RADIO CONTROL: PYLON RACING
Bill Hager 4 Holly Springs Dr., Conroe TX 77302
Galveston Unlimited — Event Report
After this year's AMA Nats I hightailed it to the Galveston, Texas Giant Scale races that J.P. Hanway and I had entered. I was too late to fly in the finals, but I saw some first-class racing. Mike Wise was kind enough to write something for me, so here we go:
Giant Scale Air Racing hit new highs at the Unlimited Scale Racing Association (USRA) sanctioned Second Annual Galveston Unlimited, July 10–16, promoted by Hi-G Promotions, Inc. Although the nation's heat wave was just around the corner, Galveston's hotter-than-normal July got a head start and made the racers work harder. If the weather was hot, the racing was even hotter!
The best mix of Unlimiteds ever to race battled it out for part of the richest cash purse ever given: $25,920, plus an extra $500 for the top-finishing twin-engine Unlimited. That honor went to Braun Racing's Ron Goodrich, with the yellow Ralph Braun Pond Racer #820.
Together with Mustangs and Lancairs, Galveston saw the largest field of twin-engine Unlimiteds ever to race, including the first actual race debut of the Pond Racer, and Dennis Crooks' awesome P-38 Lightning, The Menace, running twin inline 66 cid Challenger engines.
Bill Cunningham from Tulsa, Oklahoma raced with Bob Ayers' Cubed team and repeated his 1994 Galveston Unlimited Gold win flying a Lancair IV powered by an awesome 88 cid twin.
New Unlimiteds like Ed Rankin's newly designed USRA-spec Tsunami and Ken Thornton's Blues Brothers' Yak-11 raced alongside a wide variety of new 42% Formula Ones, including DCU's new kit Nemesis raced by Diego Lopez; the Malo brothers' T-tail Rivets; Duke Crow's Lil' Quickie; and the Chevron-sponsored GR-7 Bummer's Bullet of Ken Knowles.
Ed Rankin's Shoestring design dominated Formula One racing, taking first, second and fifth. Later in the year the Shoestrings took 1–2–3 Gold at the AMA Mid-America Challenge.
Classes and Notable Entries
- Unlimiteds: Lancairs, Mustangs, twin-engine racers, Pond Racer, P-38 Lightning (The Menace).
- Formula One (42%): Nemesis, T-tail Rivets, Lil' Quickie, GR-7 Bummer's Bullet, Shoestrings.
- AT-6 Class: Wide variety of kits — Race Pro (Joe Marine), Takashi Komuro's Sagami-Do Corporation AT-6 (sponsored in part by R/C World), Byron Originals, Saxton, Zimpro, D&W, Ohio R/C. Galveston also hosted the debut of the Midwest T-6 class as an introductory Giant Scale Racing class, well suited for regional events.
- Thompson Trophy Class: Golden Age racers, including the Crosby CR-4 (Kerry Sterner), J.P. Hanway's Rider R-4 Firecracker, several Byron Gee Bee R-2s (Mike Barbee's yellow-and-black Gee Bee Z scheme earned the Discovery Channel Pilot's Choice Award), Laird Turner Meteor, Art Chester's Jeep, Mel Santmyers' custom Gee Bee R-1, and Henry Haffke's Gee Bee Y.
Mel Santmyers won the Gold Thompson Trophy race. Look out next year for many new Thompsons under construction, including Steve Wittman's Bonzo, the French Caudron C-460, Howard Ike, Byron Originals' Wedell-Williams Model 44, and others.
Race Procedures and Management
Galveston saw validation of new USRA race procedures, including:
- One-minute countdown clock and "Flying Start" (proved a major hit with racers and spectators and superior to pace-plane starts).
- Improved qualification process and new computer-matrix heat race procedures.
- Trophy class selection based on earned points combined with fastest times.
A total of six rounds were flown for close to 150 aircraft in five classes, making for what many considered the best-managed Unlimited event ever held.
Winners and Results
Three racers repeated Gold wins at Galveston:
- Bill Cunningham — Unlimited (Lancair IV, Cubed team)
- Richard Oliver (Houston) — Formula (Quadra Aerrow-powered Shoestring)
- Fred Burgdorf (CA) — AT-6 (Race Pro)
Other winners:
- Thompson Gold: Mel Santmyers
- Midwest T-6: Bill Walters (Houston)
- Unlimited Silver: Cliff McGee (Cubed racer, D&W P-51)
- Unlimited Bronze: David Hendon (Team Wings Sea Fury)
- AT-6 Silver: Charles Loudermilk (Houston)
- AT-6 Bronze: Ron Eisner (Discovery Channel, Race Pro)
Highlights
Unlimited racing produced head-to-head contests such as Rob Pastor's Aerrow 200-powered black Stiletto #129 battling both Bill Cunningham's Cubed 88 cid Lancair and Ed Rankin's 216 cc Herbrandson-engine Tsunami #12. In one Unlimited heat race both racers flew 20 feet lower off the deck at close to 200 mph — an exciting sight. A flinch or eye blink (this time Rob's) could take you out of first place.
Ed Rankin's Tsunami suffered a dramatic engine separation at Pylon Three in a following race; amazingly, the airplane stayed upright and spun gently into a belly-first landing.
Although pushed by other excellent pilots and aircraft, the Lancair again demonstrated a distinct advantage in the Unlimited class. Nothing can match the sound and thrill of the screaming Unlimiteds and heavy-metal types going at close to 200 mph.
Giant Scale racing continues to grow as more people experience the unique sounds and thrills this sport offers. If you have never been to one of these races, you're missing an unbelievable experience.
Sponsors, Supporters, and Thanks
Hi-G Promotions, Inc. and the Galveston Unlimited thank the major sponsors and supporters who made the event possible, including:
- Pacer Technology (ZAP)
- Discovery Channel
- Airtronics
- B&P Associates
- Boca Bearing
- Byron Originals
- Carden Corp.
- FTE Enterprises
- General Enterprises
- Horizon Hobby Distributors
- ISC International
- J&L Enterprises
- Klotz Lubricants
- Lanier R/C
- Midwest Products
- Miller R/C
- Model Graphics
- Newman Optical
- Omera Ford
- Ritch's Hobbies
- Robart
- Tru-Turn
- KIKK and KILT radio stations
- Trade-show vendors, volunteers, and helpers
Hi-G Promotions, Inc. is scheduling Galveston 1996 for late March, a California Unlimited in fall 1996, and the Bunnell, Florida Unlimited in May 1997. For race information you can reach them at (713) 558-4191, or Box 1801, Sugarland TX 77487.
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Nemesis Kit Review and QMAO/Q-500 Notes
Construction: Rich has written a step-by-step instruction booklet that, together with a complete set of plans, makes constructing the Nemesis almost as easy as building a Scat Cat. If you follow the instruction booklet and notes on the plans carefully, you will be very pleased with the aircraft that results from your efforts.
Rich offers the kit in three configurations:
- Basic kit: fiberglass fuselage, precisely cut foam wing cores, fiberglass wheel pants, 1/2-inch plywood firewall, landing gear, elevator, wing hold-down bolts and nuts, full-size plans, and construction booklet.
- Basic kit plus a completed foam-core wing and preshaped/sanded tail surfaces.
- Basic kit plus a completed composite wing (no foam cores).
Wing
Construction is typical balsa sheeting on foam cores with the addition of a 1/8-inch spar installed at the high point. The recommended method to make the spar is to cut the core in two at the high point with an X-Acto knife, then place the trailing half of the core on edge on top of the 1/8-inch plywood to accurately mark the spar shape.
The rest of the wing construction is straightforward. Do not worry about the spar making the wing core too big; Rich has already taken that into account.
Follow Rich's fiberglassing instructions carefully. By utilizing his credit-card method, excess epoxy is easily removed and the fiberglass edge lines disappear. He gives approximate weights at each step; testing showed similar results to his values.
Fuselage and Firewall
Mounting the firewall is the most different part of building this airplane compared to a Q-500. If you follow the instructions and use the firewall template, you should not have problems. If you use the same engine Rich uses, he provides a template with premarked mounting hole locations, making engine mounting straightforward.
Wing Mounting
The wing mount design is excellent. One of the first questions people will ask about the airplane is how the wing is held on — and the design gets an impressed "cool." The reviewer added a bolt connecting the landing gear block to the wing hold-down block to allow removal of the front wing hold-down block when removing the fuel tank. This makes for an extra-sturdy wing mount; Rich may include this bolt in future kits.
Tail Surfaces
The installation is mostly self-explanatory. One piece of advice: make a template for sizing the cut in the fuselage to prevent marring the horizontal stab.
Finish
If you have never painted a radio control model before, find someone who has. Experience is extremely helpful in producing a pretty finish. Warning: you may enjoy it and want to start painting more models.
Racing the Nemesis (QMAO / Q-500 Context)
Both Bob and I really like the Nemesis. We have only positive comments in this review. Bob and I raced our airplanes for the first time at Dallas in May. Bob finished second on Saturday and tied for first on Sunday. My airplane broke 1:10 (1:09.38) in its fourth race.
I am now constructing Nemesis #2 and have recommended the airplane to several friends. It is an excellent product.
I hope QMAO is allowed to grow and not ruled into oblivion. This event allows someone like myself a pretty and realistic airplane to go fast, not spend too much money, and be competitive on a national basis.
I do not plan on quitting Q-500, as it is my primary focus at this time, but my dad and I sure had a good time racing the Nemesis.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
