The people of RC Pylon Racing
by Aaron “AJ” Seaholm
aseaholm@gmail.com
Why do you fly RC Pylon? This question comes to mind as I look at the great stories this month. These include the AMA Nats, F3D World Championship, dedicated race organizers such as Hank Diepenbroek and Scott Farnsworth, personal best times and finishes across the country, Bernie Vanderleest’s new Tsunami Q-40, a grandfather and grandson team in Michigan, Joanne Coffey taking fourth place in Muncie at the Nats, and much more.
I fly RC Pylon because of the people. This month, I celebrate the great people of RC Pylon Racing.
Nats People
The 2017 RC Pylon Racing
Nats took place July 14-21 at the International Aeromodeling Center, in Muncie, Indiana. Here are a few of the winners:
- 1st place, Warbird Bronze: Ray Brindos
- 1st place, Warbird Silver: Robert Holik
- 1st place, Warbird Gold: Robert Holik (and fast time, 1:31:81)
- 1st place, Electric Formula 1: Travis Flynn (and fast time, 1:09.92)
- 1st place, Q-500 (AMA Event 424): Darwin Larsen
- 1st place, Q-500 (AMA Event 426): Richard Beers
- 1st place, Q-40 (AMA Event 422): Gary Schmidt (and fast time, 59.63)
- Overall National Champion: Craig Korsen
A special shout-out goes to Joanne Coffey for her stellar fourth-place finish in Q-500. I hope more women come join us. Congratulations, Joanne! Check out the NatsNews newsletter for a complete recap of the action.
Team USA F3D People
Team USA F3D 2017 includes A.J. Hemken, Gino Del Ponte, and Gary Freeman Jr. The defending World Champion team of Randy Bridge (pilot) and “Rocket” Ray Brown (mechanic/caller) also competed at the FAI F3D World Championship for Pylon Racing Model Aircraft, held July 25-29 in Dala Järna, Sweden.
There is not much more that I can state about the talent of our US pilots. The time, skill, and focus required to compete at this level is without equal. I am proud of our team and the perseverance exhibited all week. Despite some challenging conditions in an unfamiliar land, our pilots brought home second place in the Team category. Gino finished in fourth place, Randy in fifth, A.J. in eighth, and Gary placed 23rd.
Let’s look closer at Gino’s times to better understand the level of performance required. For his official 12 rounds, with the worst three rounds dropped, he averaged 58.48 seconds per round with a best time of 57.0 seconds. Despite this consistent speed, he was a full 11 seconds behind the leader—incredible.
Randy and Ray took home top honors in the Super Finals event that was held after the regularly scheduled contest concluded.
Mile High Challenge People
Hank Diepenbroek and the members of the Jefco Aeromod’lers club, in Denver, hosted the second annual Mile High Challenge RC Pylon Race on August 5-6. Hank pours himself into the preparation and execution of this race.
Prizes, a race statistics website, Wi-Fi, and amazing food were added this year.
Rich Beers, Duane Hulen, and Danny Coe were the class of the field and took home a mountain of hardware and prizes. Chuck Thompson, with his son and teammate, Taylor, took first place in Q-500 on Saturday for his first career win. Lonnie Finch and Moe Vereecke both took home fast time awards. Scott Hartman scored a first-place finish in Q-500 on Sunday.
This is a great race, at a great venue, with truly great RC Pylon Racing people. I hope to see you there in 2018.
44th Parallel People
Scott Farnsworth and the Lake County Modelers & Flyers Association in Baldwin, Michigan, put on the second annual 44th Parallel Pylon Race, August 5-6. Scott flew his Advanced Pylon Products September Fate to a personal best time of 1:02. That’s smoking fast! Way to go, Scott.
Tim Lampe provided a great race write-up on the National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA) forum and I encourage you to check it out. Tim mentioned teaming up with RC Pylon Racing great Dan Kane. Tim laid down a personal best of 1:04 with Dan’s assistance. Dan turned a fast time at 1:00 with Tim calling. Dan also laid down a pair of 1:05s and 1:04s for 11 laps—so close to that elusive 59-second heat.
Bernie Vanderleest test-flew a new Tsunami Q-40 of his own design and construction. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to design and build a composite Q-40. Well done, Bernie! It looks awesome.
Rarely do I report on a grandfather and grandson team, but there was one at the 44th Parallel Pylon Race. A tip of the cap goes to Pete Waters for sharing RC Pylon Racing with his grandson, Brody.
It was great to see Corey Paine back in the mix as well. Corey took first place in Q-500 (AMA Events 426 and 424). Great flying, Corey.
The dedication required to host a two-day race is immense. I strongly encourage you to support Scott’s effort and blow up the attendance at next year’s race.
Fly hard and have fun!
SOURCES:
NMPRA
www.nmpra.org
NMPRA District 5
www.district5.nmpra.net
Jefco Aeromod’lers
www.jefcoaeromodlers.com
NatsNews
www.modelaircraft.org/natsnews
Advanced Pylon Products
gary@advancedpylonproducts.com
www.advancedpylonproducts.com
Lake County Modelers & Flyers Association
www.lcmfa.com
