Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager 4 Holly Springs Dr. Conroe, TX 77302
Special note
The AMA Executive Council voted to present Gale F. Helms with a 1990 Technical Award. The award recognizes his innovative efforts in using and promoting the material DMD for model aircraft hinges. The modeling community has benefited greatly from his concept of creating a hinge that is strong, dependable, and simple to install.
Hobby Stop Silver Cup Quarter Midget Race (La Salle, MI — August 25–26, 1990)
Reported by Rex Knepper
The 17th annual event, sponsored by Les Haddad's Hobby Stop and hosted by the Toledo Weak Signals and Flying Tigers clubs, was well attended. Forty-nine fliers from 13 states — Minnesota to Florida, California to New York — participated in this premier event. Two days of rain made for ideal racing, followed by the Ron Haddad Memorial Trophy Dash which pitted the fastest 12 fliers in the final race of the event. Les Haddad did his usual thing, assuring this would be a top-notch event—silver cups for first through fifth places along with some cash, plus a myriad of grab-bag prizes. Airtronics radios, Futaba radios, and Matney's Models QM kit were also there. A special thanks to Les for his continued interest and sponsorship of this race.
The Silver Cup runs smoothly because of the workers. Wonderful people from two very active clubs fill all key positions and provide enough volunteers to rotate duties and keep the fun alive. The Weak Signals' pylon equipment is top notch and all of it is on wheels; we just roll the cages onto the field and, voila, it's done. Our flying site is superb, which also makes setup easier. A big thank you up front to the workers.
Saturday night featured the annual steak roast with all the fixings. Jim Warner and Jan Howard provided the gourmet service, with Jan providing fantastic pastry. Thanks to Jim and Jan for that good full feeling. With 49 fliers we had four-plane heats, thirteen heats per round, for a total of eight rounds plus the Trophy Dash. Dave Howard did an excellent job as the starter, keeping things moving swiftly. A big thank you to Dave.
There were only a few gimmes and a few midairs. Al Grove and Duane Gall came together at pylon #3—instant kit. My caller, pilot Rick Cromer, had a brand new ME 109 fly away. We found it in the next forty with hardly any damage. Tx was saying "hello, hello" and Rx was saying "Bye Bye." Dennis Sumner took first place once again; this was Denny's third Silver Cup win. I heard it's with the same plane and the same prop. Congrats, Mr. Sumner. (One other three-time winner was the late Doug Brushaber.) Congratulations to the winners through fifth in a championship race like this; you all did well.
The seventh annual Trophy Dash, held in memory of Les' brother Ron Haddad, was won by Craig Grunkemeyer. Grunk had a real battle with Dan Kane, Jr., just squeezing Dan out on the last lap. Craig Grunkemeyer also won the Fast Time award with a blazing 1:16.22. Denny Sumner is getting married in October—maybe he will have a little P‑39—yuk yuk! By the way, Jerry Salisbury was here and he didn't hit the ground, the pylons, the trees, the hardtop, or himself. Jerry went home with his airplane; Bonnie was so happy and they lived happily ever after. I still think we should sing happy birthday to Joe. Dave Whiteaker liked it, right Dave?
Quarter Midget Race results
- D. Sumner — 1:17.89
- G. Gall — 1:16.35
- D. Latsha — 1:18.09
- C. Grunkemeyer — 1:16.22
- R. Bork — 1:21.56
- D. Gohn — 1:21.27
- S. Kepp — 1:21.95
- R. Knepper — 1:18.16
- D. Weidman — 1:19.41
- B. Hines — 1:22.57
- R. Stone — 1:19.93
- A. Schwartz — 1:19.93
- J. Dodd — 1:16.45
- G. Jacobson — 1:16.52
- K. Matney — 1:22.07
NMPRA Q500 Championship (Phoenix, AZ — October 6–7, 1990)
Reported by Jim Allen
The NMPRA Q500 Championship race was held October 6th and 7th in Phoenix, Arizona, at the home of the Pro-Flyers, Phoenix Raceway Park. The weather cooperated with temperatures in the mid to upper nineties, low humidity, and very little wind until Sunday afternoon. Thirty-one qualified pilots from around the nation showed up to do battle. Areas represented included Arizona, California, Tennessee, Texas, and Mexico.
Racers began showing up at the field on Friday morning for test flying to find the right prop and get accustomed to the race course. The headquarters for the race was the beautiful Windmill Inn where registration took place on Friday night. Everyone was checked in by about 8:00 p.m. so the computer could do the matrix prior to Saturday morning and be ready to race early.
Racing started at about 9:30 Saturday morning and confirmed the heats would be hotly contested all weekend. After the first round, fliers voted to go 1-3, 2-4 starts to help reduce the possibility of midairs on takeoff. This seemed to work fairly well for the rest of the weekend. Shortly thereafter, Spencer Wallace and Lee Von Der Hey, fighting for the lead, hit coming around pylon #3. Lee definitely got the losing end of the deal—his airplane exploded, but Spencer kept right on flying to place second. There were numerous close races in the teens including Randy Ritch (1:16.85), second place behind Jim Allen (1:16.74)—the quickest either of us has ever gone.
Racing started shortly after 9:00 a.m. Sunday with the action picking up where it left off the day before. Gary Schmidt pushed Mike Del Ponte into a double cut in round six, putting him down six points and tightening things up quite a bit. Bob Nichols started Sunday off right, putting in what would be his fastest heat of the weekend with a 1:17.45. In round seven, Randy Ritch and Fred French fought for the lead against Doug Whiteaker, putting Doug down two more points. The close races continued for the remainder of the day. In the last round, Spencer Wallace and Jim Kane fought for the lead all the way to the finish line with Spencer turning a 1:19.10 and Jim a 1:19.57. The close finish for first place came down to the last heat of the day between Jim Allen and Fred French. If Fred were to win, Jim would have been tied for first with Gary Schmidt and would have had to fly off. The result was one of the closest races either of them had ever been in. Fred led for the first eight laps until Jim was able to sneak by around pylon #1 and then hold onto the slim lead for the remaining two laps.
There were two flyoffs required: one for 4th and 5th between Mike Del Ponte and Hubert Wills, and the other between Spencer Wallace and Jim Lime for 9th and 10th. Trophies were given out down to tenth place and fast time, with $650 cash being allotted to the top eight. Donated kits and extra fuel were also given out to both fliers and workers.
Special thanks to the sponsors of the race, including Don Nix of Powermaster Fuels for donating the fuel; Ursell Taylor of the Owl Ear Gallery in Tucson, AZ, who sponsored the laser-etched plaques; and Rich's Hobbies, Northwest Hobby Supply, and Glen Speckler Models — all of whom donated kits to be given away. Without the support of these people, the event would not have been nearly as successful.
Overall, the turnout and level of competition was great for this first Q500 qualification Championship race, and we can look forward to an even better year in 1991. We are already working on the location for next year's race and will let you know the details as soon as possible. Be sure to tell your non-member friends to join early next year so they will have a chance to be in on the fun!
Results
NMPRA Q500
- J. Allen, AZ — Quik-V, Rossi, 34 pts, Fast Time 1:16.74
- G. Schmidt, AZ — Quik-V, Rossi, 33 pts, 1:20.93
- D. Whiteaker, TN — Viper, Webra, 32 pts, 1:20.06
- M. Del Ponte, AZ — Rev., Webra, 30 pts, 1:12.96
- H. Wills, TX — TX Eliminator, Fox, 30 pts, 1:23.57
- R. Ritch, TX — TX Outlaw, Rossi, 29 pts, 1:16.85
- R. L. Cranfill, TX — TX Outlaw, Rossi, 28 pts, 1:24.30
- B. Nickle, CA — CA T-Tail, Rossi, 27 pts, 1:17.45
- S. Wallace, AZ — Quik-V, Rossi, 26 pts, 1:18.20
- J. Lime, AZ — T-Tail, Rossi, 26 pts, 1:19.57
Quarter Midget Race
(See detailed finish times above in the Silver Cup section.)
National Points Standings for 1990
- Randy Ritch
- Ronny Barralero
- Jim Allen
- R. L. Cranfill
- Dick Ritch
- Fred French
- Keith Fredrickson
- Lee Von Der Hey
- John Creagh
- Richard Hanson
Thanks for the report, Jim. Now it's time for rules changes. Let's all take a good long look before we vote. See you next month.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
