Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager
Challenge
As most of you read in a previous article, our guys didn't fare too well at the FAI World Championships that followed this year's Nationals. Some of you may have it figured out in Formula One but found out the hard way that you weren't ready for FAI — and for those who didn't try, well, I don't have much to say.
What are you going to do — quit? Or will you be ready next time? We now have egg on our face. It is up to you. We'll all be waiting to see what you do two years from now. Call this a challenge or whatever you want — the ball is in your court.
Shoestring Formula One kit (Jerry Small)
In the September issue of Model Aviation I ran an article on a Shoestring Formula One racer that can be built almost overnight. The kit was by Jerry Small and has generated a lot of inquiries. Although I never included contact information in the article, Jerry has had a tremendous response. His address and phone numbers are:
- Jerry Small
- 8445 Freeport Pkwy., Suite 500, Irving, TX 75063
- Phone: (214) 570-1455 (work)
- Phone: (817) 481-6456 (home)
Smyrna Air Races (April 27–28, 1985)
Greg Doe sent the results of this year's Smyrna Air Races. By now most everyone knows we had rain again this year at Smyrna — 1.19 inches, to be exact. The good news is that we had the largest turnout in the history of this contest with 65 contestants. Sport Pylon had the largest entry with 54. There were 27 in Quarter Midget and 16 in F‑1. Smyrna appears to be the only suitable site in the district for F‑1; we'd like to continue to race the event since it seems to be the only F‑1 race in the Southeast area.
One last comment before the results: had it not rained off and on all day Saturday, we would have finished early Sunday afternoon. If anyone has ideas on how to order two days without rain, I'm open to suggestions — no matter how ridiculous.
It took all day Saturday to complete Quarter Midget. Dennis Sumner and Ken Heatlie, both from Westland, MI, tied for first with perfect scores. A frequency conflict prevented a flyoff, so Sumner won with the best time of the contest, 1:17.6. Jim Bartels, Gail Jacobson, and Rex Knepper rounded out the top five. Workers and fliers both persisted under some lousy flying conditions Saturday to complete QM; I didn't hear any grumbling, even though a few contestants chose not to fly during the worst of the rain.
Racing Sunday morning was delayed briefly due to the continued threat of rain but finally got under way after the appearance of sun. Phil Bussell's Denight received the number one spot. Even though there was a small turnout in F‑1, the racing was very competitive. Brian Richmond and Greg Doe tied for first; because of the large number of Sport fliers, Greg (the CD) passed up the flyoff, giving Brian first place with the faster time. Mike Klutz, flying a very fast X‑40‑powered Toni, tied with Bruce Richmond for third. These two did have a flyoff, with Klutz posting a super 1:13.2 to take third. Gail Jacobson finished in the top five. Even though only seven of the 16 contestants were from our district, it was rewarding to see four of the top five places from the Southeast.
Sport Pylon began so late that everyone knew it could not be completed in one day, but we tried. By racing until 7:30 p.m. we finished three rounds. With the large turnout it was possible to run two separate matrices — one for Novice and one for Expert. The groups were split almost in half (25 Novice, 29 Expert), so it took the same number of heats to complete the rounds. It was also satisfying to see the Novices racing one another instead of being blown away by the Experts.
Sport Novice ended with a three‑way tie for first; Jon Clarke won the flyoff. Fourth and fifth places also required a flyoff. The top five were Jon Clarke, Larry Burns, Randy Glover, Doug Whiteaker, and William Conley.
Sport Expert was hotly contested, with Jim Moorhead and Bruce Richmond tying for first. Moorhead was awarded top honors, since it was too late to have any more flyoffs. Third and fourth were also settled by times. Bob Schuster took third, Rick Cranmer finished fourth, and Dave Latsha rounded out the top five.
Congratulations to all the contestants and winners. Twenty‑two trophies were presented in the three events and were distributed to 20 different contestants. We flew 105 heat races, which is a lot of flying, especially considering the weather problems. On the humorous side, so far this year we are over eight inches behind in our rainfall — the TV weather men worry about such concerns.
Smyrna Quarter Midget results
- Dennis Sumner — 1:17.6
- Ken Heatlie — 1:20.9
- Jim Bartels — 1:20.2
- Gail Jacobson — 1:18.7
- Rex Knepper — 1:19.6
- Dave Latsha — 1:21.7
- Bob Schuster — 1:27.9
- Steve Kovach — 1:25.7
- Randy Glover — 1:39.9
- Tom Kwiatkowski — 1:24.6
Smyrna Formula I results
- Brian Richmond — 1:15.0
- Greg Doe — 1:18.6
- Mike Klutz — 1:16.9
- Bruce Richmond — 1:21.2
- Gail Jacobson — 1:17.2
- Phil Bussell (Best Finish) — 1:27.3
- Bob Schuster — 1:21.1
- Fred French — 1:22.9
- Bob Hisey — 1:30.2
- R. A. Brogdon — 1:31.0 (Fast Time)
Smyrna Expert Sport Pylon results
- Jim Moorhead — 1:21.5
- Brian Richmond — 1:22.7
- Bob Schuster — 1:23.9
- Rick Cranmer — 1:27.0
- Dave Latsha — 1:24.1
- Gail Jacobson — 1:27.7
- Wayne Yeager — 1:31.7
- Dennis Sumner — 1:30.5
- Tom Gardenhire — 1:38.6
- Jim Bartels — 1:24.9
Corcoran, MI — 11th Annual Quarter Midget Labor Day Classic
The 11th Annual Quarter Midget Labor Day Classic was held at the Corcoran site on August 31 with Boyd Bowdish as the CD. Doug Brueshaber turned in an impressive fast time of 1:24.0. Gregg Heimker had the dubious distinction of the most "no‑starts and no‑finishes," with five out of six times at the line.
The well-known "B&E" team (Berryman and Elert) came in second and third in Standard Class. A couple of relative newcomers placed: Ron Gage took first in Standard and Mike Helsel took second in Expert Class. The only out‑of‑towner was Donald Martinson. Ron Edgar tried to outbrave the Brew in a midair, but there was no winner in that confrontation. Dick Steine took home an almost‑perfect score of 23 points.
Send contest results, hints, and ideas to
Bill Hager 706 Glen Haven Dr. Conroe, TX 77385
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
