Radio Control Pylon Racing - 2010/12

138 MODEL AVIATION
2010 AMA Nats recap
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Pylon Racing Aaron “AJ” Seaholm
Dennis O’Brien (foreground) and Dub Jett
(sitting) conduct the mandatory Top 5
engine inspection at the 2010 AMA Nats,
as John McDermott (center) and Overall
Champion Ralph Rinaldi (R) observe.
Left: The author’s Great
Planes Viper with Sport Jett Q-
500 engine. Notice the fuelshutoff
arrangement used
with the stock Jett venturi.
Right: The Nats is about
more than intense
competition. Taryn Seaholm
(L) of Missouri and Sally
O’Brien of Florida were
inseparable all week. This
picture exempl i f ies the
Nats experience.
Mo Vereecke (L) and Lonnie Finch are a team to watch. They competed well in the
MOKAN, WIPRO, and CAPS racing series this season.
Also included in this column:
• The Art of Calling
• A Nelson LS Q-40 setup
• Sport Jett Q-500
Attending the AMA Nats has been
an annual Seaholm family tradition since
2002. Each year we return and are reminded
why we make the 1,100-mile round-trip trek
to Muncie, Indiana. The event is as much
about reuniting with close friends from
across the country as it is about intense
competition.
This year Ralph Rinaldi came to Muncie
from the highly competitive NEPRO (North
East Pylon Racing Organization) and flew
with ice in his veins all week. Ralph was
crowned the Quickie 500 (Q-500) National
Champion after a hotly contested flyoff with
Scott McAfee. Scott could not hold off
Ralph’s charge to victory.
When the dust settled in Quarter 40 (Q-
40), Ralph had finished in fourth place; that
cemented his position as the Overall
National Champion. Congratulations, Ralph.
This is one of the largest accomplishments
in our sport.
I want to recognize Gary Freeman Jr. for
doing an exceptional job, once again, as the
2010 AMA Pylon Nats event director. Dave
and Gloria Doyle, the Cadys, Ed Smith,
Jimmy Allen, Mike Tallman, Hank
Kauffman, Tom Scott, Matias Salar (for
getting Jr. to the field every morning), and
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many others were instrumental in another
successful Nats. Well done Jr. and team.
On a personal note, I thank my teammate
Scott Causey for helping me win back-toback
Q-40 National Championships. This is
a period in my Pylon Racing experience that
I will treasure the rest of my life.
Thanks to Scottie and to all the others
who have helped me throughout the years,
including my father, Earl, for getting me
involved in this activity so many years ago.
Many years ago Dave Norman of
Minnesota told me that calling is way harder
to master than flying. RC Pylon Racing is
very much a team sport; you can be the best
pilot in the world, but if you don’t have a
talented caller by your side, your success
will be limited.
The caller launches the model, tells the
pilot when to turn at Pylon 1, and keeps the
flier informed of pertinent information such
as which lap he or she is on and if any
competitors have a cut (which means that he
or she has incurred a one-lap penalty).
Maybe you read the preceding paragraph
and said “That doesn’t sound so tough.”
Now envision four models screaming on the
line, ready for takeoff; your pilot is so
amped up that his or her heart may pop out
of its rib cage at any moment; and you’re
sandwiched among three of the best teams in
the country, and you know that they will
take advantage of one mistake and shuffle
your pilot to the back of the pack.
Once the model is airborne you have 6-8
seconds per lap to get the right amount of
information to your pilot, so that he or she
doesn’t fall further into adrenaline overload.
But wait!
Half of that time you must have the
rhythm and internal clock of a skilled
musician to tell your pilot when to turn at
Pylon 1. All the while, you have to
compensate for slight changes in flight path,
wind velocity, and airframe speed.
Count out loud “2, 3, ready, turn,” and
then hold your breath hoping that the turn
light comes on. Tell your pilot “Good light”
or “[Insert explicative], sorry.”
Pick up the display board, analyze the
race status, process the lap and cut
information, filter it down, and relay the
appropriate status to your pilot in 3-4
seconds before the entire procedure starts
again.
Repeat all of the preceding for 10 laps
and then head back to the pits to drink some
water and let your processor—brain—cool
off for a few minutes. That is the essence
and challenge of calling.
Scott Causey, my teammate, is an
exceptional caller. I am still progressing. If
you find a talented caller, don’t be a jerk if
he or she makes a mistake during the chaos I
have described. It is a difficult skill to
master, and those who have done so need
your praise and appreciation.
So I’m going to bite my tongue the next
time I’m inclined to give Scott a hard time
about the one cut he calls me into every
three to four races—not heats but events.
While I’m on my soapbox, buy your
teammate dinner the next time you’re out
racing.
I catch a great deal of flak from fellow
racers for supporting certain individuals in
the Pylon community.
Dave Shadel of Performance Specialties
has been helpful when I have had requests,
as far back as when I flew RC Combat. So I
try to stay loyal to him for all those years of
support. No one can accuse me of being
disloyal.
You dedicated racers might be aware that
Henry Nelson has retired and is no longer
making cases for his RC Pylon .40-size
engines. I have four Nelson LSs; although
the Jett LS power plants are readily
available and equal in performance, I will
continue to run the Nelsons I have in
inventory.
With the Nelson LS Q-40 setup I have
been running the last couple of years, the
sleeve height is .193 inch and the deck
height is .017 inch. I’ll cover what that
means and my technique for measuring
these components in a future column. To
save space this month, there are two .003-
inch sleeve shims and a .008-inch head shim
in both of my Q-40 engines.
I primarily run the APC 7.4 x 7.6 Q-40
propeller, but I did take quite a few beatdowns
at the 2010 Phoenix Q-40 Classic by
pilots who were using the 7.4 x 7.5. I’m sure
it was the propeller’s fault and had nothing
to do with my lackluster flying; at leastthat’s the story I’m telling. Anyway, both
are good propellers, but I’ve had better
consistency with the 7.4 x 7.6.
The Nelson LS runs differently on the
multitude of Q-40 designs out there, so
results may vary. But I’ll let you in on my
approach on the Speed Pros Proud Bird II
with remote needle.
The needle-setting sequence I’ve been
using starts with richening the engine a half
turn and then starting. I keep my thumb over
the venturi slightly, and slowly move it off
of the venturi to let the engine come up on
the pipe and up to temperature. Then I bring
the needle valve leaner until the power plant
reaches peak (usually approximately 25,000
rpm) on the tachometer and immediately
starts richening.
I usually start at roughly 1,200 rpm off
peak and slowly lean each flight during
practice until there is a slight caramel color
on the glow plug when it is removed from
the engine. For some reason, more caramel
color does not equate to better airspeed with
this combination.
My local racing bud, Lonnie Finch, was
kind enough to loan me a Sport Jett .40 Q-
500 for the fall Wichita race. Dub Jett builds
high-quality performance engines for both
RC Pylon Racing and horsepower-starved
sport modelers. In addition to being a
respected engine manufacturer, Dub attends
national races at which he and his teammate,
Mike Helsel, are tough to beat.
The Sport Jett Q-500 is a new design
with target airspeeds of approximately 150
mph on a Q-500 airframe. There has been
a growing movement in the Pylon community
to slow Q-500 (AMA event 428), to more
evenly space the airspeed between Sport
Quickie (AMA event 424), which uses a
stock Thunder Tiger engine, and the fastest
class, which is Q-40 (AMA event 422).
There are approximately four of these
engines in the Kansas City area now. Each
is nearly identical in performance and
exceptionally built.
After breaking in the Sport Jett .40 on the
bench per Dub’s included instructions, I
mounted the engine on the RTC (Ready-to-
Cover) Great Planes Viper that I featured in
the September RC Pylon column.
The engine comes with a venturi and
requires the use of a fuel shutoff. This is
easy to install using a 1/32-inch-diameter
spring steel wire bent into a loop. Drill a
9/32-inch-diameter hole into the firewall.
Retract the wire loop into the firewall,
folding the fuel tubing over on itself and
stopping the fuel flow.
I ran this engine/airframe combination
with the APC 8.8 x 8.5 and 8.8 x 8.75
propellers in Wichita. The Viper flew
smoothly with the added airspeed, and I
was fortunate enough to set fast time with
a 1:06.58 on the AMA short course: 2.0
miles for 10 laps.
The .40 really came to life with the
additional load of the 8.8 x 8.75 propeller
in the hot, humid Kansas air. The 8.8 x
8.75 was used for the quickest time.
I have no head-spacing or sleeve-height
information to relay at this time. I ran the
engine as I received it from Jett
Engineering.
The Sport Jett Q-500 power plant has
exceptional quality, is very user-friendly
and forgiving on a broad needle range, and
makes the event a blast to fly on the AMA
short course. I can’t wait to race it again; I
hope Lonnie doesn’t repossess it before
the next race.
Until next time, race hard and have fun. MA
Sources:
Performance Specialties
(775) 265-7523
www.pspec.com
Jett Engineering
(713) 680-8113
www.jettengineering.com
Speed Pros
(605) 787-6340
www.calspeedpros.com
APC
(530) 661-0399
www.apcprop.com
NMPRA
www.nmpra.org