabama. I was ready to go!
"Arriving at the Decatur RC Club's field, it looked as though it would be an interesting day. Temperatures were nice, but a thick low fog caused a few to lose their airplanes momentarily while test flying. Fog or not, we were gonna race!
"The pilot's meeting was like a family reunion. Some of the old guard had come out including Steve and Brad Clayton, Greg Doe, and Dave Bowman. I took real enjoyment from the comments people made to me about the fact that the last time they had seen me, I was two feet and one hundred pounds smaller! With nine pilots in attendance, the matrix worked out to five rounds of action.
"Round one was interrupted by a severe rainstorm that sent everyone scrambling for cover. The rain lasted about half an hour, but most of our transmitters were spared from the downpour. After the rain cleared, the heats progressed quickly.
"The only other difficulty of the day was the proximity of the #3 pylon to the landing zone. Jim Forthman and Greg VanDette each tagged the pylon mid-way through the day, and Brad Clayton squared up on the pole with his red and yellow racer immediately after winning his last heat. While Jim and Greg's airplanes will each be easily rebuilt, Brad was not as lucky.
"In the end, it was Steve Clayton flying five clean heats to take home the win, and Brad Clayton taking home the fast time of the day.
"I want to thank Brad Clayton (CD) and the other members of the Decatur RC club who volunteered to work the course and help to put on a good race. I will be back!"
Results (fast time):
- Steve Clayton: 1:40.35 (Chattanooga, TN)
- Brad Clayton: 1:34.96 (Decatur, AL)
- Greg Doe: 1:36.06 (Smyrna, TN)
- Steve Conley: 1:40.03 (Chickamauga, GA)
- Jeremy Chinn: 1:35.29 (Collierville, TN)
- David Bowman: 1:40.40 (Nashville, TN)
- Dave Torre: 1:51.00 (Madison, AL)
- Greg VanDette: 1:40.00 (Nashville, TN)
- Jim Forthman: No Time (Decatur, AL)
Thanks, Jeremy. Jeremy has published plans for his Pintail Quickie 500 racer at his Web site: www.geocities.com/matchlessarea/. So if you're handy with the X-Acto and have a CAD program to print the plans with, you can join the fun for the cost of a few sheets of balsa.
The Need for ... Speed Dash?
What do you do if you like racing-type airplanes, you want to engage in a little friendly competition, but you don't have room to set up a racecourse? You could do what Allen Wiltz (Metairie, Louisiana) does: organize a Wedell-Williams Speed Dash for pocket-sized models.
What's a Wedell-Williams Speed Dash? I'll let Allen explain.
"The Wedell-Williams Air Service Corp. built racing aircraft that held all the speed records during the early 1930s. The racers were built only 90 miles from here in Patterson, LA. In the early 1970s, the State of Louisiana decided to build an aviation museum at that site. It is now the official aviation museum for the state, designated the Wedell-Williams Memorial Aviation Museum. I have been a member of the board of directors of the museum since it opened in 1978.
"About 9 years ago while at Oshkosh, WI (for the annual Experimental Aircraft Association fly-in) I served on one of the official timing teams for the Shell Formula 1 Speed Dash. This brought back memories of the speed dashes at the National Air Races during the golden era of aviation. I thought how great it would be to incorporate this concept into a model racing event.
"In 2000 I was asked by my club, the Crescent City R/C Club of New Orleans, to serve as contest director for our first S.M.A.L.L. Fun Fly. This was my opportunity to put my idea to work since the event would fall under the S.M.A.L.L. engine rules—a speed dash for .15 cu. in.
"The rules are simple. The race is run on a 100-foot course with timing lights at each end. Each pilot is given two warm-up flights and two timed flights. The fastest of the two timed flights is the pilot's official time. The airplanes are to be no larger than a combined length and width of 36 inches. Engines are to be .15 cu. in. or less (S.M.A.L.L. rules) and the models are to be single-channel, with up-elevator only. The idea is to have a minimal-cost event that encourages pilots of small, inexpensive airplanes to get out and race.
"In 2001 the event was expanded to a two-day event with classes for .049, .09 and .15 engines. The largest entry still was for the .15 class. The best times were around 9 seconds for the 100-foot dash; speeds were approximately 80 to 90 mph.
"Plans for the Wedell-Williams racers can be found on the Web at: www.wedell-williams.org.
"I approached the W-W board of directors with my idea and they voted to sponsor the event since it was in line with the museum's history and would be good publicity. Thus the Wedell-Williams Small R/C Speed Dash was born.
"The event is run directly over our 400-foot runway. The contestant takes off, trims his airplane and starts a pass over the strip. At a point 100 feet from the end, the airplane must be in level flight. Three-quarters of the way down the strip, the airplane is 'zapped' with a radar gun. The pilot makes four passes per flight (two in each direction) and the four speeds are averaged. The highest average after two or three such attempts is recorded as the pilot's official speed.
"Models must meet the dimensional specs of the old Quarter Midget (.15) event, but need not resemble any particular design. They must, however, have cowl flaps. Engines are stock O.S. Max, Thunder Tiger, or Norvel plain-bearing .15s with stock muffler, running on club-supplied 15% fuel.
"The winner gets a small plaque, and in addition, his name is engraved on a perpetual plaque in the museum. He may also loan the winning model to the museum for display next to the plaque if he can stand to be without it for a few months.
"The idea of this event is to run a low-key, inexpensive speed contest on a small field with an absolute minimum of help required."
Now before people start hounding me about how this isn't really "racing"—it's really straight-line speed—I know it. But as Arnold Schwarzenegger would say, "If life hands you lemons, crush them into lemonade."
The fourth annual Wedell-Williams Small R/C Speed Dash is tentatively scheduled for October 18–19, 2003. Contact Allen Wiltz at (504) 835-2860 or [email protected] for more details.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
