Returning to the Montana skies - 2012/08

Returning to the Montana skies

by A.J. Seaholm [email protected]

As I sit down to write this column, the summer racing season is in full swing. There are parts of the country hosting races that have not done so in many years. The recent upswing of this phenomenon can likely be attributed to a new Electric Formula 1 (EF1) event, the plentiful supply of quality kits, and the increased production of ARFs.

I plan to attend a Q-500 AMA Event 424 and EF1 race in Billings, Montana, for the first time in nearly 15 years. My father, Earl Seaholm, introduced me to pylon racing in Montana roughly 25 years ago, and I have vivid memories of going fast and turning left in "Big Sky Country." I look forward to experiencing it again.

Tip of the hat to:

• Ed Alves
• the Elberts
• Leonard Cloninger
• my dad, Earl Seaholm
• and many others for rejuvenating pylon racing in Montana.

Although EF1 has helped spur interest from many past and future speed addicts, classes alone will not grow this sport. You must have races and dedicated event organizers to provide the means for pylon prospects to get a taste of this exciting form of RC modeling. Classes are the bait; races are the hook. To all the dedicated contest directors and event organizers reading this article, I give my sincere thank-you.

Trimming Basics Revisited

A smooth-flying, consistent model is critical to laying down quick laps and progressing up the leaderboard. The material in this section has been covered in past issues, but it is so important that I wanted to revisit it for some of our newer racers.

Model setup is a huge piece of the pylon puzzle. The faster events in RC pylon amplify this importance and do not provide much time to fight your model around the race course. You really need to concentrate on entry and exit points for your turns, traffic, and flying consistency. This is not possible, even by the most skilled pilots, if the model does something different every time you move the sticks.

Center of gravity (CG) should be used to dial in the straights between Pylons Three and One and Pylons One and Two. If it feels as though your model drifts toward the center of the course through the straights, it is nose-heavy and needs the CG moved aft toward the tail. Conversely, a tail-heavy racer will feel elevator-sensitive on the course and will carry the nose high on landing approach once the engine has been turned off.

Rudder trim should be used to set the yaw of your racer in the straights. If the tail is hanging low or high, trim this out with a couple of clicks of rudder. If your racer flies with the tail up or down, it exposes the side of the fuselage to the air and acts as a parachute. As I have mentioned countless times in this column, drag is the enemy of speed and fast times.

"But won’t rudder trim add additional drag and slow the model down also?" you might ask. Good question. It is the lesser of two evils, and a straight-flying aircraft will travel faster than one flying knife-edge. If you have been to a race, you have likely seen some type of weight affixed to a wingtip. Tip weight is used to control yaw through the turns. If your model feels as though it dives or balloons up through the turns when the elevator stick is buried, use lead tape or coins for tip weight and minimize this disconcerting tendency. If the tail kicks up, the model needs tip weight on the top wing. If the tail wants to kick down through the turn, add some low tip weight. After several years of trying to figure out the physics of this phenomenon and getting several varying explanations, I have decided to just accept that it works.

These three trimming basics will help fine-tune your racer and make your pilot duties less stressful. The less you fly the model and provide inputs to those little drag makers we call control surfaces, the faster you will go.

Nats Finals

In a past column, I discussed the AMA Pylon Nats qualifying and finals arrangement that was initially established by Mike Condon in 1998 to allow pilots to work the course. This month, I will provide additional information on how the Nats is run, and try to convey the adrenaline rush that only its finals can deliver.

In 2012, the featured events are Q-500 AMA Event 426 and Q-40 AMA Event 422. The entire field for each featured event is divided in half into A and B matrices. The A matrix flies in the morning of the first day, followed by the B matrix in the afternoon. The following day the order is reversed to provide B-matrix competitors an opportunity to fly in the faster morning air.

Generally, seven rounds of qualifying for each matrix are completed. The top 14 finishers from each matrix, and the two fastest not in the top 14, go on to the finals. The finals generally have five to six rounds, and everyone from each matrix starts with a clean score. Qualifying position does not affect the finals matrix, but the fastest time from qualifying counts for the entire event.

So, you have dodged the big mistakes, flown fast, and punched your card for a spot in the big dance: the Nats finals. I have flown in roughly a dozen AMA Nats finals and have found many interesting and unique ways to not win.

The level of competition is tough, and it takes a combination of exceptional flying, reliably fast equipment, great teamwork, and a little luck to finish near the top.

Racing in the AMA Nats finals is awesome. You really have to try to keep your nerves and adrenaline in check. It is easy to go out there for the first heat and shoot yourself in the foot by posting a zero.

Many Nats have been won when the winner took second in one or two heats, which is referred to as being one to two points down from a perfect score. If you get behind early, try to stay patient and do not cut or crash. It's easier said than done, I know, but it takes five to six exceptional rounds, not one or two.

Try to approach the finals as just another contest, and remember to have fun. The payout for first place is the same as last, but the feeling of being crowned national champion will last a lifetime. I am pumped just writing about the Nats finals, and cannot wait to get back there this year. I hope you get to experience it someday for yourself.

I was unable to attend the 2011 Nats because of work commitments. I was fortunate to win back-to-back national championships in 2009 and 2010.

I have spent plenty of time thinking about those successful years and what was different compared to the four previous unsuccessful years. If I could point to only one difference, I would pick the comfort level and exceptional calling abilities of my teammate, Scott Causey.

If I had to pick another, I think it would be consistency. Both years I flew the same airplane, same engine, and same propeller. I flew a large number of races on the setup and knew what the combination would and would not do. When temptation set in to lean it out just a little more, I resisted because of the data in my head from previous runs and slow downs.

This year, I will have a new racer because I have retired the other. I have a new, top-end engine because the other has begun to slow, limiting practice time in the past couple of years.

Chances are, I will not take home top honors and that is okay by me. I look forward to the "family reunion," and racing will just be icing on the cake. I will never forget 2009 and 2010.

Painting Safety

In the two-part "Painting Tips and Techniques," I failed to mention the importance of safety equipment and good ventilation. The automotive paints described in those articles are toxic. Please take all the precautions suggested by the paint manufacturers. This should include a respirator designed for the type of paint being used. Also, I suggest working in a well-ventilated area.

Before my move to South Dakota, I used my garage to shoot these paints with the garage door open for the basecoat colors. For the clearcoat, I painted with the garage door closed to minimize foreign material flying around and landing on the surface. After the clearcoat had dried to a dust-free state, I opened the garage door to evacuate the area. Be sure to seal off all entry points to and from the garage to your home, if connected.

If you have photos or experiences using the techniques described here, please pass them along and perhaps I'll share them with our readers in a future article.

If you have photos of your aircraft, please email them to me for possible inclusion in a future article.

SOURCES

• National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) — www.nmpra.org
• NatsNews — www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsnews.aspx

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