RADIO CONTROL: PYLON RACING
Wayne Yeager
15387 Forrister Rd., Clayton, MI 49235
Overview
The Nats were supposed to be poorly attended this year because people didn't like the fact that the event was divided among three different cities. Instead we set attendance records in two events: Quickie had 120 entries and Quarter‑40 had 56. Formula I was down and FAI was normal (five entries), but the other two were great.
With 120 Quickie entries the potential for many ties is immense, yet you can't tell people to stay home. The flying site in Lawrenceville is adequate, but full‑scale aircraft use the strip until 7 a.m., and we must vacate by 1 p.m., giving only six hours of flying a day. That made it difficult to get the desired number of rounds.
There were two CDs for the pylon events. We started with Quickie 500, with Greg Doe in charge.
Quickie 500
Day One: setup and slow start
The first day was slow because all the equipment had to be set up, tried out, and workers positioned. By luck of the draw, the first heat was Seth Tomblin, Jim Hitt, Red Cranfill, and Marcus Blanchard. Blanchard won, Hitt was second, Cranfill double‑cut, and Seth didn't finish — Cranfill and Tomblin recorded the first zeros.
The next heat was Gerhardt, Kummer, Condon, and Booth. Condon took first and Gerhardt was second. Booth double‑cut and Kummer didn't get started, adding two more zeros.
Heat Three had Latsha, Wright, Till, and Harrison. The first round took more than 3½ hours to complete because workers needed time to get grooved and the matrix resulted in 30 heats per round. The pace picked up later, but three hours remained the norm per round.
Mike Klutz was the starter and kept things moving, but long gaps between rounds meant plenty of time for repairs. If you flew early in the first round you probably flew again that day; if you were low in the matrix you might only fly once the first day, twice the second, and twice the third. I’m certain every contestant had a “fly‑only‑once” day.
At the end of Round One there was a 30‑way tie for first. The majors should have reduced the field, but with so many ties you never know until things settle out.
Round Two finished the first day. After flying everyone headed to motel pools to cool off; temperatures ranged from 95° to 105° with very high humidity.
Day Two and tie reductions
Day Two started earlier because equipment was already alongside the runway. At the end of Round Two ties for first were reduced to 15 fliers:
- Gary Schmidt
- Craig Grunkemeyer
- Rusty Van Baren
- Dave Martin
- Santiago Panzardi
- Chip Hyde
- Tim Lime
- Bob Brogdon
- Mike Tallman
- Henry Bartle
- Dennis Sumner
- Ralph Rinaldi
- Ben Martin
- Darrol Cady
- Mike Condon
Round Three reduced the tie to eight fliers still in trophy contention:
- Schmidt
- Rinaldi
- Van Baren
- Dave Martin
- Darrol Cady
- Tim Lime
- Mike Tallman
- Henry Bartle
Round Four began on the second day and was completed from pools on the final day. Rounds Four and Five completed and at the end three fliers tied for first and eight tied for fourth. The plan was to award trophies through five places.
CD Greg Doe preferred to settle ties on the course rather than use best times. The tie for fourth was settled by flying Norm Johnson, Chip Hyde, Tim Lime, and Dave Martin against each other in one heat and Rich Tocci, Mike Tallman, Dennis Sumner, and Gail Jacobson in another, with the top two in each advancing to a final heat. In the final Johnson, Hyde, Jacobson, and Tallman competed; Johnson won and Hyde finished fifth.
The tie for first was settled in a heat including Gary Schmidt, Rusty Van Baren, and Ralph Rinaldi. Schmidt won, followed by Van Baren and Rinaldi.
Awards and honors — Quickie
- 1st: Gary Schmidt
- 2nd: Rusty Van Baren
- 3rd: Ralph Rinaldi
- Fast Time: Jim Allen — 1:12.78 (NMPRA eagle trophy with a walnut base and eagle top)
- Best Senior: Tony Cuneo
- Best Junior: Matthew Van Baren
My wife Karen, who usually is the Nats starter, decided to fly Quickie this year. It was only her second Nelson race; she didn’t beat many but scored points every heat and finished safely — happy to have her airplane home in one piece.
Quarter‑40
CD Doe then processed Quarter‑40, which had 63 pre‑entries and ended up with 56 entries in a 14‑heats‑per‑round matrix. Processing and staging were done in an airport hangar shared with full‑scale aircraft; room was ample and, apart from lack of breeze, it worked well.
Although Q‑40 originally had a one‑day schedule, for the past several years a couple of rounds have been flown on the second day when FAI didn't need all its time. This year we flew Q‑40 the entire second day after taking two hours from Formula I for FAI.
Because this was the fourth day of pylon racing, the workers were well grooved and flying began close to the scheduled 7 a.m. start.
Early rounds and incidents
Quarter started on Day Four with Vern Smith, Mike Condon, Marcus Blanchard, and Chip Hyde in the dreaded first heat. After Round One there was a 14‑way tie for first. There were some major wrecks:
- Travis Flynn and Clark Wade mid‑aired.
- Gail Jacobson crashed around pylon three.
- Paul Beneza picked up the wrong airplane during climb‑out and dove into the pavement; his model was destroyed but fortunately it was away from others.
Round Two saw Lyle Larson post a new fast time of 1:08.11. After Round Two the top was reduced to a five‑way perfect‑score tie: Henry Bartle, Dave Shadel, Dennis Sumner, Rusty Van Baren, and Mike Condon.
Round Three changed the standings; Van Baren lost to Shadel and Condon lost to Bruce Richmond, so those two fell off the pace. The round ended with only three tied for first: Bartle, Shadel, and Sumner. Tied for fourth were Grunkemeyer, Dan Kane, Chip Hyde, Van Baren, and Condon.
Quarter‑40 is largely contested by Formula I fliers and top Q‑15 pilots, making for very tough competition with no free rides.
Round Four was entered but not completed as the day's flying clock ran out. On the fifth day Round Four was completed and three more rounds were flown. With a 12‑hour maximum allocation, completing seven rounds was respectable. A few flyoffs were required; since five trophies were awarded all positions were set before the flyoffs to break ties.
Flyoffs and final results — Quarter‑40
- Tied for fifth: Santiago Panzardi, Rich Tocci, Mark Parker — Panzardi won the flyoff.
- Tied for third/fourth: Chip Hyde and Dan Kane — Hyde won the flyoff.
- Tied for first: Dave Shadel and Henry Bartle — Bartle and Shadel flew off. Shadel had a comfortable lead early, but on lap six Bartle started closing. On lap eight, with Bartle high around Pylon Three and Shadel low, Shadel lost it into the rough and Bartle went on to take first.
Additional awards:
- Best Senior: David Wright (finished 10th)
- Best Junior: Matthew Van Baren (age 13, finished 11th; Junior record for Quarter‑40 with 1:19.02)
- Fast Time (NMPRA eagle trophy): Lyle Larson — 1:08.11
Formula I and FAI
Formula I
The sixth day began with Formula I, which had a low entry of 26. CD Cliff Telford ran the pilot's meeting and announced the winner of Best Finished Airplane: Drew Jerina. Drew’s craftsmanship consistently earned him top takeoff position.
Formula I started with Henry Bartle, Lloyd Burnham, and Chip Hyde on the line. Henry finished comfortably as Lloyd didn't finish and Chip didn't get started.
After the first round Dave Shadel led with the best time of 1:10.62, followed by Bill Hager, Mike Helsel, Lou Rodriguez, Henry Bartle, Clark Wade, and Brian Shadel.
A seven‑way tie for first was reduced to a three‑way tie after Round Two. Racing moved along briskly as there were only seven heats per round. By the end of Round Five positions were:
- Tied for first: Dave Shadel and Travis Flynn
- Tied for third: Mike Helsel and Dub Jett
- Tied for fifth: Bill Hager, Rusty Van Baren, Darrol Cady
On the seventh day Formula guys could sleep in a bit, unless they were also flying FAI.
By the end of Formula I (after Round Eight), Dave Shadel was alone in first. Bill Hager was second. Van Baren, Helsel, and Cady had flyoffs for third/fourth; Rusty Van Baren won with Helsel second.
There were no Seniors or Juniors in Formula I. Fast Time went to Richard Verano with 1:08.21.
FAI
FAI had five entries. CD Cliff Telford ran heats of three and two and recycled until five rounds were completed. FAI scoring is time‑based: a 1:10 converts to 70 points; lower total points wins. Zeros (double‑cuts or no‑starts) are scored as 200 points.
Round One ended with Verano first, followed by Hyde, Doyle, Shadel, and Rodriguez. Double cuts and no‑starts hurt some competitors.
After four rounds (with one drop allowed) the order was Verano, Shadel, Hyde, Doyle, Rodriguez. In the fifth round Rich Verano set the meet’s FAI fast time of 1:08.49 and took first with 277.52 points (average 69.38 for the four counting rounds). Verano finished ahead of Dave Shadel (282.72), Chip Hyde (301.40), Dave Doyle (363.11), and Lou Rodriguez.
(Editor’s note: as this was being edited, Verano placed second to Dave Shadel at the Muncie World Championship. A full report will follow in a future issue.)
Notable incidents and highlights
- Salisbury flew the wrong airplane for a lap‑and‑a‑half and did not lose his model; the other model’s commands were close enough to keep it airborne. (His caller, Dennis Sumner, was also watching the wrong airplane.)
- Dennis Sumner made a great save when he became inverted after a midair in Quarter; he held it down, flew straight out inverted, and rolled upright in time to turn Pylon One.
- Travis Flynn and Clark Wade had a midair in a Quarter race.
- Flynn and Dub Jett also had a wild midair in Formula I.
Airplanes and craftsmanship
There were some great new models in Quickie and Quarter:
- Ben Johnson designed the Quickie WV‑Vector (he and his dad flew it). The forward‑racked V‑tail looked fast even sitting still.
- Rich Tocci's Nemesis was sharp; a few joked that "Nemesis" spelled backwards is "semesen."
Final reflections
My final reflection is on Mike and Pam Sperry, who had the worst luck at the Nats. Pam is the District 4 NMPRA rep. They came from Wyoming with one Quickie and crashed it while test‑flying (never got in a heat). Their only Quarter crashed during test‑flying after processing. Mike didn't bring an FAI model; he flew Formula I without crashing but didn't score any points because of no‑finish rounds. In short, Mike entered three events and did not record a single point for the entire Nats.
Why do I remember them? Not once did they complain. Mike accepted his fate with a smile and never uttered a discouraging word. We could use more Sperrys in this world. If there were an award for class in the face of terrible luck, the Sperrys would have won it. Nice meeting you guys — we may start a new award named after you at future Nats.
That was it: seven days of very hot weather and hot racing.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
