Formula I NMPRA Champs
THE FALL SEASON means many things to different people. For most fliers it means rebuilding time, maybe more hours at home with the family, or an opportunity to do some badly needed repairs on the house. For the Pylon Race flier, fall means championship race time. For the Formula I enthusiast in particular, the NMPRA Championship Race is the highlight of the year.
Qualifying and Location
To qualify to participate in the NMPRA Formula I Championships, fliers must finish in the top 20% of their NMPRA district, be an NMPRA officer, finish in the top 10 at the AMA Nats, or be a past NMPRA champion. Whichever way the fliers qualified, they earned it.
The locale of the race changes each year to equalize travel time for participants on average. Sites are usually in Texas, California, Florida, and Tennessee. The 1987 NMPRA Championships were held in Deland, FL (just north of Orlando) on October 24–25. Dave Tyson was Contest Director, and the event was hosted by the Remote Control Association of Central Florida and the Deland RC Club. Flying was from the local airport with a 200 x 2,500-ft. concrete runway.
Friday — Appearance Judging and Opening
The weekend began Friday evening with appearance judging of the models at the headquarters motel, where most of the fliers were quartered. That same evening the NMPRA was presented a key to the City of Deland by the mayor pro tem, who proclaimed the weekend "Pylon Racing Days."
Appearance judging votes were cast for the best-finished planes. First place went to an Estralita built and finished by Rich Tocci.
Racing Overview
Racing started Saturday morning after a pilots' meeting in which CD Dave Tyson laid out the "game plan." Fifty-one entries made for a full weekend; five rounds were scheduled Saturday and five more Sunday (ten rounds total).
Some racing highlights:
- Round One, Heat 1: Bruce Richmond clocked 1:15, edging J.P. Hanway (1:16).
- Round One, Heat 4: Dub Jett turned a blistering 1:09.61 — the best time of the meet.
- Round One, Heat 6: Dave Shadel (last year's champion) turned 1:12.
- Round Two, Heat 3: Dave Shadel recorded 1:09.76, trying to match Jett’s time.
- Round Three, Heat 13: Shadel discovered a bad glow plug before takeoff, borrowed a plug and a wrench, and got airborne with little time left on the starter’s 90-second clock. Henry Bartle won that heat in 1:11.09; Shadel was second in 1:11.65.
- At the end of Round Three, only Gary Hover had a perfect score.
- Round Four: Shadel posted 1:10.83 while still chasing Jett's 1:09.
- Round Five ended a hard day of racing Saturday.
Sunday (Rounds Six–Ten) kept the pressure on:
- Jessica Thurrott was in third place after Round Five with times of 1:12 and 1:13, showing she could be a contender.
- Round Seven: Gary Hover bested Henry Bartle, 1:12 to 1:14.
- During mid-contest, Rich Tocci landed his Estralita in surrounding brush; after a machete-assisted search the plane was found in a tree with only a few nicks to the wing leading edge.
- Round Eight (Heat 8): Paul Benezra won in 1:13; Ron Mendel was second (1:14); Norm Johnson fourth (1:17); Tom Strom third (1:26).
- Round Nine: Henry Bartle narrowly edged J.P. Hanway, 1:14.96 to 1:14.99.
- Round Ten, Heat 4: Jessica Thurrott won flying a short lap.
- Round Ten, Heat 5: Dave Shadel won in 1:11.11; his worst time for the meet was 1:12.49 and his best times were around 1:09–1:11.
- All eyes were on Gary Hover in Round Ten; he clinched the title by pulling off the necessary result, finishing the meet with a perfect score.
There was a flyoff for eighth place in which Lyle Larson bested Bruce Brown. Other ties were resolved by best times and best points. Dub Jett's 1:09.61 remained the best time of the meet.
Banquet and Thanks
After Saturday’s flying the group returned to the motel to prepare for the annual NMPRA banquet. The mayor, Wile Nash, gave a short speech, and Stu Richmond showed slides featuring the U.S. FAI Pylon World Championships. Henry and Donna Bartle did a fantastic job of combining business and fun at the banquet; a good time was had by all who attended. Special thanks to Dave Tyson, his wife Doris, and all the workers whose teamwork made it possible to complete 10 full rounds in two days.
1987 NMPRA Championships — Final Standings
- Gary Hover
- Dave Shadel
- Jessica Thurrott
- Henry Bartle
- Gary Long
- Dub Jett
- Mike Helsel
- Lyle Larson
- Bruce Brown
- G.E. Jacobson
- Paul Benezra
- Ron Mendel
- Ed Rankin
- David Doyle
- Dennis O'Brien
- Pete Reed
- Gary Parise
- Gary Gau
- Thomas Strom
- Norm Johnson
If you missed the 1987 race, you missed a great one. Let’s get started now — 1988 should be held somewhere in Texas.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
