Radio Control: Pylon Racing
WHILE THE FORMULA I fliers were heading out to California for their year-end Championship Race, a lot of the Q-500 fliers were in Atlanta for a Championship Race of their own. Here is that report from Bob Brassell, who was also the CD for this contest: The 20th Annual Atlanta Air Racing Championships: Atlanta is known as the Crossroads of the South, and the 20th annual Atlanta Air Racing Championships proved this continues to be true. A total of 31 pilots from 9 different states gathered at the Atlanta R/C Club field the weekend of October 21-22 for some of the most competitive racing of the season! The racing schedule included AMA 428 Q-500 and AMA QM40 on Saturday, with SEMPRA Standard/Advanced/Expert Q-500 on Sunday. Here is a brief rundown of the action:
NMPRA: Championship Race
Wow! Another year has gone by and here it is NMPRA Championship Race time again, while Q-500 and QM-40 are having championship races within their districts. The Formula I fliers have always just had one championship race at the end of the season, usually in October and usually in California, Texas, or Florida. For those just getting started in racing or those who don't know what NMPRA stands for, it is the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association. This organization is responsible for most of the rule-making and organization of racing as we know it. To be eligible for the race, you must be a past champion, qualify in the top 20% in your district, finish in the top ten at the AMA Nationals, or be an NMPRA officer. You must be invited to compete.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
WOW! What a busy summer. It's time to catch up on some contest reports. Over the years we will have a contest that will turn out, for whatever the reason, to be one that everyone wants to go to, such as the Phoenix races in February every year; the QM Silver Cup Races; the Tangerine. Well, Texas has come up with a race that will draw a good crowd. Here is a report on that race, sent to me by Don Nix: The biggest Pylon race of the year in NMPRA District 8 was held at the Taylor Airport in Taylor, TX (just outside Austin) on August 3-4, 1996. Sponsored by Powermaster Fuel and named the "Powermaster Nationals," 41 contestants from 12 states (including former world champions Dub Jett and Richard Verano) flew "Hot Laps in Texas."
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
BOY! 1996 has been quite a year. We've got some contest reports from the Northeast, but first let's look at something else. Pylon Racing has come a long way since I've been racing. But now we seem to be shooting ourselves in the foot. Let's look at what we have: Here in Texas we have three different classes of Q500, all using a .40 size engine and all flying the same type of airplane. The difference is the speed. Now we have QM40, which took the place of our .15-size QM. Then we still have Formula I.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
BY THE TIME you read this the 1996 Nats will be history. It will be interesting to see how it went. Wayne Yeager's report on this year's racing will appear in the December Model Aviation. This month we take a look at racing in the Northeast-my old stomping grounds. I see that there are still a lot of the same people I raced with when I was in Ohio. My hat comes off for Mike Haddad-he's still sponsoring racing. The following race reports were taken from the CAPS newsletter. (Keep those reports coming, guys-they're the only way that the rest of the world will know what is going on in your area!)
