RC Pylon 2013 Nats recap
by Aaron "AJ" Seaholm [email protected]
It has only been a few weeks since the AMA RC Pylon Nats as I sit down to write this article. I recognize what a great vehicle this column is to get the word out about the excitement of RC Pylon Racing and I regularly struggle to use the limited word count to its greatest potential. This column is certainly no exception; in fact, the Nats recap is always the hardest.
The AMA Nats is the pinnacle of US Pylon Racing. Trying to jam a week's worth of action into a single column is not practical. Fortunately, AMA created the NatsNews, which provides a photo-rich, day-by-day recount of all of the action.
Please visit the AMA website and peruse this great publication. Thank you Pylon contributor Scott Causey and all of the AMA staff members who brought NatsNews to life.
EF1 (NMPRA provisional event)
- Jim Katz 1:08.46 23-FO
- Mike Langlois 1:13.35 23-FO
- Jerry Small 1:13.51 22-FO
- Richard Beers 1:13.54 21-FO
- Roy Andrassy 1:12.86 21-FO
Fast time: Jim Katz 1:08.46
Q-500
- Billy Johanson 1:03.23 23
- AJ Seaholm 1:03.84 22
- Jim Katz 1:04.63 21
- Tom Scott 1:04.74 18-FO
- Ralph Rinaldi 1:03.62 18-FO
- Scott Causey 1:04.42 17-FO
- Randy Ritch 1:05.59 17-FO
- Bryan Blanchard1:04.93 16
- Lloyd Burnham 1:04.85 15-FO
Fast time: Billy Johanson 1:03.23
Q-40
- AJ Seaholm 1:04.12 23
- Mike Helsel 1:04.79 22
- Stephen Vaclav 1:05.08 21
- Dub Jett 1:03.51 20-FO
- Matt Fehling 1:02.21 20-FO
- Bryan Blanchard1:04.71 20-FO
- Joe Tropea 1:05.83 18-FO
- Mike Langlois 1:07.13 18-FO
- Tim Yousey 1:04.14 17-FO
Fast time: Matt Fehling 1:02.21
Overall National Champion
Name Q-500 Q-40 AJ Seaholm 2nd 1st
Congratulations to all of the top finishers at the 2013 AMA RC Pylon Nats.
RC Pylon Racing
AJ Seaholm
Nats Reflection
During the 1,200-mile drive home from Muncie to South Dakota, I had plenty of time to reflect and try to think of some way to convey how awesome it is to compete at the Nats. The best I can come up with is to tell you what the Nats means to me. I hope this will inspire a few to jump into RC Pylon and experience the Nats with my racing family.
I attended my first Nats in 1991 at the age of 14. It was the first time I had been out of Montana on an airplane. That year, the magnitude of the Nats overwhelmed me. I made countless mistakes and placed horribly. However, I was able to set the Junior national record in Formula 1 (F1) and watched the F1 masters duke it out. From that day on, it become a dream to someday take home Nats hardware and one day win as Richard Verano did that year.
This year marked my ninth year back in RC Pylon Racing and my eighth RC Pylon Nats (not counting 1991). It seems unreal that more than 20 years later, I have been fortunate to capture three Q-40 National Championships and two Overall National Championships. I struggle to put into words what that means to me. It is a dream come true and a tremendously special achievement.
Many thanks go to my teammate, caller, and best friend, Scott Causey. He has been there for all three of my championships and I could not have done it without him. The RC Pylon Nats is a special event and I hope you can experience it.
F3D Team World Championship
Congratulations to FAI F3D Team USA for capturing the 2013 Team World Championship. The team included pilots Randy Bridge, Travis Flynn, and "Rocket" Ray Brown. The mechanic was Robert Holik and the team manager was Dan Kane. Well done, gentlemen.
Randy Bridge finished second to World Champion Christopher Callow. Congratulations, Randy.
SOURCES:
National Miniature Pylon Racing Association www.nmpra.org
NatsNews www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsnews.aspx
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
