Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager
- 4 Holly Springs Dr.
- Conroe, TX 77302
Let's start this month with a special thanks to the people at Futaba for their continuing support of pylon racing.
Bob Downey Memorial Formula One — Whittier Narrows (March 28–29, 1992)
Report by Dave English
The 11th annual Bob Downey Memorial Formula One race was held at Whittier Narrows on March 28–29, 1992. Many thanks to John Krohn and all his friendly help for putting up with us that long.
Twenty-five entrants showed up for Saturday's racing. Richard Verano came out on top with a fast time of 1:03.16; he was consistently in the 1:06–1:07 range—tough to beat. Eight of the 25 competitors recorded fast times under 1:10. They just go faster and faster—that's what racing is all about.
Gary Hover lost his beautiful Kazi in an unfortunate accident. He and another pilot bumped during the race, causing him to almost drop his transmitter and the plane to meet the ground. Gary did come back on Sunday to finish third.
Rusty VanBaren hauled the giant Bob Downey Memorial Trophy to Whittier and had the privilege of hauling it back home after Sunday's racing. He won the race with a perfect score of 24 points and a fast time of 1:09.19. There was a flyoff for second and third between Lyle Larson (with his Best-of-Show Shark) and Gary Hover with his backup airplane. The lead changed many times, but on lap seven Gary got a little impatient and cut pylon No. 1; Lyle cruised to victory with a 1:06.60.
Wow — I bet it will be a long time before someone breaks Richard Verano's record of 1:03.16.
1991 NMPRA Q-500 Championships — Decatur, Alabama
Report by Jim Allen
The NMPRA Championship Race was held October 19–20 in Decatur, Alabama. Decatur is a friendly city in northern Alabama, about two hours south of Nashville and a few miles west of Huntsville. The Decatur Model Airplane Club (DMAC) hosted this year's season-ending shootout. Top-scoring Q-500 members in the NMPRA were invited based on their district point totals.
The site was an old PT-19 and B-25 training base 20 miles west of Decatur, available to DMAC for sport flying or contests. During the search for a suitable site, Greg Doe suggested it at the Nationals. Contacts were made, and Contest Director Brad Clayton and local club members set up a course using two sides lined with cotton fields and a 1,200 × 350 ft area—plenty of space for a Q-500 course. Pilots started arriving Friday afternoon, and the course was set up early so pilots could practice.
Registration took place Friday evening at the headquarters motel, the Decatur Holiday Inn. Tables were set up in the Holidome for check-in and inspection. Brad's crew performed thorough inspections to ensure all requirements were met. Last year nine of 31 airplanes met wing-area requirements in the written AMA rule book; this year all the planes were found to be legal.
Turnout was lighter than hoped. Eighteen pilots had pre-registered; only 16 showed up. Several invited pilots could not make it because they were preparing for the Formula One Championship Race, to be held two weeks later in Texas. Indications were that attendance would be better next year—many pilots who missed this year stated they would join the NMPRA in 1992 and try to qualify.
All the aircraft at the race this year were powered by Nelson Quickie .40s—not a surprise, since no other legal engines were competitive so far. Airframe designs varied a bit, but the V-tail was the dominant feature: eleven of the 16 entries had V-tail configurations. High- and low-wing designs were used in about equal numbers. The AMA rules seem to allow several approaches to airplane design; they all can be competitive with one another.
Saturday opened with near-perfect weather—little or no clouds and light, variable winds. Brad and his crew finalized the course and assigned stations. The pits were near the pavement edge and the fueling table just in front of the impound area, where planes were drained, refueled, and staged. The 15% fuel was supplied by Don Nix of Powermaster. All preparations were in place and it looked like a great day.
After a brief pilots' meeting, racing began. The first round confirmed that the Nelson engines were fairly equal; straightaway speeds were very close and most heats ended with planes tight at the finish. Thumbs would decide the races. The most exciting opening heat was between Doug Whiteaker and 1991 National Points Champion Jimmy Bartels. They fought to the wire, with Doug posting the round's fastest time: 1:10.82 to Jimmy's 1:11.88.
Round two featured another tight battle—Tim Lime of Arizona versus Doug Whiteaker. They traded the lead numerous times and left little room at pylons two and three. At the finish there were a few feet and 0.33 seconds between them: 1:08.47 and 1:08.80, with Tim on top.
In round three Rick Landers got in the groove and turned a smoking 1:08.11 against Greg Doe's 1:10.38 and Paul Benczra, who finished third. Times continued to inch down round by round. After six rounds Saturday, the author (Bill Hager) was the only pilot with a clean score of 18 points. Rick's round-three fast time remained the day's quickest, though in round six he discovered how hard they make concrete in WWII.
Saturday evening everyone met in a Holiday Inn conference room for the awards banquet. Dinner was followed by presentation of standings and trophies for NMPRA season points. Trophies were presented to the top 10 racers in the 1991 season. Points totals were very close through the top 10, with three districts represented. Fourth through ninth were separated by only 25 points, and there were fewer than 100 points between first and tenth.
Only four of the top 10 were present to collect plaques. Richard Hansen and Mark Parker were 10th and 9th, respectively—both surprised. The biggest shock came with the announcement of Steve Kovack in fourth place; he was totally surprised when his name was called. First place went to Jimmy Bartels of Apopka, Florida. Jimmy dominated racing in the SEMPRA area of the Southeast and finished with 596.6 points—9.7 points ahead of Mike DePonte of Arizona and 29.7 ahead of Lee VonDerHey of California. Congratulations to all top-10 finishers for their consistency and dedication.
Sunday again opened with beautiful weather—a carbon copy of Saturday. Mornings were cool and sunny, afternoons in the low 70s. The seventh round started hot and heavy. Rick Landers once again set the pace with a 1:09.05. A highlight heat was California's Dave Hill versus Jim Allen; Hill slowly reeled Allen in and took the lead, to cheers from the pits.
Round nine produced some of the closest racing of the weekend. Doug Whiteaker and Tim Lime battled with several lead changes. Doug won with a new fast time for the contest: 1:07.02, and Tim finished with a new Senior-class record of 1:07.95. Jimmy Bartels posted a 1:07.40 against Paul Benczra's 1:08.10. Rick Landers turned in the final "07" of the contest in round 10 with a 1:07.89 for the Open class.
After the 11th and last round there were two flyoffs in the top 10. Doug Whiteaker and Jimmy Bartels were tied for second and third; Gal "Jake" Jacobson and Bob Schuster were tied for fourth and fifth.
First up were Doug and Jimmy. They launched hard, with Jimmy getting the initial advantage. They were side by side coming around pylon one three laps ahead, but Jimmy began experiencing radio problems and shut down. Doug took the lead and the win.
The next flyoff was for fourth place between Bob and Jake. It was another close race, with Jake taking the prize.
Airtronics and Futaba donated radios as prizes and Powermaster supplied the fuel. Special thanks to these companies for their support. Under the leadership of Mike Helsel, the NMPRA has made great strides in showing Quickie 500 racers nationwide that they want to support the event. Despite light attendance, the race was a tremendous success. Brad and his crew from Decatur Model Airplane Club did a great job—everything about the race was nearly perfect. Next year more pilots will surely be serious about the NMPRA Quickie 500 Championship series and the season-end shootout.
Q-500 Championship Race Results
- J. Allen — 31 pts — Fast Time: 1:09.67
- D. Whiteaker — 30 pts — Fast Time: 1:07.02
- J. Bartels — 28 pts — Fast Time: 1:07.40
- B. Schuster — 25 pts — Fast Time: 1:10.28
- G. Jacobson — 25 pts — Fast Time: 1:11.64
- T. Lime — 24 pts — Fast Time: 1:07.95
- P. Benczra — 23 pts — Fast Time: 1:08.10
- C. Telford — 22 pts — Fast Time: 1:12.96
- R. Landers — 20 pts — Fast Time: 1:07.89
- G. Doe — 20 pts — Fast Time: 1:09.61
- J. Lime — 20 pts — Fast Time: 1:10.75
- D. Hill — 19 pts — Fast Time: 1:10.46
- R. Hansen — 18 pts — Fast Time: 1:17.90
- S. Kovack — 15 pts — Fast Time: 1:17.02
- B. Schults — 10 pts — Fast Time: 1:11.84
- M. Parker — 8 pts — Fast Time: 1:14.38
Next month we will talk about your first trim flight on that new pylon racer.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
