Radio Control- Pylon Racing- Dave Lane
I RECEIVED a letter from Len Weiderhoeft, President of NMPRA-Q.M. Len commented on the year-long series of questionnaires and surveys in 1976 conducted by ex-president George Zink, and felt that my suggestions for a Pylon event undermined the majority's wishes for Q.M.
I agree that Q.M. has certainly grown up since its inception. George Zink says that "we columnists" are pro Formula One and want Q.M. to remain for the beginner.
What I wanted to convey was the fact that the original intent of Q.M. was a fun event for the average and/or experienced modeler that did not want to, or could not, compete in Formula One. (Remember?)
Nelson Eddy, President of the Pylon Racers of Puget Sound, is appalled at my suggesting another type of racing event. Nelson says they have found the Quickie 500 racing to be very popular in the Pacific Northwest.
John Cone, Secretary-Treasurer, Lubbock R/C Contest Association, says they enjoy the Quickie 500 racing in Texas. John says we don't need a new racing event. John asked me to plug "Firecracker 500" which will be held on July 8-9 and will be sponsored by the Lubbock R/C Contest Association. They will have $500 worth of engines and kits as prizes.
George Zink also endorses the Quickie 500 class of racing for the novice or intermediate flier. This class of racing is becoming popular in the East where it brings in new blood for racing.
I agree that the Quickie 500 class of racing is a good place to start, as I have stated in past articles. I think one of the things we are overlooking is the fact that, after an individual gets baptized to racing, he does not want to stay in a one-class racing event forever. He also may not want to try to compete with the pros in Q.M. and Formula One.
Well, you can say that if he wants to race, he will just have to conform. I don't believe that this is the way to get more people into the hobby/sport of racing.
My idea of another class of racing is for those people that want to race a "stock class" as far as props, engines and fuel are concerned, but would have some latitude as to the type of aircraft they could use.
I have received a few letters expressing some interest in the "Golden Age" type of racing aircraft, so maybe there is room for a fun racing event that would never be-
RC Pylon/Lane
come an event at the Nationals.
C. B. Enterprises has had some success with their 800 sq. in. Cosmic Wind design, and the Scale Squadron, of Orange County, California, is beginning to get some interest going in their scale AT-6 "Texan" class. The AT-6 is in the 800 sq. in. class, or thereabouts.
I hope all of you guys that I have apparently upset with my February and March articles will understand now that I am not trying to downgrade Q.M. and Formula One. But, if you look around at the people that have dropped out of Q.M. and Formula One, the primary reasons are that the planes are going too fast, and the cost is too much! I know that's what racing is all about, but I think it's too bad that these events end up with only the pros reaping the benefits. It seems to me that there should be room for anyone that wants to compete in Q.M. and Formula One without coming in dead last all the time.
Hopefully, I have not made more modelers irate with this article, but I think we have to be aware of the many average modelers that would like to compete in other than one-class racing (limited to one design aircraft).
Hey, you guys in the Chicago area. Mr. Justice, 1816 N. Mozart, Chicago, IL would like to get into pylon racing. His wife, Debra, wishes to be his caller, but she wants to know more about the duties of a caller. How about contacting the Justices to give them some pointers on racing? I am sure they would appreciate it. If any of you have a copy of the NMPRA manual that was published several years ago, Debra would like to read it.
The winner at the Reno Air Races last year was the entry of American Air Racing Team's "Top Turkey." Figure one is a three view of what it looked like. This ship is a modified "Shoestring" design. Next month I will have a 3-view of Team Turkey's new ship, called "Wild Turkey."
Dave Lane, 447 W. 136th St., Hawthorne, CA 90250.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
