Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Duane Gall, 1267 S. Seeler Court, Denver, CO 80231
As you read this, the racing season is nearing its end in the northern climes. And the deadline for rule proposals for the 2002–2005 rule book is almost upon us. Get them signed and sent to AMA HQ by September 30, 1999, or forever hold your peace.
Now let's sit back and enjoy a couple of race reports from earlier this year.
Rockford, IL — May 16
What a great day of racing! Thanks to the excellent help of our workers and the forbearance of the rain clouds, we got in five rounds of racing for 17 pilots and a real good lunch by 1:50 p.m.
Ray Blake (Detroit, MI) got the "most spectacular takeoff" award when he did a reverse course on the ground, lifted off, did an Immelmann turn, then headed for the #1 pylon. I think the gusty 20–30 mph crosswind had a lot to do with helping Ray win this award.
In Round Three, Dave Gustafson (St. Charles, IL) managed to catch Archie Adamisin (Taylor, MI) right after takeoff, before reaching the #1 pylon. Dave's propeller cut the tail off Archie's airplane, with predictable results, while Dave's airplane remained undamaged and continued to finish the heat. But the get-even gods caught up with Dave in the next round by reaching up and pulling Dave's airplane into terra firma as it rounded pylon #3. We then went ahead and did the same thing to Tom DeGroodt (Quad Cities, IL) at #1, just for good measure.
The only refly came when LeRoy Webb insisted that a cut called on his son, Wayne, rightly belonged to Glen Wierschke. Although the alleged bad call would not have affected the outcome of the race, the pilots were happy enough to get some additional stick time, so they reran the heat. The order of finish was the same the second time around. This was the first refly for Rockford in more than four years of racing!
This will most likely be the only time in my life I can say that Craig Grunkemeyer (Westerville, OH) didn't lap me. That's because, in our heat, he didn't get airborne—and neither did I, by the way!
A huge thank you to all the workers and food preparers for all their help.
Final standings (top ten):
- Glen Wierschke — 1:09.81
- Leroy Webb — 1:18.77
- Craig Grunkemeyer — 1:06.27
- Paul Sieden — 1:14.28
- Jim Nikodem — 1:32.00
- Dan Kane — 1:16.94
- Wayne Webb — 1:23.61
- Ray Blake — 1:59
- Mike Parker — 1:23
- John Logli — 1:34
Chatfield State Park (Jefco Aeromodellers Airfield) — May 2
On Sunday, May 2 we held our first three-pole pylon race in seven years. It was held at the Jefco Aeromodellers Airfield, southwest of Denver, at Chatfield State Park. We had an excellent turnout, with 27 pilots.
We ran a Colorado Quickie class using APRA rules. This class had 22 entries with a first-time racer, flying nine laps, taking home first place. There were ten entries in 428 Q-500. A decision was made not to run Q-40 because the CD (yours truly), Duane Gall, and Mike DelPonte were the only entries. Instead, the three of us dedicated our time to making the Quickie races a success.
The new wrinkle at this contest is that it was judged entirely from the sidelines. The only workers on the course were the starter and his assistant. The flaggers for pylon #1 operated the "you got there" lights. 500-watt halogen bulbs powered by 110V AC from a generator at the base of the pylon were used. Low-voltage relays powered by a 12-volt battery were used to turn the lights on. The wires were carried over 350 feet of 22-gauge telephone wire to the flaggers.
In the past, lights at #1 typically consisted of automobile headlights powered by 12-volt batteries. Those were notoriously slow to come on. Using 110-volt AC solves this problem: the lights come on right away, and they take a moment to wink off as the element cools down. By then the airplanes are on their way back to #2, so it doesn't matter.
The lights worked flawlessly. The only problem we had was inexperienced judges. After a round or two of on-the-job training, we had the whole system running like a well-oiled machine. We also used sideline cut judges at #2 and #3 with no problems at all. The judges were stationed at a 30° angle to the perpendicular, 300 feet away. Lap counters used large flip cards to display the laps completed by each airplane. The only complaint was the difficulty of seeing the cards 300 feet away. We are going to solve this problem with the next phase of our light system, which will transmit the laps completed, as well as cut information, from all three pylons to a "Christmas tree" display at the starting line. If you've ever seen the staging lights at a drag race, you get an idea of how the lap-counting part of it will look.
We used walkie-talkies for airplane identification and calling in cuts. For this purpose we were lucky enough to find "family radios" on sale at Tech America for $60 each. Rather than sock the club for this expense, three of us volunteered to buy one pair each, keep and maintain them as our own, and just bring them out on race day. With six of them on the field, we had more than enough, even if one of them started to lose its batteries.
The best part about our system is that it eliminates the cage issue. We still used a couple of our old cages to put around the #1 judges and lap counters out of an overabundance of caution; since they were at least 300 feet away from the course, none of the airplanes even got near them.
We are eagerly anticipating our next outing, September 18–19, also at Chatfield Park. By then we hope to have the second phase of the light system in place, as well as a much bigger turnout in Q-40.
Hal also constructed a starter's clock that works flawlessly. Look for a how-to and photos in a future column. Or if you just can't wait for more details, Hal has volunteered to furnish the basic plans on request. Send me a SASE and I'll broker the transaction. I also still have info on the light system; again, it's yours for the price of an SASE.
Newbie Patrol
As airplanes become ever faster and more expensive, it becomes harder to persuade new people to give racing a try.
Letting them fly your racer is one way. However, this approach doesn't always work. Handing off your transmitter to a beginner is easy enough with an APRA-legal Quickie going 70 to 100 mph, but it gets dicey with an AMA Quickie at 160, and downright dangerous with a Q-40 at 180.
These airplanes don't have throttles; what to do?
As it happens, the nice folks at SuperTigre make three terrific engines, with throttles, in the same crankcase. One's a .40, legal for sport racing under the APRA rules. The other two are a .46 and a .51. All three retail for the same price (approximately $29). Performance Specialties makes a tuned muffler that fits all three.
I recently acquired the .51 and put the Perf Spec muffler on it. This combination isn't legal for racing in any class, but with an APC 9x8 propeller on the front, its power output is comparable to that of purebred racing .40s such as the Nelson or Jett. Yet it idles happily, weighs almost the same, and fits the same mounting holes as the APRA-legal SuperTigre GS .40.
This means that you can take an entry-level Quickie airplane that's set up for a GS .40 and simply drop in the piped .51 to simulate a high-zoot AMA racer. Bring it to the field and hang a sign on it: RACER RIDES $1. When a prospect shows up, all you need to do is advance the throttle stick (or reprogram the "high" throttle setting in the transmitter) to achieve the appropriate airspeed for their level of ability.
When they find out first-hand how easily and predictably racing airplanes fly, it won't be long before they start to relax and you'll see a smile. Pretty soon they'll ask you to crank it up some more. When you hit 100% and they're still smiling, you've done your job!
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
