RADIO CONTROL PYLON RACING
Duane Gall, 1267 S. Beeler Ct., Denver, CO 80231; E-mail: stinger4@earthlink.net
SENIOR RECORD
No, it's not the latest release from Tony Bennett; it's a national record in Quickie 500 (event no. 428) by an up-and-coming young pilot.
We hear so much about how there's not enough new blood coming into the racing community; it's nice to know that somewhere there are young people competing and doing well. In this case, "somewhere" is Silver Spring, Maryland.
Following is quoted material from the letter Dan Myer, the contest director of the event at which the record was set, sent to AMA Headquarters.
Enclosed is an application for a new Senior 428 Pylon record for the 2.5-mile course flown by Jonathan Baker. The record was set at the Prince Georges County RC Club field in Bowie, Maryland on September 23, 2000, during the NMPRA District 6 Championship Race.
Our field has a surveyed 2.5-mile course with permanent concrete pylon locations. Rick Moreland supervised the course survey and construction and can certify its accuracy. The timer, Chic White, is very experienced as a timer and pylon competitor. I was the contest director and starter, and can verify that this was a clean, accurately officiated heat, and should stand as a new Senior record.
A note about the pilot: Jonathan Baker has been flying radio control for several years, all the while being trained in pylon racing by his father, Steve Baker. This year was Jonathan's first year in pylon competition. After three 424 events (same airframe, milder engine) in which he won every heat and the races, this contest was Jonathan's first try at 428.
While rookie mistakes prevented Jonathan from having a chance to win this 12-heat contest, he did beat a lot of very good pilots during heat racing, such as Rick Moreland, Vern Smith (during the record flight), and David Binger, with times close to his record run of 1:10.71.
Having watched Jonathan over several years grow and learn as a pilot, I have no doubt that the pylon community will be seeing and hearing much more about this young man in the very near future!
Thanks, Dan. As with other young record-holders—I would be remiss if I didn't mention Matt Van Baren (Hanford, CA) and Henson Bartle (Battle Ground, WA)—Jonathan caught the racing bug from his dad.
One of the accompanying photos shows Jonathan with his record-setting model, the Sky Bully II, and the other photo shows him at work in the pits with his and his dad's airplanes parked nearby.
It is perhaps a sad commentary that we racers tend not to attract new pilots, but to raise them ourselves. Nevertheless, there is nothing that says you have to be the son or daughter of a pylon addict to become one yourself. Nor do you have to be steeped in racing lore to succeed at this game. The accompanying three-view of the Sky Bully shows all you need, airplane-wise. The remaining parts of the puzzle are:
- An off-the-shelf famous-brand engine, used gently for a few dozen flights;
- An off-the-shelf APC propeller of the correct pitch for the prevailing conditions; and
- Practice, practice, practice.
The Sky Bully caught my eye for reasons that have more to do with building the event than building the airplane. Unlike 99% of the Quickie 500 (Q-500) designs on the market, this model uses a conventional tail. Even more unusual, it has the rudder extending all the way to the bottom of the fuselage, with the elevator split in the middle to accommodate it.
"So what?" you say. What possible difference can it make to the world of racing that this particular airplane, with its particular tail, set a record? I can answer with the simple observation: monkey see, monkey do.
In racing, there is no incentive to copy anyone else's stuff unless that person happens to be winning. Conversely, if you see somebody winning, you are well-advised to watch exactly what he or she does, then go do it yourself.
Unfortunately, a successful racing effort is holistic. If the other competitor just passed you with a pink airplane that plays the "Blue Danube Waltz" as it goes by and has a triple-polyhedral wing, you have no idea whether his extra speed came from the color, the tune, the wing shape, or some magical interaction among all three.
Some or all of the parts of that unique whole are better than yours, but you have no idea which. And the elements cannot be separated easily without rigorous testing—preferably in a period of several weeks and using a wind tunnel.
Not only that, but your competitor's unique airplane may only go that fast with his engine, which has been terribly over-compressed, and his "sweetheart" propeller, which at some time in its history was run over by a car.
Put your engine and propeller on the same airplane, and you'd be dog-breath.
If you want to duplicate Mr. Pink Airplane's winning combination, you have to copy the whole mixture. Otherwise you run the risk of leaving out an important component that somehow interacts with all the others to make the whole thing jell.
That's what I mean when I state that racing is "holistic." Therefore, since the first time a person flying a shoulder-wing, V-tail design began to dominate Quickie racing, the "monkey see, monkey do" factor ensured that most, if not all, of those who were paying attention would start building their own shoulder-wing, V-tail airplanes.
"There's just something about that setup," they'd say. "I don't know what, but look at it go."
And what's wrong with V-tail airplanes?
Nothing, except that the average sport flier is deathly afraid of them. To start with, you need a radio with a mixing function. That eliminates many of the low-end sport radios. Then you have to program it.
Then there's the voodoo magic of installing the V-tail on the fuselage without serious misalignment. You either risk catastrophe your first time out or spend $300 on a goof-proof prebuilt model.
So none of a V-tail's basic features are calculated to capture the hearts of the sport-flying population—which is the target audience for an "entry level" racing event such as Quickie.
Add to this the complications involved in adding a tail wheel to the thing, and you've guaranteed that no sport fliers will build one just to play with; that is, try their hand at a racing-type airplane that can double as a sport airplane until they get their confidence level high enough to enter a contest.
No, because of "monkey see, monkey do," those who might have considered that will be convinced they don't have a chance without a V-tail. And since they aren't sure they can build a V-tail straight without asking around for help, and they know it's not going to taxi anyway, they forget all about racing models and buy a CAP 232 or an Ugly Stik instead.
That is, until today. Jonathan's record demonstrates that there is nothing inherently slow about a conventional-tailed Q-500 model. This combination, which can easily be domesticated for sport/introductory use, is now proven to be fast.
There is no need for guesswork, and no "what if...?" or "gosh, maybe, let's try it and see" empirical research involved. Thanks, Jon!
To all of you who are on the verge of wanting to play with a racing airplane, check out this three-view, scratch-build a Sky Bully or modify whatever other design you may have available, put a tail wheel on it, and fly it for sport.
When you start feeling lucky, ask around to find the next pylon race in your area and gamble $15 on an entry fee. All you have to lose is some of your pride and some easily replaceable balsa wood.
Rules for 428 and 424 events are posted on the AMA Competition Department's web site at www.modelaircraft.org/Comp/1999PylonUrgent.htm.
One More Source
Periodically I publish sources of racing aircraft kits and supplies, since they may be scarce in the mainstream market.
I've been informed that longtime racer and craftsman Pete Reed is offering framed-up Q-500s, ready for covering, for $200 each. This is quite a bargain for a ready-built airplane.
Contact Pete at 49 Anvil Dr., Avon, CT 06001; Tel.: (860) 673-7883; E-mail: grrent@juno.com.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
