Radio Control: Pylon Racing
QUICKIE, QUICKER, Quickest: Wow, the mail is really pouring in from the January column, in which I had the audacity to suggest that AMA Quickie (Event No. 428) could stand to be slowed down a little. Right now the record is 1:06-a couple of seconds away from Formula I and Quarter 40 on the same course. Quickie never used to be that fast, nor was it ever meant to be. Most of the increase occurred in 1991, when Henry Nelson one-upped Rossi in the tuned-muffler department. Rossi's tuned muffler wasn't much better than the "common expansion chamber muffler" required by the rules, and it wasn't easy to see anything different about it from the outside.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
How to Make a $50 Propeller From a $3 Piece of Wood: So you want to go fast? Insanely fast? In Quarter 40, the propeller (prop) makes the difference between those related, but different, flight regimes. There's been chatter on the Internet lately (www.rcairplanes.com) about the high price of premade-and in some cases, pre-test-flown-wooden props for Quarter 40. Some people are advocating a rules change to allow carbon-fiber propellers, on the belief that once you have a good prop, you're less likely to break it on landing, and you can rule for eternity.
Radio Control: Pylon Racing
HOW NOT TO BEAT Yourself, Vol. 1.: At last, Spring is here. The birds are singing, the bunnies are hopping, the sky is filled with fluffy white clouds. It's time to get out there and fly. Since last flying season, you've done everything right. You took the engines out of all your airplanes and carefully cleaned and oiled them. Replaced everything made from rubber. Disassembled your fuel tanks, washed and dried all the parts. Discharged and recharged your radio batteries at least once a month. Checked for frayed wires, oil soaking, stress cracks, loose hinges, worn servo gears.
Radio Control Pylon Racing
BLASTS FROM THE PAST: The numbers I gave you in the May column for Quarter 40 propeller diameter and peak static rpm have been superseded. I recommended a 7.2-inch diameter and a peak static rpm of 24,500; the new numbers are a 7.4- to 7.5-inch diameter and a peak of 22,500-23,500 rpm. It won't hurt your engine to run the smaller propeller at the faster rpm, but there's a slight loss in efficiency from all of that thrashing. For the electric signaling system outlined in the March issue, Randy Ling (Kent WA) suggests replacing the 110V (volt) AC portion of the circuit with 24V DC to run the Pylon #1 signal lights. Two car batteries in series will do it. This eliminates the need for a generator on the racecourse, and makes for a safer setup overall.
Radio Control Pylon Racing
NEWS ON THE Rule Front: In the January column, I expressed a hope that in the competition rule cycle that begins this year, the AMA and the NMPRA (National Miniature Pylon Racing Association) could cooperate better than they have in the past. The philosophy underlying AMA's recognition of SIGs (Special Interest Groups) is that they can more accurately gauge their members' reactions to rules change proposals, and more effectively communicate their members' needs to the contest boards, which vote on the changes.
