Author: Scott Causey
Edition: Model Aviation - 2010/04
Page Numbers: 114,115
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Radio Control Pylon Racing - 2010/04

Scott Causey [[email protected]]

Pylon Racing for clubs

Editor’s note

Scott is taking a break and welcomed the opportunity for another active racer to write this month’s column. Please welcome Don Stegall, who is extremely active in developing a racing competition that is becoming popular with many RC clubs nationwide. Here’s Don!

Getting started with club racing

The response to my “Pylon Racing for Everyone” article about Club 40 Pylon Racing (published in the October 2009 MA) has been overwhelming. I have received many e-mail messages and phone calls from people who are starting racing in new places. Many have joined RCPRO, and many have purchased the Sky Raider Mach II and the LA Racer 40, available from AirBorne Models. This is an exciting time for Pylon Racing, with a lot of grassroots activity.

Ken Erickson, the RCPRO Club 40 Committee chairman, has been busy answering questions from clubs starting up. Barry Reade, the RCPRO president, is working on a comprehensive list of clubs that are racing. I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the phone and have been putting thoughts and answers to questions on paper to help newcomers and clubs that want to race, whether it is Club 40 or some other format.

RC Pylon Racing requires the cooperation of a hosting club or flying field. As an AMA member, you value your AMA coverage, and you want it to be in effect during all Pylon Racing activities. The best approach is to be as safe as possible at all times: read and understand the guidelines and rules, and make sure race participants, helpers, and spectators follow the rules and safety measures in place. Involving club officers is the best way to get started— they can help with scheduling and with field setup.

There will probably be issues with when the pylons can be set up and when pylon activities can take place. Coordination typically falls to a person with a strong interest in racing. It is convenient if that person is an AMA Contest Director (CD), but CD duties may be delegated to another person on contest day.

Proper setup of the pylon course is a major part of the safety equation. For Club 40 Pylon Racing, see AMA Document 540-B: “Set-Back Distances for Sport Pylon Racing.” (There is a link to this on the RCPRO website.) For AMA three-pole racing, see the AMA RC Pylon Racing rules. They contain useful information for all forms of Pylon Racing, including Club 40.

Pylons and course setup

There are various pieces of equipment needed to run races. The most basic is a set of pylons. You can imagine courses, but nothing compares to putting up a set of poles and flying around them. Once you set up pylons, even sport pilots will start to fly around them—it’s a natural thing to do.

In 2001, after I resumed flying, I found there were no common pylon designs that were easy to break down and transport. I spent many hours thinking about how to build pylons that would meet the AMA requirement of 15 feet minimum height and 20 feet maximum. I even wrote a set of requirements. Then one day the solution I call the “Quad-Pod” hit me. I went to the break room, got some straws, straightened a couple of staples, and assembled a prototype using the straws, the staples, and tape to simulate chain. It seemed like it would work.

On the way home I bought PVC pipe, 1/2-inch rod and nuts, hooks, and chain. I built a setup when I got home and stood it up. I thought it might come spiraling down, but surprisingly it stayed up, even without the chains. With the chains, it was solid. I drew plans for the Portable Pylon, published them on the Internet, and they have been built around the world. I later designed the Ultra Portable Pylon. These are easy to build and position.

A permanent pylon installation is nice, but having portable pylons on hand is good for trying different course setups. They are perfect for Club 40 as well as AMA-class racing. Most RC pilots like to build things. You can find the plans on the RCPRO Course Equipment page (see Sources for the website address).

The Portable Pylon is the best choice for clubs for which storing pylons is not an issue. They ride easily in the back of a standard truck; even a compact truck will do if you tie them down. The Portable Pylons have more mass than the Ultra Portable Pylons and are easier to see while racing. If transportation is an issue, the Ultra Portable Pylons can fit in an SUV because no section is longer than 5 feet, but they are not as visible.

MA editor Michael Ramsey wrote about using pool noodles on pylons in his October 2009 “The Inside Loop” column; you can bulk them up for better visibility. Look for pool noodle enhancements on the RCPRO website.

Safety and practice

Once you get the pylons up, you can start practicing. It is important to remember that hard hats are required even for practice. Get people into the habit early so it becomes second nature on race day. You can use common construction hard hats from The Home Depot or Lowe’s for roughly $10 apiece, but I prefer a skateboarding helmet with a chinstrap so I don’t have to worry about it falling off. You can wear a cap under the helmet and the bill will provide a sun visor. Some people decorate helmets with horns, miniature airplanes, or airplane parts.

When you start practicing, begin slow and get the feel for the course. Just as you have a club flight instructor, you need a club Pylon Racing mentor. As you learn the course, remember how you progressed so you can teach new people.

Club 40 airplanes are nice and stable at slower speeds, so throttle back and find the groove. You will want to fly just above the tops of the pylons—flying below the tops risks hitting them; flying too high makes it hard to judge where the pylons are. It is best to fly one model at a time to start so you can focus. You need a “caller” who tells you when to turn, where traffic is, and where aircraft are when landing. The pilots who do best in races typically have callers they use regularly.

When you think you have the course somewhat mastered, fly against another racer or two. Don’t fly more than four models on the course at the same time—more than that is too much and midairs or crashes are too likely.

Race format and lanes

The standard race format for most Pylon Racing in the U.S. is 10-lap heat races. The field of contestants participates in one heat race per round, and a complete race consists of a specified number of rounds. Each pilot flies in the same number of heats. Participants are shuffled in the heats so they fly against different pilots in each round, if possible.

Heats begin with a rise-off-ground standing start, known as a racehorse start. To make things simpler for race management and course workers, pilots are assigned “lanes.” The lanes are technically only for starting and for keeping up with the models in the air—the airplanes don’t have to stay in a particular airspace.

The fliers at Speedworld in Phoenix, Arizona, came up with a wing-sticker convention that is used in AMA racing and has been adopted for Club 40. Fluorescent pink and green barcode labels from Uline are used on the wing tips to identify which lane a model is in:

  • Lane 1 — Low Green: green stickers attached to the top and bottom of the left wing.
  • Lane 2 — Low Red: pink stickers attached to the left wing.
  • Lane 3 — High Green: green stickers attached to the right wing.
  • Lane 4 — High Red: pink stickers attached to the right wing.

With the airplane on its side, the orientation becomes obvious. Course workers, including the cut judges, lap counters, and starter, can easily identify aircraft during a race. It is much easier than trying to identify them by color scheme. Even pilots and callers sometimes rely on those stickers when the action gets tight, and they make it easier to keep up with the competition during a heat.

Enjoyment and community

RC Pylon Racing is exhilarating. Even club racing with slower airplanes is a ton of fun. Dave Glasscock is one of my relatively new friends. He has gone from sport-flying a Sky Raider Mach II a couple years ago to kit-building Quickie 500 designs to fly in Quickie 25 races this year. Dave likes the camaraderie and the fun of competition. When I asked him recently when he expects to stop racing, he replied, “When I stop flying RC.” That’s cool and it makes my day.

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.