Q-40 event coverage
by Aaron "AJ" Seaholm ([email protected])
This month, I’ll recap two Q-40 events. One is on the West Coast and the other is on the East Coast—shore-to-shore coverage for the pylon racing faithful.
AMA Event 422, also known as Q-40, became a class approximately two decades ago. It is a popular, high-performance event. The consistency in performance between Jett and Nelson power plants, a wide range of competitive airframes, and exhilarating speeds that exceed 190 mph all make this AMA’s most adrenaline-enriched pylon event.
AMA has provided new column guidelines that allow words to be exchanged for photos, and this month I am going heavy on the photographs.
Basin Q-40 Classic
February typically is the time for the largest Q-40 event of the season because contestants tend to flock to sunny Phoenix for the Q-40 Classic. Because of field issues with the Speedworld complex, the event was moved to the Apollo 11 field in the Sepulveda Basin, near Los Angeles. The February 23–24 event was hosted by the San Fernando Valley Radio Control Flyers.
The Basin Q-40 Classic drew 57 contestants. Judging by the results, the air was fast and the competition was fierce.
Basin Q-40 results:
- Rusty Van Baren — 59.63 — 28 pts
- Gary Schmidt — 1:00.70 — 28 pts
- Roy Andrassy — 1:00.80 — 24 pts
- David Lloyd — 1:02.25 — 24 pts
- Mario Salazar — 58.45 — 22 pts
- Travis Flynn — 1:01.05 — 22 pts
- Craig Grunkemeyer — 1:01.66 — 22 pts
- Jim Allen — 1:01.90 — 22 pts
Fast time: Mario Salazar — 58.45
The wind picked up on Sunday, causing plenty of carnage, but seven rounds were completed. After the final round, Rusty Van Baren and Gary Schmidt were at the top of the field, each with perfect 28-point scores. The gusty winds contributed to Gary nosing over during the flyoff, and Rusty cruised to victory. Congratulations, Rusty.
Newcomer Mario Salazar put down a blistering 58.45 time to capture the coveted Fast Time trophy. Well done, Mario.
Fort Lauderdale Q-40 Race
The Fort Lauderdale Q-40 race was hosted by the Markham Park Pilots Association (MPPA) club at the beautiful Markham Park field, April 5–7. I had not attended a contest at Markham Park since 2009, but I’ve always enjoyed racing at this location and 2013 was no exception.
There were 19 registered Q-40 contestants for eight rounds of racing action.
Fort Lauderdale Q-40 results:
- A.J. Seaholm — 1:00.53 — 24 pts
- Matt Fehling — 1:01.43 — 23 pts
- Scott Causey — 1:02.13 — 22 pts
- Gabriel Tahan — 1:01.78 — 20 pts
- Joe Hodgin — 1:02.77 — 19 pts
Fast time: A.J. Seaholm — 1:00.53
CD "Rocket" Ray Brown graciously hung up his transmitter to start and guide the contest. Thank you, Ray, for giving up your weekend to allow us to race.
The MPPA club members and Civil Air Patrol workers did a fantastic job officiating, with only one refly required. This was a smaller contest but the competition was excellent. There were countless photo finishes. Tight racing also leads to midairs, and several models were lost on Saturday.
As I reflect on this race, the placing was great, but more than anything the memories that come to mind are of the people. Reigning Q-500 National Champion Dennis O'Brien has to be one of the funniest men alive—my stomach still hurts from laughing.
I always enjoy spending time with Randy Bridge, Tom Scott, Ray Brown, Dub Jett, Billy Johnson, Mike Helsel, Gabriel Tahan, and the rest of my racing family. I have said it a thousand times, but will say it again: the people of RC Pylon are what keep me coming back.
I was fortunate that some of my mistakes did not heavily cost me. This, along with my teammate Scott Causey's typical perfect calling, allowed me to bring home some hardware. I was happy to see him finish third — you flew great, Scott.
I was also happy to see that my teammate did not call our gracious tent host and good friend, Randy Bridge, to a faster time. Randy put down a 1:00.90, only missing Fast Time by 0.4 seconds. That was close!
Matt Fehling flew on rails all weekend to a second-place finish. Venezuelan Gabriel Tahan finished fourth and Joe Hodgin rounded out the top five. Congratulations to all of the top finishers.
SOURCES:
- National Miniature Pylon Racing Association — www.nmpra.org
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
