Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager Conroe, TX
Season summary
Well, here we are at the end of another great season of pylon racing. As I write this, the year‑end NMPRA (National Miniature Pylon Racing Association) Q500 Championships are taking place in Dallas, TX — I should be able to publish the results in a later issue.
Next up is the NMPRA Formula One Championships, to be held in Gainesville, TX on October 22–23. For most Formula One fliers this is the premier event of the year; pilots must qualify to enter.
NMPRA Formula One qualification
- Be an NMPRA member.
- Finish in the top 20% or the top 10 in your NMPRA district (computed using your six best contests).
- Finish in the top 10 at the current‑year AMA Nationals.
- Be an NMPRA officer or a previous Championship Race winner.
Look for results of the Formula One Championships in my next column.
Race reports
Let's look at some racing around the country this past summer.
Missoula, MT — July 2–3, 1988
The Fourth of July weekend brought Missoula's midsummer race meet and a change to the agenda with the addition of Formula I. The two slower classes were flown at the club's field on Saturday; on Sunday we traveled to the edge of the Flathead Valley to race Formula I. The site was a paradise — golf‑course‑green, short grass — but it was irrigated with a circular sprinkler system. Pilots' callers had to remind pilots to keep turning left while landing on the large curved strip of grass. Racers adjusted quickly.
Quickie racing was close, with youngsters showing the veterans a trick or two. In one heat Leon Elbert and Dan Powell came together around pylon #3. Dan's plane hit bad air and was blown into the ground, striking through Leon. Daryl Tulberg (Leon's caller) and Leon were knocked down; Leon landed safely. Fortunately, neither was seriously hurt — just bruises. Both said they didn't hear or see the plane coming.
Formula I produced fast flying and many good races. Weather played havoc with needle settings and head spacing as numerous thunderstorms passed by; humidity and pressure fluctuated but it hardly rained at the field.
NMPRA Standard results:
- Dan Powell — 2:02
- Helgeson — 2:07
- Ward — 2:12
- Felstet — 2:19
- Gasvoda — 2:12
NMPRA Modified results:
- Venetz — 1:48
- Patterson — 1:57
- Ward — 1:52
- Sperry — 1:42
- Leon Elbert — 2:03
NMPRA Formula I results:
- Leon Elbert — 1:24
- Felstet — 1:43
- Gasvoda — 1:41
- Sperry — 1:26
- Dan Powell — 1:37
Chester, MT — July 9–10, 1988 (Q500 and F‑I)
Chester hosted a two‑day meet in the heart of Montana drought country: Formula, Jemco Standard, Q500 and Modified Q500. Because of low turnouts some classes were combined (Jemco Standard with Formula). We had a couple of guests from Calgary, Alberta, which improved the competition. Many heats looked like paired‑off figure skating — tough on callers' and pylon judges' nerves.
A classic heat featured Leon Elbert and Mike Sperry. These two are best friends off the course but fierce competitors when the flag drops. They were dead even on the lap plate during the entire race; Mike dropped one lap about 20 ft behind at the finish and took second. Both turned great times for the area and altitude (1:22 and 1:23). Saturday evening's pig roast was a great way to recap the day's events.
On Sunday the Q500 competition remained very close — it was anybody's race among the top five. Even with a green batch of workers, fliers had few complaints; the workers did a great job. There is talk of a combined Canadian/U.S.A. meet in Chester next year; its central location in the Prairie and North Central West districts could attract 30–40 F‑I fliers.
Results — July 9, 1988:
- Leon Elbert — 1:27
- J. Davidson — 1:41
- Mike Sperry — 1:31
- R. Spicher — 1:36
- C. Swaney — 1:42
Results — July 10, 1988:
- Leon Elbert — 1:22
- D. Tulberg — 1:33
- Mike Sperry — 1:23
- D. Cady — 1:32
- R. Spicher — 1:41
Puget Sound (Kitsap County) — August 6–7, 1988
Northwest Race Report: The Kitsap County Area Radio Control Society (KCARS) and Props hosted the first annual Summer Classic Pylon Race on the unused portion of the Kitsap Airport. The site was excellent — except for two green walls of big trees about 300–400 ft away that forced everyone to fly tight, which made for closer races. The local club provided strong support, and the field looks like a great long‑term racing site.
Saturday saw a mix of old hands (Nelson, Eddy and Dean King) and newcomers (Jerry Cagney, Jim Hurst, Phil Barnes and Jon Castleman), plus a few juniors. Three local ARCS members tried Q500 (Phil Barnes, Jim Hurst and Jon Castleman) and acquitted themselves well for their inexperience. In our district we ran a Q500 round between every F‑I round to give F‑I fliers extra time; some pilots chose to fly both Q500 and F‑I.
Flying Cardinals Q500/QM — June 25–26, 1988
CDs: Joe Ruh and Barry Anderson
Turnout for our first annual race was OK in Q500 but disappointing in Quarter Midgets. Our race equipment was rehabilitated Weak Signals prop equipment, which worked fine. Saturday's Quickie races faced 100+° temperatures and 20‑mph winds. Joe Dodd tested the #3 safety gear by centerpunching the pole (a tad tight). Aubrey Nottingham clipped a flag off the top of #2 and kept on going. The 100' course seemed to slow things down, but some tough races were flown.
Q500 results:
- Michael Pewitt (TN), Clipper/Webra — 1:41.35
- Frank Schwartz (TN), Bad News/Webra — 1:38.81
- Joe Ruh (KY), Clipper/Rossi — 1:42.09
- Dana Swah (TN), Scat Cat/Como — 1:53.61
- Aubrey Nottingham (TN), Clipper Cat/Webra — 1:42.98
Sunday saw eight Quarter Midgets struggle with a quartering tailwind on takeoff. We saw some fast airplanes and a great race from Rex Knepper.
Closing
Thanks to all the workers and the fliers who traveled to these events and sent reports. Publicizing these meets gives race fans around the country a better view of what's happening in our favorite RC events.
Now it's time for me to get back to last‑minute preparations for the 1988 NMPRA Championship race. Wish me luck — I'm gonna need it!
See ya' next month.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
