Radio Control: Pylon Racing
Bill Hager
I've been getting a lot of letters from new people who are getting interested in Pylon Racing. This seems to be the most activity I have seen in five or six years, which is good. Questions range from wanting to know if I know anyone in their area who could help them, to technical questions about props, engines, fuel, or what the best plane is.
Many articles have been written in the past on these subjects. A little research through some old model magazines will help a lot, and I will be writing more in the future. For you old-timers out there, how about some help? Take one of these newcomers under your wing and help him or her get started. We all had some help getting started — how about returning the favor?
Here are some contest reports.
NMPRA Quarter Midget National Championship — Rough River, KY (Sept. 8–9)
Reported by Buddy Roos
The thirteenth annual NMPRA Quarter Midget (QM) National Championship race was held at Rough River, KY on September 8 and 9. As usual, the beautiful flying site and the good food attracted the top QM pilots in the country. This year, the number of entries was limited to 40.
Phil Bussell, winner of the QM at this year's Nats, came over from Texas for his first Rough River race. He was so impressed with the quality of the competition and the flying site that he felt once he spread the word back home the Texas group would want to attend next year.
No surprise: Doug Brueshaber took first place for the fourth year in a row, although this year he didn't have it so easy. After six rounds he was in third place behind Dave Latsha and Jim Moorhead. In round seven, Dave and Jim, tied for first, were to fly each other. After a couple of laps of fantastic jump-up-and-down racing, Jim and Dave took the same line around the number one pylon and the resulting spectacular mid-air gave each of them a zero. Latsha had a back-up airplane and was able to win his final heat to finish third while Jim, with no back-up, finished seventh.
Due to a late afternoon rainstorm, this year's Doolittle race was reduced to one heat between the four fastest pilots instead of elimination heats between the twelve fastest as in previous years. Doug Brueshaber also took first in the Doolittle. Sumner, last year's winner, got water in his transmitter and lost a beautiful airplane as a result.
The big news at this year's race was the new Ron Young Cox .15. Ron is boring out the Cox case and installing a ported Rossi piston sleeve; he also changes the shaft timing. This was the first race for the engine, as it was just declared legal by the AMA effective August 23, 1984. On the first day almost everyone with the new engine was turning better times than their previous fastest times. Rex Knepper had received one of the first ones and spent some time dialing it in and making new props; this enabled Rex to set a new national record of 1:15.6. Many of the guys who didn't have one of the new engines on Saturday were knocking on Ron's door that night to get one for Sunday.
If you couldn't make it to Rough River this year, make your plans and reservations early for next year. Some contestants made motel reservations for next year as they were checking out. If I could attend only one race a year, it would be Rough River.
Rough River results:
- Doug Brueshaber — 1:18.56
- Rex Knepper — 1:15.61
- Dave Latsha — 1:18.70
- Jim Bartels — 1:24.84
- John Kilsdonk — 1:22.31
Northeastern Championships — Harrisburg, PA (July 7–8)
Reported by Dave Latsha
The 10th annual two-day Quarter Midget race is now past history. In addition to everything else that was good for two days, we even picked up a new NMPRA member: welcome Ed Armistead from Carlisle, PA.
There were no re-runs. The weather was super. The steak party Saturday night caused a few pig-outs. The awards for both the fliers and the workers were the greatest, thanks to some good sponsors. The computer did not fail. If all races could run like this one, everyone would be smiling and rarin' to go to the next race!
We did watch Dave at Platte try to cut off the No. 3 pole by about two feet (he lost). Also, Wayne Yeager and Steve Baker dirtied up the field at No. 1 pylon — we plugged a vacuum cleaner into the motorhome to clean up the dust. Best two-plane explosions you ever saw. Steve's motor is still flying somewhere. Sorry, guys; better luck next year. There were some outstanding head-to-head heats for 10 laps.
Race results:
- D. Latsha — 1:23.16
- R. Knepper — 1:22.23
- K. Hulik — 1:24.03
- J. Kilsdonk — 1:26.80
- J. Wollk — 1:28.80
- D. Sumner — 1:22.00
- G. Jacobsen — 1:29.20
- W. Yeager — 1:26.50
- R. Armistead — 1:38.20
- L. Hipkins — 1:28.30
I've received a good amount of contest information recently, which has put me a bit behind. If you have sent me something and haven't had it returned yet, be patient — I'll get to it.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
