Author: Aaron “AJ” Seaholm
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/02
Page Numbers: 126,127
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Radio Control Pylon Racing

Aaron "AJ" Seaholm [[email protected]]

ParkZone T-28 racing

Greetings from South Dakota!

This is the first article I have written from my new home in Rapid City. I want to take a few lines to discuss the move and the friends I left behind in Kansas City.

I was raised in Billings, Montana, and my wife, Michele, is from Rapid City. She secured a job here as an assistant principal and couldn't pass it up.

I stayed in Missouri to find employment and get our home sold and, as fate would have it, both occurred in the same week, after only three months. That seemed like an eternity to be away from my wife and kids, but it was a fairly short period of time in the grand scheme of things.

One of the key decision points was to get our young children closer to grandparents. We had grown very close to a number of people in Kansas City; most were friends developed through aeromodeling and local pylon racing.

It was difficult to leave town, although I am confident that those friendships will last many years. A great part about modeling and pylon is that the people one meets often become lifelong friends who transcend racing “toy airplanes.”

On the way home from the Nats last year, Michele and I decided that we will continue to make our yearly trek to Muncie. The Nats is a part of who we are as a family, and we will not step away from our roots because of the couple extra miles to get there.

Well, it's closer to 600 miles farther, but who's counting? We have too many great friends, and the kids have way too much fun to pass up a week in Indiana.

If you have never experienced the Nats, make it a priority to attend this year. You eat, breathe, and sleep pylon racing for an entire week, with an extraordinarily supportive and helpful group of people. It is a modeling experience you will carry with you the rest of your life.

ParkZone T-28 Racing: Now that I'm in a new area of the country, I will be trying to spread the RC pylon racing addiction I have enjoyed for close to 25 years. This part of the country does not have a strong history of the event; it will take some time to develop interest from enough modelers to make it a reality.

Randy Meathrell submitted the following excerpt about a form of racing that has been successful. It might be worth considering to start building a pylon racing foundation in your area—or mine.

"The Chino Valley Model Aviators (Arizona), CVMA, have been racing the ParkZone T-28 for the last two years and are having a blast. The T-28 is the perfect aircraft to get into racing since it is relatively slow (you don't need nerves of steel), very maneuverable and an inexpensive way to get racing.

"The T-28 is also a fun flying sport model and trainer. Replacement parts are also readily available.

"The Chino T-28s must be left completely stock; no changes are allowed to the airframe, motor, or propeller. Any 3-cell Lithium polymer (LiPo) battery can be used. Most members use the Hyperion VX G3 LiPo for its fast recharge capability, although the new nano-technology fast-charge batteries from several manufacturers should also work well.

"They have had as many as 20 racers show up on race day, and that is from a club with only about 100 members. They try to break the racers into two classes, Standard (Novice) and Expert.

"The number of classes depends on the number of pilot entries. Any Standard pilot that wins the Standard class for the day is automatically raised to the Expert class.

"The race course is set up with two pylons 300 feet apart with the start/finish line in the middle."

An air start is used with a 10-second countdown to get the race started. They fly seven laps around the course and try to get in at least four heats during each event.

They usually have four aircraft per round, but on occasion will have five planes at one time. The advent of new radios using 2.4 GHz makes frequency control very easy.

The CVMA has made their pylons using plastic 20-gallon containers filled with cement, which weigh around 50 pounds each. A pipe is set into the concrete that holds a 15-foot upright pipe that is the pylon. The tip of the pipe is painted red and yes, they have had a 31-ounce racer knock over a pylon—amazing!

They don’t use timers for their races. If there is a tie a fly-off is used to determine the winner.

They use a pylon judge at each pylon to record cuts. A single cut means the pilot gets only 1 point for that race and a second cut means a zero for that round. They use a caller/lap counter for each pilot and notify race officials when their pilot is flying his final lap.

Scoring:

  • 1st place: 4 points
  • 2nd place: 3 points
  • 3rd place: 2 points
  • 4th place: 1 point

The racer with the most points at the end of the day is the winner of that class.

ParkZone T-28 electric pylon racing is a great way to get club members involved in pylon racing. Give it a try and see how much excitement you can have.

Tactics and Techniques — “Aggressively Conservative Game Plan.”

The what? I heard Randy Bridge use this description of his flying style a couple years ago.

Not that I worship Randy or anything, as my wife, Michele, may lead you to believe, but I do have a great admiration for the team that he and Travis Flynn have built. They are arguably—I argue that they are—the most successful pair in the current pylon racing era, and perhaps ever.

Randy and Travis have amassed six overall National Championships, countless big-race wins, and a World Championship. So I’ve watched these two closely throughout the years to figure out what makes them so tough to beat.

Randy and Travis also exemplify the no-hesitation information exchange that I believe makes RC pylon racing unique. Both are approachable and will divulge everything they’re doing, be it propellers, engine setup, needling, etc. All you have to do is ask, and I encourage you to do so the next time you’re at a race with them.

The "Aggressively Conservative Game Plan" in the simplest terms means that you can’t win if you do something stupid such as cut or crash.

One area that has made Scott Causey and me successful in the past few seasons is the reduced number of bonehead mistakes and the minimized impact of the remaining mistakes. By developing a reputation of not making errors, you place the pressure squarely on your competitors.

We’ve had some breaks of late, but we’ve also minimized the impact of our mistakes. The effect of a misstep makes or breaks your event.

Let’s say you make a mistake on the needle or on the ultracritical first lap of a heat, and somebody gets an early lead. Don’t compound that situation by cutting a pylon while trying to catch up. That will turn a probable 1- to 2-point mistake, meaning a second- or third-place heat finish, into a 3- to 4-point mistake. Head-to-head AMA-style pylon racing is all about amassing points.

Another way to think about the Aggressively Conservative Game Plan is that you need only fly fast enough to win the heat. If you go out there every time to set Fast Time, you’re going to amass a long list of mistakes. With the “Fast Time Aggressive” strategy, you steal the margin for error primarily at Pylon One.

If you’re a half-lap out, your caller should instinctively back you off a bit to get some margin for error back at Pylon One. If he or she doesn’t, all it takes is a slightly blown line into Pylon One or a slight change in wind speed, and boom, you post a cut and likely a couple-point mistake.

Fly hard enough to win the heat and don’t let 1-point errors turn into bigger ones. This technique probably won’t accelerate you to a win right away, but in the long run you will see more consistent finishes as your skills continue to develop.

In Loving Memory of a Fallen Friend

On August 31, 2010, the RC pylon community lost a tremendous competitor, pylon supporter, and friend. Fred Burgdorf passed after a long battle with cancer. His influence on the sport and accomplishments will not be forgotten.

Godspeed, Fred.

Sources

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