RC Pylon Racing
WHAT DO YOU do when you live in a place where paved fields are rare, the grass is thick, and it rains a lot? You race hand-launched airplanes, that's what. I recently received an update from Roy Stubbs (Seattle WA) of the Snohomish Radio Aero Club (SRAC), which holds contests on the third Saturday of each month from October through April for 1/2A (AMA event 423, with variations). Speed 400 electric, and a one-design class for the Sig Doubler with an O.S. Max .15 engine. Over to Roy.
Maximum Splat
How every child's understanding of natural laws can give us more power with less noise. RC FLIERS, especially Racing and Pattern fliers, have a problem with noise. No, I'm not going to discuss in detail the fact that our problem is not so much with noise as with intolerance of our sport by nonparticipants. Nor will I say much about the mentally debilitating effects of staring at a dB meter for too long. I will simply say that by any standard, including that of the dB, the use of a muffled tuned pipe significantly improves the noise situation with no power loss. Tuned pipes, both muffled and nonmuffled, have been around since the 1960s. The use of muffled pipes is now commonplace in RC Pattern. A muffled pipe with an appropriate header can be found to fit virtually any two-stroke engine now on the market. The modern Schnuerle-ported engine designs benefit most from the use of a pipe.
RC Pylon Racing
ART, SCIENCE, AND TRUTH come together in RC Pylon as in few other sports. There is art in the aircraft, especially the beautifully finished Formula I models. There is science in the crafting of propellers and adjusting of engines. And the pilot who guides a plane around the course with grace and precision, executing 30 flawless turns in a row despite the pressure of head-to-head competition, attains a moment of perfect truth. For a week this past July, some 91 racing pilots met in Richland to test their mastery of these pursuits.
RC: Pylon Racing
THE QUESTION was, "Are we having fun yet?" These words, first uttered by Zippy the Pinhead circa 1978, were echoed by scores of RC Pylon contestants at the 1990 Nats. Entries at record or near-record levels in all events demanded serious hustle from both pilots and officials. And hustle they did! Wayne and Karen Yeager, Bob Brown, and the rest of the highly professional Pylon crew managed to move 'em through at an average rate of one heat every six minutes, starting at dawn and going until 1:00 p.m. (or maybe even 2:00 p.m.) each day. Although there were inevitably a couple of glitches, it was still a first-rate contest. Out of 356 heats, only nine had to be reflown. Hats off to the officials!
'91 All American Nationals: RC Pylon Racing
HO HUM. Once again, modeldom's own little Brigadoon appeared out of the mists of a midwestern summer. Once again, magic touched those who chose to believe in it; while just over the hill, ordinary folk went about their ordinary lives in the ordinary way, oblivious to what they were missing and no doubt happier for not having taken the trouble to find out. It's always that way with the Nationals. To describe it adequately would take volumes. To recreate the spirit of the thing through mere words and photos is impossible.
