Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Ed Rankin
ON JUNE 2, three days after last month's article was mailed, I accepted the Event Director's job for QM and F-I at the NATS this year. This will be a momentous job for me with only two months to plan and prepare. Being an active F-I pilot, attending contests, and writing this column makes it even more difficult. Because of my heavy work load at the NATS in addition to substituting for Glenn Spickler as President at the annual NMPRA meeting, I will not be reporting the NATS Pylon events.
The biggest planning task was securing workers. This task was undertaken by the Ft. Worth Thunderbirds and the Dallas R/C Clubs who will also be running the F-I NMPRA Championship Race October 25-26. It is amazing how many friends you have when you are in need of them. In three days, 27 of these dedicated people had signed up to work. All of the pylon pilots who fly at the NATS owe them a debt of gratitude, so take time to thank them. Remember, we would not have a contest without them. Also, they have sacrificed the privilege of competing in the contest so that you can fly.
I have made several changes in processing and the conduct of the contest that I hope will make a more successful meet. A large hangar will be provided for processing with multiple lines for each check station to reduce the time involved. Heat racing will be conducted for both QM and F-I with no qualifying rounds. There will be enough time for at least six rounds in each event including fly-offs. To expedite the heats, if a contestant is late to the ready line, he will take off last. If he is late to the flight line, he will be given a zero for that heat.
For the QM event, idle demonstration will be called for in the first round at the Event Director's discretion. Full "low throttle" command on the transmitter will be required for 10 seconds per the AMA rules. This will not be an idle contest; however, 1/2 point will be deducted for landing "dead stick." Hopefully, this will be acceptable to the QM pilots and fulfills the intent of the rule.
Scale judging for F-I will utilize the NMPRA accepted one through six ranking system. Contestants with the same scale points will flip a coin for take-off position at the ready line. A special trophy will be awarded for the best in F-I scale judging, in addition to the fastest time in F-I & QM.
District News
South Central West: Wichita R/C Club Pylon Race, June 7 and 8. The Kansas area has been combined with the SCW district this year because we have been attending each other's contests for many years. This has promoted a more competitive atmosphere for District Championship points. QM drew 21 entries and five rounds were held on Saturday. Engines used were: (18) K&B, (2) ST, and (1) Taipan. The predominant airplane used was the Minnow. Charles Monnett won again with a Shoestring/K&B combination. Larry Barnes won second place, and a three-way tie for third place was flown-off with Charlie Swain, Lee Hudson, and Harold Baker. They finished in that order with Lee and Harold having a dramatic mid-air at #1 pylon after the race was over.
K&B (1:40); Hank Filson, Miss Cosmic Wind/K&B (1:44.5); Garry Heithold, Miss Dara II/K&B (1:45); Larry Bagot, Minnow/K&B (1:37.6).
Congratulations to Jay Lewis, owner of the Hobby Market in Ft. Worth, for turning a fast time of 1:32.6. Jay is one of our new F-I pilots and is one of our biggest promoters of racing.
Austin, Tex. QM Race: This June 1 contest drew 22 entries and 5 rounds were flown. George Parks, Bob Barrett, and Jay Lewis won the trophies. Ralph Lang from Richardson, Tex., logged a fastest time of 1:44.6 on the AMA race course. This was sent to the NMPRA for a record.
Dallas, Tex. F-I Race: Six rounds were flown on June 22 with 22 entries in this race. A very unusual amount of crashes occurred in this race with six lost in mid-air, one due to wing failure, and two due to radio failure. Consistency paid off in this race with Deeds Bigelow, Garry Pannell, and Glenn Zeller winning the trophies. Jim Bertoglio from Medicine Lodge, Kan., turned the fastest time of 1:20 with his beautiful Pratoni/ST-X40. Jim is the first to reach 1:20 in this district with many 1:25 times recorded previously by other F-I pilots.
Stewart Moore, NMPRA QM Assoc. V.P. for this district has issued a questionnaire for QM concerning: likes and dislikes, idle rule, profile check cowls and canopies, engine rule on high-performance speed engines, separate classes. His address is: 1414 Lynn St., Richardson, Tex. 75080.
North East: Westfield, Mass. Sport Pylon and QM Race. On May 11, Sport Pylon drew 16 contestants with Jerry Wagner winning with an ST60 original design recording a fastest time of 1:50.7. Bernice Williams, editor of the Northern Conn. R/C Club News, won fifth place in her first try at competition racing with a Quickie 500/K&B 4.0. Bernice and Burt Williams are strong supporters of pylon racing in the NE. The Q/M event drew six entries and five rounds were flown. Frank Alicandro won first place with a 2:08 and Dick Norton won second place with a 2:48.9.
Jamaica, New York QM May Race: Thirty-one contestants came to this race and were divided into 16 standard class and 15 Expert Class. J. White (2:06), R. Tyson (2:16), F. Alicandro (2:16) took the top three in Standard. K. Hajj (1:53.8), W. Four (2:00), W. Jenson (2:06) took top honors in Expert. The QM competition is hot in this area with the 2:00 barrier being broken for the first time.
W. Suffield, Conn. F-I & FAI Race: Held on June 15 the F-I event was a real sizzler with eight contestants of the 22 entrants turning times in the 1:20's. Five rounds were flown with the following results: Bob Barkowski (1:47.3), Bill Zauner (1:51.4), Tiny Rick (1:59.8).
Northeast/East—Peoria, Ill. F-I and QM Race: On June 7 the F-I event had the following results: Bob Conard (1:37), Jim Duda (1:44.9), Dave Kane (1:45).
Lake Shore, Ill. F-I and QM Race: On May 25 the F-I event had 11 entries with Bob Conard (1:32) winning again. Bill Weesner (1:41) and Gary Heithold (2:03) took second and third place. Bill Piles had the fastest time with 1:23. Bill won second place at the 74 NATS and second place in the Bakersfield race. Bill has attended many large races across the USA and has become a top National F-I race pilot. The Q/M event had 19 entries with Lynn Stevens (2:45), Dennis Bileck (2:00), and Mel Sorton (2:07) winning the top three honors.
Building Tips:
A "Chef Boyardee Pizza Sauce" can makes a good 8-oz. fuel tank. Use silver solder for all joints. Solder pressure line and pickup line before soldering closure plate and pickup line before soldering closure plate to rear of can. Make closure plate from tin can top to fit tightly inside of tank.
A neat patch job can be made with Devcon 5 Minute Epoxy by applying masking tape over the hole, then after curing, pull tape and wet sand for painting. This method can be used on crushed wing leading edges, wing tips, epoxy fiberglass fuselage cracks, cracks in balsa fuselage or wing skins.
A quick and easy patch job can be made on paint finishes when small patches of paint are pulled up with tape while stripping. Mask off damaged area, wet sand with 400, cover entire area with product decal.
Artist Aid Transfers (rub on) can be used for lettering on models. These are available at art supply stores in a variety of letter sizes and shapes.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
