Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Dave Lane
FOR YOU pylon types that plan on flying 1/4 midgets at the Nats, Bob Root gave me the following information:
1) The long course will be used with flagman at Pylon #1.
2) The scoring method will be per Formula 1.
3) Idle check will be accomplished before takeoff. Not each round, but one or two rounds only!
4) Deadstick landings — 1/2 point loss.
5) Profile check canopy — William Brothers pilot head 1.5-in. scale must fit inside to a point where he would have proper clearance to see out and fly aircraft. Only questionable canopies will be checked.
6) Props — only wood props allowed. Rework and/or modification of both blades is acceptable.
7) Exhaust extractor — the exhaust extractor can have a maximum length of 4.5 in. and must have a constant inside diameter, no slot required.
8) K&B 500 fuel will be supplied. Looks as though all you racers with cheater fuselages had better get with the program!
Prather Products is manufacturing the Prather Custom Motor Mount. This mount is the one that Ron Schorr developed. The Prather version is machined out of 7075 aluminum bar stock. This is the same material used for high strength structural parts on full-size aircraft. So far, Terry says, they have not had any problems with the mount cracking! The mounts come pre-drilled or undrilled at your preference. The retail price is $16.95.
Another item from Prather Products is racing propellers made to Terry's specifications by Zinger. The props look very good, come in either 6-1/2- or 7-in. pitch and 8.5-in. diameter. Terry says all he does to them is reshape the tip leading edge a bit and rebalance. The props seem to work pretty good; Terry had fast time at the first race of the Southern California season with a 1:19.
But, take heart, all you Formula One hot rocks, Terry was second at the end of nine rounds. A young fella by the name of Larry Laulom of V-A and Q-500 fame walked off with first-place hardware in expert.
You say, so what? This was Larry's first Formula One race! He was flying a Stafford Ricky Rat and an old K&B Schnuerle side-port without a pipe! Larry flew consistently — no zeros in nine rounds. Terry had two zeros. So you can make the long course 10 times; the race doesn't take too much time. Larry got his racing in Quickie 500 before jumping to Formula One. Another novel thing about Larry's win — he never got to take off first. Everyone else's plane looked better; it doesn't surprise though — over 60 flights on the Ricky Rat before he felt ready to race.
Another Cinderella story of the race was young Gary McPike — also Gary's first Formula race. Gary, product of Quickie 500 racing, showed up with a beautiful Stafford Midget Mustang and won top scale points for the weekend. Gary entered Standard Class and finished 4th place. I'm really glad to see newcomers in the Formula scene, especially as they show the oldtimers just what the sport needs to create interest.
The first contest of the Southern California season, sponsored by Valley Flyers RC Club, was held at Sepulveda Basin flying field, Van Nuys. CD Bob Wilde was able to help Betty Streem running the schedule desk. Without the first race of the Southern Cal season, Larry Laulom, flying his first Formula ever (K&B no pipe), won expert beating out Terry Prather by 1:19. Consistency and dedication of such people would make Formula racing better. Unfortunately, the people behind the scenes who are much appreciated never seem to get shown off; isn't it about time to award the workers at the end of the racing season for their contributions?
Rev-up: introducing some new racing props — A 1/4 Midget Formula long discussion with Chris Machin about new props. Chris suggested reworking props for racing: thin the leading edge of the blade and move the high point further back. Chris claims this should give another 500 rpm. Give them a try and let me know how they make out. I am going to try new props along with Prather's and will let you know what I think.
Dave Lane 4477 136th Hawthorne, CA 90250
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Consistently and had no zeros for nine rounds. Terry had all firsts, but two zeros. So, if you can make it around the course 10 times every race and don't take too much time doing it—well? I think it says very much for the experience that Larry got by racing 1/2A and Quickie 500 before jumping into Formula One. The other novel thing about Larry's win was that he never got to take off first. Everyone else had a better-looking plane. It doesn't surprise me though; he had over 60 flights on the Ricky Rat before he felt he was ready to race with it.
The other Cinderella story at this race was young Gary McPike. This also was Gary's first Formula One race. (Gary is a product of Quickie 500 racing.) He showed up with a beautiful Stafford Midget Mustang that won top scale points for the weekend. Gary entered in the Standard Class and finished in 4th place. I am really glad to see newcomers to the Formula One scene, especially when they show the old-timers how to do it. This is just what the sport needs to create more interest in Formula One!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
