Radio Control: Pylon Racing
THIS MONTH'S article will be devoted to 1/4 Midget Racing. The intent of 1/4 Midget was to provide an inexpensive form of Pylon Racing for the serious racing competitor that could not afford Formula 1. In the beginning, this probably was true, but as the pilots, planes and equipment became more sophisticated, the price of racing increased. The past two years have seen a considerable increase in the cost associated with 1/4 Midgets, primarily in the engine and accessory departments. The big controversy going on at this time is whether to limit the price of the engine to $60.00. This obviously eliminates the Rossi .15 that dominates the races when it is allowed.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
THIS MONTH'S article will be devoted to Formula One type racing aircraft. Hopefully, I can interest the non-Formula One people to try it. If you do, you'll like it!! Jerry Nelson fathered the idea of racing miniature aircraft that resembled the full-scale midget racing planes using the Continental "0-200" 100-hp engines. When Jerry started this "insane" event, the only .40's available were the O.S. Max, Fox, Supertigre and K&B. All of these engines were front rotors. The times then turned were usually 3 minutes plus.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
THIS MONTH I would like to talk about construction techniques for the individual that has not tried Pylon racing because he thinks it is too difficult. (I was corrected on my article about Q-500 aircraft in that the wing thickness is 12% instead of 15% as I stated. Thanks to Greg Doe for the correction.) Now, for the construction of foam wings. It seems that a lot of the modelers around the country either do not like foam, or are afraid to try them. Foam wings are not difficult to build if you follow some rather simple, but important procedures. There are probably many different ways to build foam wings but I will only attempt to discuss the method that has been successful for me.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
BY THE TIME you read this issue of Model Aviation I hope all you pylon racers have given some thought to the rules proposed by the P.R.O.P.S. of Seattle and the rules published in RCM for 1/2A racing. This writer would like to see a combination of these rules so that we would have a uniform set of parameters for the airframe in 1/2A. Until this happens you will not see very many manufacturers jump on the bandwagon and spend money to tool-up for a 1/2A racer if the specs are different across the country. One compromise of these rules would be to allow the tapered wing; maintain a 2 × 4 in. measurement for the fuselage (not necessarily at the same point); and use two wheels and a landing gear if the field permits, i.e., grass fields-no landing gear, pavement-landing gear required.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
A COUPLE of issues back I made a statement to the effect that Quarter Midgets had to have a steerable nose wheel or tail wheel. I have been corrected by a couple of Quarter Midget people as to the fact that the rules do not state that the third wheel has to be steerable, only that the airplane be controllable on the ground. It is nice to know that at least some of you guys out there are reading the column. I would like to hear from more of you racers in the model world and let me know what you would like to see in this column.
