Radio Control: Pylon Racing
THE NATS WAS supposed to be poorly attended this year. People didn't like the fact that the Nats were divided among three different cities. But we set attendance records in two events! Quickie had 120 and Quarter 40 had 56. Formula I was down, and FAI was normal (five entries), but the other two were great! Problem is, with 120 entries how do you get in a credible amount of racing? The potential for a very large number of ties from first on down is immense-but you can't tell them to stay home, either.
F3D World Championships
In the August issue of the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) newsletter, Cliff Telford wrote about the Nationals: "If the August weather in Muncie is as hot as July in Lawrenceville, it should be a very interesting World Champs. The European fliers rarely compete in the conditions that have been prevalent in the US Midwest this summer." Well, it was-and they did! The 1995 F3D FAI World Championships were held August 14-16 in Muncie at the AMA National Flying Site. I was at both meets, and I think it was hotter in Muncie, but the weather was only one part of the World Championships drama. World Champion. It has a nice ring, doesn't it? Not many fliers are able to achieve this lofty goal, and reaching it more than once means you have more than luck on your side. There is no tiptoeing through the matrix in F3D, like there sometimes is in Quickie, Quarter, or Formula I. The F3D scoring system requires fast flights for every heat. Also, in addition to having an individual World Champion, F3D has a World Champion Team-there is much more at stake than just individual honors.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
IN PAST YEARS I've tried to describe the Nats Pylon competition with a single word; one year I called them the "fragmented" Nats. This year it was very difficult-the Pylon venue was turned over to the National Miniature Pylon Association (NMPRA) for the first time. How 'bout I just call it the "different" Nats? For the first time the entire worker pool was selected from the contestants, with the exception of a few stalwarts, including Paul Page, Bob Campbell, Charlie Robinson, Brigette Brown, and Jim and Bernie Allen. Since workers have become an extinct group, Pylon needed a new plan. The details of the plan were developed during the Nats planning meeting last fall; the meeting was attended by the Nats management staff and the involved AMA Special Interest Groups (SIGs)-in Pylon's case, NMPRA.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
PYLON IS GOING THROUGH turmoil as a result of new requirements concerning workers. We would love to go back to the good old days, where we had a worker pool and the Pylon guys could come into town and fly their particular event and go home. Unfortunately, the worker pool has dried up and there is no racing at the Nats unless the Pylon people come up with a plan similar to the other venues, whereas they all work and fly. The drawback to Pylon is that it's so labor-intensive, and it's quite difficult to work and then run to fly a heat. In fact, since this can't happen, the worker pool must be separated from the flying pool. Last year NMPRA president Pete Reed and a few of his cohorts came up with a plan where they divided the entrants into two pools, with one flying and the other working, followed by a flip-flop. This worked OK except that it required qualifying with a flyoff for the top positions-there wasn't a way to mix the two matrices.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
AH, THE NATS! Heat, rain (maybe), sunburn (for sure), and lotsa Pylon Racing. Racing was different compared to the past two years, and what a difference! For years the Nats was staffed by volunteers from all over the country, and for the most part, they performed very well. Unfortunately, the volunteer pool ran dry, and the last couple of years found us appealing to the contestants for help, as our staff was short here and there. A plan was hatched to utilize the contestants in the same manner as all the other venues (sailplane, helicopter, etc.). Contestants in Quarter and Quickie were divided into two matrices, with one working and the other flying. The system did work, with some minor flaws.
