RADIO CONTROL PYLON RACING
Jerry Salisbury 331 5th Avenue N.E., Hickory, NC 28601
Editor's note: The following is another installment in our series of "trial columns" by potential "RC Pylon Racing" candidates to replace Bill Hager. Please let us know your reaction to the applicants' efforts.
The year 1997 was interesting for Pylon Racing, which has come to a halt in the East. For the most part, the Midwest races were washouts early on, then turned to 100° heat. The Tangerine in December was the last race of the year.
I went to some great races around the country in 1997, and the best ones had one thing in common: they limited the number of entries on each frequency to three, which created the best and most competitive racing ever. With the simplicity and low cost of changing crystals, frequency limiting should be enforced at all contests.
The Contest Directors (CDs) benefit from early entries because of the first-come, first-served basis on frequencies; it allows them to get a jump on the paperwork prior to the race so that the first heat can go off on time.
Radio control (RC) Pylon Racing is possibly the fastest-growing Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA) event ever. It has always had the most entries and the most spectators at the AMA Nationals (Nats). People love to race and watch racing in general; add that third dimension of flight, and it can't be beat.
The problem with RC Pylon Racing has long been getting enough worker volunteers, and the issue of the workers' safety. It takes a minimum of 13 workers on the race course. Even with safety cages at the pylons and the lap-counter table, there is still the risk of an accident. If the workers could somehow be removed from the race course, this would eliminate the risk and the volunteer problem.
Electronic scoring demonstration
Jerry Small of Small Creations in Southlake (Dallas), TX, has decided that there must be a way to get the workers off the course, and that is to run the contests electronically. Jerry is a longtime racer and has been very innovative in model design for racing. He and his business partner Don Downing (modeler and electronics expert) worked together to get this project off the ground. After discussing it, they decided that the electronics would have to be able to:
- Determine when a competing model crosses the start/finish line.
- Determine when a competing model breaks an imaginary plane at Pylon 1, and activate a light at that pylon.
- Determine whether or not a competing model stays outside of the three pylons.
Several ideas were looked at, and the Performance by Design firm worked on the project. Two of the company's three owners, Rob Miller and Mark Bench (both from Dallas), gave a demonstration at Small Creations during the NMPRA (National Miniature Pylon Racing Association) Formula 1 (F1) and Quarter-40 (Q-40) champion race weekend. (Matt Kirkwood from Minnesota was not in attendance.)
The demonstration showed that each race airplane would be fitted with a dime-sized transmitter on the wing and the race course equipment would be placed at each pylon. The lap counters' table would show laps and cuts, and a starting tree—similar to what the drag racers use—would be on the starting line and would flash down when the clock expired. Add a laptop and software, and there you have it.
Rob and Mark set up pylons and the whole system inside Jerry's shop. It was enjoyable to watch Jerry running (lumbering) around the pylons and watching the system work. I think he turned about a 1:30 lap time (bad needle setting—not lean enough). This system looks great and has promise.
Electronics would also solve the model identification problem; it wouldn't matter whether or not all airplanes in a heat were painted the same.
A question-and-answer session followed the demonstration, and several interesting points were brought up:
- What if a race airplane hits a pylon and damages the pylon's electronics?
- What if it rains and the equipment gets wet?
- What if the equipment gets hot and wants to go home?
There are questions that can't be answered until such a system is in place. The hope is that AMA will send the electronics to the race CD, and after the race it will be returned for use at the next event.
The party/demo was a great time; thanks to Jerry and Sharon for the Texas hospitality.
Quarter-40 (Q-40)
Quarter-40 started out shaky at best when it replaced the 1/5 class several years ago. Rule change after emergency rule change discouraged some would-be Q-40 pilots for the first couple of years. This year Q-40 has come into its own as the premiere event in racing. With entries up and local clubs adding Q-40 to their schedules along with Quickie, why not? The airplanes look good, they are easy to build, they fly well, and the engines are easy to set. The design wars are finished, thanks to the approval committee headed by Rick Moreland. No design has proven dominant; given a day it comes down to props and thumbs.
Three engine manufacturers provide engines for the Q-40 class of racing, all of which have won contests. Q-40 kits are available in several configurations, from conventional foam wing cores and glass fuselages to manufacturers that offer a composite wing. Composite wings make building a snap once you get past the sticker shock; they are ready to bolt out of the box and don't even require painting if you are in a hurry. All you have to do is stick on your race number and the wing is ready to go.
I hope to have more in the future on quick and easy tips to build Q-40s and carve props, and where to get the special "things" that support racing. If you are interested in Pylon Racing, but don't know how or where to get started, join the NMPRA, which is the SIG (Special Interest Group) for Pylon Racing. Who knows, there could be a Pylon Racer just around the corner waiting to help you get started.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
