RC Pylon Racing
Duane Gall 1267 S. Beeler Ct., Denver, CO 80231 E-mail: [email protected]
Pylon at the Crossroads
Notice I didn't use the word millennium. I figure you've had about enough millennial hype by now. Nevertheless, January 1, 2000 does mark some big changes in our little world. As of that date:
- The barrier cages used at most fields to protect the concourse officials from stray aircraft will no longer be viable. Running a race the traditional way will require that local clubs build or borrow from AMA (via the NMPRA [National Miniature Pylon Racing Association]) heavy-duty cages welded from Schedule 40 steel tubing and number 9 wire.
The bad news is that these things are huge. The good news is that they will stop almost anything short of a flying Volkswagen, so your workers will not have to wonder.
- The NMPRA-sponsored rewrite of the rule book's Radio Control (RC) Pylon Racing section has been accepted by the Contest Board, and will be the law of the land. Very little has changed substantively, but the whole thing is cleaner and easier to read.
Many thanks to Pete Reed, Cliff Telford, Jim Allen, Dub Jett, and Bob Dible for their hours and hours of work on this project, and to NMPRA president Vern Smith for coming up with the idea. It's long overdue.
- As part of the rewrite, for the first time ever, Sport Quickie (event no. 424) will contain a clear and enforceable prohibition on tuned mufflers.
Tuned mufflers really opened Pandora's box in the late '80s and early '90s. That was when Quickie speeds went from 120 mph or so up to the 150–160 mph range.
The prohibition on tuned mufflers may limit airspeeds enough to permit some leeway on the types of barrier cages that can be used at contests where 424 is the only event flown. No such leeway has been granted at this writing, and don't hold your breath, but at least it is physically possible now, where it wasn't before.
In addition to those big changes, two smaller (but still important) changes go into effect January 1:
- Fast times set during flyoffs will count toward national records. Some say that was always the case, but Contest Directors weren't applying the rules consistently.
- Reflies of disputed heats will involve all pilots who got started and were ready to go when the flag dropped.
These are all regular rule proposals—not "emergency" or "urgent" proposals. They are subject to approval by at least seven of the 11-member RC Racing Contest Board in two separate votes, slated for February 2000 and March 2001. If approved, they will not take effect until January 1, 2002.
1999 Alferd Packer Trophy Dash
Alferd Packer (yes, that's how he spelled it) achieved notoriety as a Colorado outdoorsman and hunting guide in the early part of this century. He is best known for having emerged alone from the mountains after a particularly severe winter. The trouble was, he hadn't started out alone; he survived by eating his companions. Today, no one knows what role Alferd Packer played in their demise.
Alferd is a cult hero around the dorms at Colorado University at Boulder, where they say that on cool spring nights you can see him leaving small packages on the loading dock behind the cafeteria. So it seemed fitting, somehow, to name a Colorado RC Pylon contest after him.
The Jetco Aeromod'lers field at Chatfield Dam State Park was the site of the 1999 Packer contest. There were 24 entries from four western states.
The event card included "fast" and "slow" Quickie 500 for the square-winged models, plus the first-ever significant turnout in the area for Quarter 40. On Sunday of the contest, the Q-40s actually outnumbered the other two classes!
The weather provided a study in contrasts. Saturday was hot and sunny; Sunday dawned cold, with rain and fog.
We ran four rounds of regular racing on Saturday—96 heats, three airplanes at a time. With able assistance on the public-address system from pit boss Tom Shilling, we clicked them off at an average rate of one heat every eight minutes. That's pretty good for a local meet.
Through it all, the engines ran cool and consistently. Many thanks to Powermaster Fuels for donating the magic juice.
Saturday's competition was "by the book," with trophies going to the top point-getters. First-place honors in Colorado class went to Andy Woodward, with a near-perfect 11 points of a possible 12. Gino Del Ponte took second place, and Jetco's own Adam Bry nabbed third.
In the "fast" class, Chuck Andraka of Albuquerque, NM took first, followed by Jim Eide, Mike Sperry of Cody, WY, and John Z. Williams of Boulder, CO.
I came out on top in Q-40, with Mike Sperry and Fred Burgdorf following. You may know Fred as the proprietor of Landing Products, maker of APC props. Fred came from California with generous gift certificates for the workers, and he set the fast time of 1:13.8 on the 2½-mile course. That's equivalent to about a .105 at sea level.
Sunday we tried the "stratified scoring" method (outlined above in the pending rule proposals). Using this method, it's not as important to fly a lot of rounds, and on Sunday it turned out that this was a lucky break. We were able to run three rounds, and get everybody grouped for the flyoffs, but then the rain started in earnest, and we had to just hand out the trophies by times.
The top three in Colorado class were Gino Del Ponte, Adam Bry, and Shelby James in Division A, with Chet Rutledge and Frank Bohenick in Division B. The "fast" class went to Chuck Andraka, Jim Eide, and Dave Martinelli in the Gold division, and Gino Del Ponte, Lee DeMary, and Craig Farthing in the Silver division.
Chuck Andraka drove all the way from Albuquerque, NM, and for some reason he decided that the large and garish Alferd Packer "Sole Survivor" trophy (which is almost as big as his camper trailer, and twice as ugly) should live in the toolshed as a perpetual trophy. It's here waiting for you, Chuck.
Q-40 went by the book, with Hal Garwood taking first, Fred Burgdorf taking second, and Randy Claussen taking third.
Performance Specialties sent a racing-style muffler to fit the O.S. .46 FX, and Front Range Hobbies of Denver provided an O.S. .46 FX to match it.
Colpar Hobbies and Action Hobbies provided enough goodies that we had to go through the list of race-course workers more than once to take it all away. That's right—the merchandise went to the workers, not the pilots.
Winning flyers received handsome plaques with pictures of pilots and their airplanes, thanks to ace photographer and noontime aerobatic demo pilot Robert Suding. Colorado Frame Mfg. of Fort Collins donated the hardwood frames for the trophies.
Going the Distance
I continue to receive SASEs with requests for information on the signal light system described in the March 1999 column.
With the barrier cage situation the way it is now (see above), I foresee that sideline judging and remote signaling will become the norm at most fields that have the room to do it.
For those who may be considering this option, the accompanying diagram may be helpful. It shows the Jetco Aeromod'lers' field, with crossed runways at the center, the pit/spectator area fence at lower left, the pylon race course at upper right, and the positions of the #2 and #3 cut judges, timers/lap counters ("start/finish"), and #1 flagger/cut judges distributed along the sideline, from upper left to lower right.
From the angle at which the #2 and #3 cut judges are positioned, they can see surprisingly well whether or not an aircraft has cut. In fact, they tend to be able to see cuts better from this position than from directly under the pylons, because the offending aircraft is in their field of view at all times; it never goes over their heads.
The only refinement that could be helpful is a vertical reference (such as an old transmitter antenna), so that if an aircraft is flying high, the judges can tell whether or not it's above the pylon.
MJA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
