Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager
Smyrna Air Races (Smyrna Airport — April 28–29; July 7–8, 1984)
Each spring, the Middle Tennessee RC Society holds a Pylon race. This year's race was held April 28 and 29 at the Smyrna Airport with Greg Doe as Contest Director. Here is the contest report sent in by Greg.
The headline could have read "Smyrna Air Races Rained Out." At least five potential contestants drove to Smyrna, TN and went home without flying once. They were the ones who knew for sure that the race would be cancelled.
Others waited around to hear the inevitable "Cancelled due to rain." But wait — by 11:00 a.m. Saturday, after only 1.2 inches of rain in three hours, the sun came out and so did 36 Quickie 500s. Five rounds were completed by 6:30 p.m., and trophies were presented in the dark.
Racing began Sunday at 9:00 a.m., only to cease four heats into Quarter Midget. From 9:30 to 1:00 the weather gods treated us to a spectacular downpour of 1.9 inches of rain. Contestants and workers alike were packing up and heading for drier places—mostly home!
Why the rain quit, we may never know. Maybe someone wanted to see if the Contest Director could live up to his promise to complete both Quarter Midget and Formula I before dark! It's a tribute to both the workers and the contestants that 45 heat races were flown in 5½ hours Sunday afternoon, excellent races in all three events, and the final results are listed. One of the more impressive performances that comes to mind was Bob Brogdon's K&B-powered Pole Cat, which won First Place, Fast Time, and Best Finish in Formula I.
Stopwatches were awarded to the top six places in Quarter Midget and Formula I.
While there are always winners and losers in racing, in my book, everyone who worked or flew at the Smyrna "rain" Races was a winner. Thanks to everyone for supporting our event, and not losing hope in the face of such lousy weather.
Quickie 500 race results:
- M. Klutz — 20 pt., 1:37.7 (GA)
- D. Latsha — 19 pt., 1:39.0 (PA)
- B. Schuster — 19 pt., 1:46.4 (FL)
- J. DeMeritte — 18 pt., 1:40.0 (FL)
- T. Gardenhire — 18 pt., 1:46.9 (TN)
- B. Clayton — 17 pt., 1:50.5 (TN)
- N. Nicklaw — 16 pt., 1:47.0 (GA)
- E. Maroon — 16 pt., 1:47.0 (IL)
- D. Whiteaker — 16 pt., 1:50.6 (TN)
- J. Bartels — 15 pt., 1:38.2 (TN)
There were 18 entries.
Formula I race results:
- B. Brogdon
- Brian Richmond — 19 pt., 1:14.8 (FL)
- D. Latsha — 16 pt., 1:16.2 (PA)
- B. Reuther — 15 pt., 1:18.3 (TN)
- J. Moorehead — 14 pt., 1:18.4 (GA)
- G. Jacobson — 12 pt., 1:18.1 (CA)
- G. Hetholdt — 11 pt., 1:21.0 (AR)
- B. Schuster — 11 pt., 1:29.8 (FL)
- G. Pannell — 10 pt., 1:23.8 (TX)
- J.P. Hanway — 10 pt., 1:37.8 (TX)
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Canadian Nats (Cayuga, Ontario)
I just received a report from Ken Ainsworth on the Canadian Nats — so here it is.
The Canadian Nats were held at a new site in Ontario — Cayuga, Ontario. The site was a WWII training airstrip that is now partially used as an auto drag strip.
Our first check of the pylon runway left us with fears of having to cancel. We found weeds growing three feet high and severe cracks capable of demolishing any Formula I plane. However, a gargantuan effort in three days by Howie Boucher and Tom Lynch made the site quite acceptable for RC Pylon and RC Pattern. These two men were tireless workers before, during, and after the race. Without their efforts, the Canadian Nats would have never happened.
Sport Pylon had 19 entries with Scat Cats and ST .40 ABC the predominant plane/engine combinations. The wind, at 25–30 kph, was a key factor to the high times and tricky landings. We even had one flier manage seven bounces and one cartwheel before coming to a safe landing. Eight rounds were flown with Ralph Perriello (West Seneca, NY) winning with a perfect score of 32 points. Ken Runey (Orangeville, Ontario) placed second, and the venerable Dave Keats (Troy, MI) placed third. Fast time of the day in Sport was by Neil Watson (Tonawanda, NY) at 1:37.
In Formula I there were 11 entries. Dave Kelly (Niagara Falls, Canada) came first with a Lee K&B on a Pole Cat. Second place went to Dave Keats with the fast time of the day at 1:21. Third place went to Mike Heller (Plymouth, MN) with a best time of 1:25. Noticeably absent and much missed was Pete Reed, who was out of the country at the time.
FAI Pylon had eight entries. Art Arro (Ann Arbor, MI) came first with a best time of 1:33. The team entry of Rick Paine and Dave Ford (Brantford, Ontario) placed second with a best time of 1:32. Third place went to Doug Baker (Hamilton, Ontario) with a best time of 1:36 — this being Doug’s first race in FAI.
It never ceases to amaze me how a club with a membership of 10 fliers is able to run Pylon Racing at the Canadian Nats and supply all the help required. To the wives, girlfriends, sons, daughters, and friends of the Waterloo SOPRA Flying Club, I express my sincere thanks for two days of solid work. I trust that the partying afterward helped make it all worthwhile. We work hard and party the same way. To Rick Paine and Ed Smith, the Contest Directors, congratulations and thanks for a well-run race. The Event Director was Ken Ainsworth.
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Austin, TX Formula I Race
Here’s another one: a two-day, two-contest affair held in Austin, TX. Dave Layman is the reporter.
Saturday morning dawned gloomy and windy with a threat of rain, and racing started about 10:30. The first round was a bit dull, but things began to pick up in the second one as Ed Rankin and Rick Oliver tangled, and they went at it tooth and nail. However, on lap nine Rick cut No. 1 pylon as Ed won with 1:16.7 and Rick at 1:22 for 11 laps.
As round 3 started, Ed and George Parks got together in a good race. George won at 1:16.4 and Ed finished at 1:18.9. Then came Rick Oliver and Dub Jett. They stayed nose-to-nose for four laps, then came the biggie as they tried to share the same airspace. That didn’t work, and both airplanes were completely destroyed.
Next came Norm Johnson, Dave Layman, and Fred French. This was one good race, as all three were together the entire 10 laps, battling it out. Dave was the eventual winner at 1:18.7, Norm second at 1:19.1, and Fred third at 1:19.4.
The June 10, 1984 race results were:
- Dave Layman — 15 pt., 1:17.8 — Polecat/X-40
- Norm Johnson — 14 pt., 1:16.7 — Toni/X-40
- Dub Jett — 13 pt., 1:16.2 — Denight/X-40
- George Parks — 12 pt., 1:15.3 (fast time) — Pellet/X-40
- Phil Bussell — 11 pt., 1:19.6 — Denight/X-40
There were 21 entries.
I have gotten a sudden rush of contest reports. I will try to get them all in the next column. (See you in the January issue.)
Bill Hager 706 Glen Haven Dr. Conroe, TX 77385
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
