Author: Aaron "AJ" Seaholm
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/12
Page Numbers: 123,124,125
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Nats recap

by Aaron "AJ" Seaholm [email protected]

The 2012 AMA RC Pylon Nationals, known simply as the Nats, is in the books for the 2012 season. Mother Nature was not on our side this year with unseasonably hot and humid temperatures the first three days of competition, followed by rain the final two days. As a result, Q-40 (AMA Event 422) was flown under a single matrix rather than the traditional Qualifying and Finals format.

The Nats kicked off with two days of Q-500 (AMA Event 426) on Monday and Tuesday. Dennis O’Brien, respectfully known as “Heavy D,” took down Randy Bridge in the final heat to secure the National Championship by one point. “Rocket” Ray Brown provided the “hucks” and championship-grade calling.

Dennis has been involved with pylon racing for a long time, has helped many and brought many laughs to countless races, and I am thrilled to report on his Q-500 National Championship. The best time was 1:03.72.

Electric Formula 1

On Wednesday we made the switch from Ritch’s Brew glow-power propulsion to electrics for the second annual Electric Formula 1 (EF1) event at the AMA Nationals. EF1 is a National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) Provisional Event. After four hard-fought rounds, Gary Schmidt and teammate Jim Allen secured the victory and the EF1 National Championship with a best time of 1:15.07.

Q-40

The rain-shortened, four-round Q-40 (Event 422) created a logjam at the top, requiring a four-way flyoff to decide the championship. Randy Bridge, Chuck Andraka, Gino Del Ponte, and Gary Freeman Jr. squared off in a winner-take-all heat. Congratulations to Randy Bridge and teammate Travis Flynn on the 2012 Q-40 National Championship.

The Q-40 championship and second-place finish in Q-500 earned Randy Bridge an amazing seventh overall national championship. Wow!

Thanks go to Gary Freeman Jr. for running the event amid challenging weather conditions; Ed Smith and Trey Witte for operating the starting line all week; Randy Smith for matrix duties; Darrol and Rhonda Cady for tech inspections; Mark Parker, Dennis Cranfill, and Lee LaValley for putting on the great cookout Wednesday evening; Dan Kane for organizing the large tent to keep racers out of the sun and rain; and to all who contributed to the “World Series of Pylon.” For a complete Nats recap, please visit the NatsNews section of the AMA’s website.

Cliff Telford Memorial Scholarship Fund

The passion and generosity of pylon racers continue to impress me, even after 25-plus years of being around the sport. Each year, pylon racers attending the Nats donate to the Cliff Telford Memorial Scholarship fund. This is done out of respect for Cliff and provides us a way to give back to our hobby.

Cliff was a longtime pylon racer who donated many hours of his time to AMA and helped create this scholarship fund. Cliff passed away before my 2004 reentry in the sport, but his legacy and impact on lives is apparent whenever his name is mentioned. I had the pleasure of getting to know Nancy Telford. Nancy has continued to support the Nats since her husband passed. Nancy has a heart of gold housed in a pint-size frame and is one of those special people who warms your soul.

Tom Scott has been the driving force behind this effort for many years. He enlisted Dennis O’Brien’s daughter, Sally, and my daughter, Taryn, to help loosen up wallets. This year he turned it up a notch and teamed up with Scott Causey, Dennis O’Brien, Dub Jett, and Pete Bergstrom from Horizon Hobby to raffle off an RTF, test-flown 426 Ninja, distributed by ChinaMadeAmericanDesign (CMAD) Racing. The racer was fully equipped with Jett propulsion and Spektrum guidance.

Raffle sales began at the Phoenix Q-500 race in January and carried on throughout the Nats. When Sally drew Gary Schmidt’s name as the winner, a whopping $4,676 had been raised. To up the ante further, an anonymous donor matched the donation to bring the total to $9,352.

Ron and Jane Morgan accepted a check from the entire pylon racing community on behalf of the AMA Scholarship Committee during Thursday's rain delay.

Let that sink in for a minute: nearly $10,000 donated to help future students achieve their dreams of working in aeronautics, all raised by a small, close-knit group of racers. Not just any racers though—RC pylon racers. That's pretty amazing in my book.

My most sincere thanks go to all who organized and contributed to this special effort.

EF1 Firsthand

After promoting EF1 in several past columns, I now have some real-world racing experience to relay. The 2012 Nats was my first EF1 race.

The biggest speed secret I have to share from my Nats heats is the importance of battery and charging management. I flew a Horizon Hobby LR-1A Pogo that I borrowed from my father (thanks, Dad). The Pogo was equipped with the NMPRA-approved E-flite Power 25 motor. A Thunder Power 65C 2700 mAh pack and E-flite 60-amp speed controller provided the power.

Gary Schmidt, via longtime electric racer Troy Peterson, told me about the importance of charging your pack as close to your race heat as possible. During the first trim flight Wednesday morning, I used a battery charged the day before and was noticeably slower than the other airplane test flying.

During the second practice flight I flew with a pack right off the charger and my speed was consistent with the other racer. I followed this strategy the rest of the day and my speeds were equal to the competition.

I experienced a bad case of “cut-itis” during my heats of EF1, but had a great time racing in some close heats. Most memorable was a heat with Jessica Haxhi, fresh off a long racing hiatus dating back to the Shinohara-led Team Samurai Formula 1 days. Thanks for the whoopin', Jessica.

Because I control the content of this column, I would like to point out that I was in the lead when I cut. Even if it was only a few feet of a lead and I cut trying desperately to keep it, that is irrelevant and not important to this story. What is important are the two other well-known racers—who I am sure prefer to remain nameless—have to live with it.

SCORES

Q-500 (AMA Event 426)

  1. Dennis O'Brien — 1:03.72
  2. Randy Bridge — 1:04.21
  3. Randy Ritch — 1:06.87
  4. Jim Allen — 1:03.88
  5. Bill Johanson — 1:06.29

Fast time: Gary Schmidt — 1:03.38

Electric Formula 1 (NMPRA Provisional Event)

  1. Gary Schmidt — 1:15.07
  2. Dub Jett — 1:14.55
  3. Gino Del Ponte — 1:09.31
  4. Tom Scott — 1:15.12
  5. Roy Andrassy — 1:12.70

Fast time: Gino Del Ponte — 1:09.31

Q-40 (AMA Event 422)

  1. Randy Bridge — 1:02.76
  2. Chuck Andraka — 1:01.11
  3. Gino Del Ponte — 1:03.07
  4. Gary Freeman Jr. — 1:04.54
  5. Joe Tropea — 1:04.35

Fast time: Jim Allen — 1:01.11

In Memoriam

More important than the winners and times of this event was the time spent remembering Fred and celebrating how much we gained from our time with him.

You are greatly missed, Fred. “What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many people will feel a lasting loss, when you’re gone.” — Michael Josephson

SOURCES

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