There is no Newsletter for May.
I did the Message from our President, so here it is...
Hello fellow modelers. As we head into summer and the really
hot months, we conclude our first 428-quickie race in several years. For those
of you who are confused by these numbers let me try to explain what they mean.
The AMA sanctions pylon events as well aerobatics, pattern etc. and they assign
numbers to maintain certain rules. For the past five or six years our club has
been racing under SEMPRA rules, which establishes a shorter course of five
hundred feet between pylon one and two. In the 428, we have six hundred feet
between the pylons. This is also the same course for the quarter midget race
such as the Gold Cup we had in April. As a result
of this change the Jett engine is no longer as competitive, and as you may have
noticed, the pilots had switched to the Nelson forty which is more adaptable to
the longer distance. This change
was made for a number of reasons, most of which are to minor to mention, but
the main reason is that most of the pylon racers in this country, race under
the 428 rules and we felt we would have a larger pool of pilots to draw from. This past
weekend brought in several pilots from the Orlando and Tampa area and was the
first of a series of these races. All in all it was a huge success. Now, on to
the 424 series of racing. For those of you who are considering trying your hand
at pylon racing, the 424 is designed as an entry level event. The first
consideration is cost. Since we are using stock engines. That is the forty
sized engines with stock mufflers; available from Thunder Tiger, OS Engines or
Magnum, the cost of an engine is relatively low, about $75.00 to $100.00. The
airplane can be any Quickie style plane such as Lanier’s Dominator or Predator
ARF or older designs such as Scat Cat or Dodger. These airplanes are simple to
build and range in price from $40.00 to $110.00. So for fewer than two hundred dollars you can be racing. In
addition, the setup is relatively slow, at about seventy-five miles per hour;
even a newcomer to the sport can handle these speeds. We also require each
pilot to use the same propeller, in this case APC 9 X 6, and the same fuel,
with comparable engines, so the winner is determined through building and
flying skills and not through the pocketbook. But, don’t let the speed fool
you; the excitement of racing around pylons against other pilots is very real. At the end of the race, every pilot
asked the same question. When is the next race? I would like to thank all the
course workers for giving us their time so we could have all the fun.
Especially all the guys that showed up early on Friday and had most of the work
done before the rest of us got there. Thanks Don and Charlie. Also our Vice President, Marcel,
who worked the starting line both days all by himself, as well as, Eddie Sultan
who ran the lap counters and Pat Joyce who covered pylon one for both days. Now we look forward to our Jet
Rally at the end of June and the FAI Team Trials in November. Also, for those
of you beginner pilots BCRCA is holding a training day on June 22nd.
The field will be closed to experienced pilots and instructors will be
available to help you learn to fly. In addition, the following day will be a
FLEA Market on June 23rd.
See you at the field.