Radio Control: Pylon Racing
THE SECRET of success! At last, I'm going to reveal to you what it takes to win. If you follow the advice I'm about to give you, even you can be successful. Let's look at some examples of winners. I trust that most of you have seen the cover of the August 1987 issue of Model Aviation? If you haven't, then get one and take a good look. You will see a group of what are probably the best Pylon Racers in the world! These people are all winners, and their getting to this point was no accident. I'm referring to the 1987 U.S. RC Pylon Racing team-the one that swept the first three places at the World Championships this year.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
LOOK! Yes, let's look around the country to see what's going on in Pylon Racing-especially since we're right in the middle of the Racing season. Here is a report from Art Arro that is a good representation of Racing activity in the Ohio/Michigan area: "The GLMAR is one of the very few remaining races offering three AMA/NMPRA events held over a single weekend. This great race has been held on a traditional early June date for the past five or six years. Its host is the Flying Tigers club of Toledo, OH and it is sponsored by the Hobby Stop of that same city.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
COMPLAINTS! Yes, after 16 years of Pylon Racing, I've heard lots of complaints. The one that still jumps out the most is the one that says Pylon Racing is too noisy. However, when it's properly handled, noise is not a problem! I remember that once, while living in Dayton, OH, we had a city-built flying field that was (and still is) just about as close to being in the center of a populated area as any field in the country. I mean, we were surrounded by homes, and on one side we had apartments overlooking our field-but, we had no problem! Why no problem? Well, we kept the public informed as to what we were all about. We set up a reasonable set of field rules that did help the situation. One of the rules was that no flying of powered models was to take place before 8:00 a.m. on weekdays and not before noon on Sundays.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
WOW! Here we are again at the end of another season of racing. For the Formula I flier, there is one more race to cap off this year. That is the NMPRA (National Miniature Pylon Racing Association) Championships, and this year they will be held in Florida. Race dates are October 24-25. I am doing all of the last-minute things to get ready for it. Look for a full report next month. Let's look at some racing around the country this year. Our first report has been sent to us by Brian Palacios and describes the South Texas Air Races. "The first races of the season were held May 2-3, 1987 in San Antonio, TX. This year the weather was much better than last year. The temperatures were lower, and the wind was definitely lower. But at the same time, the barometer hit an all-time low for San Antonio; therefore, the race times were slow.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
A SOLUTION to the Pylon Racing radio-frequency problem has been put forth by fellow Racer, Russ Kime. His letter goes on to say: "You are probably aware of the frequency-control system I devised to get rid of 3IM (third-order intermodulation interference-Ed.). If not, it is all explained in the enclosed sheets. We've used it here in California for four races now without any problems, and the NMPRA (National Miniature Pylon Racing Association) has adopted it nationally. "We have further refined it so that CDs will now have at least three alternate matrix configurations in case the fliers in a given contest are over-loaded on one frequency or another. This will also hold true for 1988 and beyond (Remember: this letter was written in 1987-Bill.). It is also my recommendation that we ignore the odd-numbered frequencies which will come into use in 1991, since we will already have 15 usable channels on 72 MHz plus all of the 50-54 MHz ones. But, that's a long way into the future.
