November Update

F3D World Championship Team Selection

The team selection has now been finalized. After some confusion as to the team line-up, Chris Callow elected to participate as the returning world champion which made room for Tyler Mees to take up the final position on the team.

Mees & Murphys

The team is made up of Beau Murphy, Ranjit Phelan & Tyler Mees. There is now a chance that Matt Young will be going as a junior team member pending raising funds and all the boxes being ticked with AMPRA & MAAA. Not sure where this is at but there is a Facebook page setup dedicated to raising funds for Matt to attend the World Champs. HELP MATT GET TO THE 2013 F3D PYLON WORLD CHAMPS

The final results for selection events are below:

Name AMPRA QLD champs Cohuna trial VIC champs Final result
Chris Callow 56.85 56.72 56.78
Leigh Hocken 60.28 62.44 drop 59.92 60.1
Ranjit Phelan 61.54 drop 59.64 57.65 58.64
Frank Cassella 63.41 62.58  63.44 drop  62.99
Barry Murphy 63.47 140.51
Tyler Mees 65.28 drop 60.42  59.51 59.96
Beau Murphy 80.9 drop 60.32  57.81 59.06
Rick Townsend 63.5 63.2 63.35

Next event

Bazza's padock - After the F3D action, out comes so more fast toys

The next event is upon us. Down at Bazza’s padock at Munro on November 24-25. All 3 classes are being run. Q500 & F400 in the mornings and FA1 in the afternoons. So make sure all you gear is ready and you’ve got accommodation sorted. Lets have a great last weekend of racing before the Christmas/Summer break.

Events for Feb 213

So far there is only the Feb event confirmed for next year which is Camperdown on Feb 2-3, 2013 which is quite early in the year. Keep checking the calender as events will be added as they become confirmed.

50 Lap Endurance

Not a VMPRA event but worth considering is a 50 lap endurance race to be held at the Lilydale Club (LDMFA) which is being run on Feb 17, 2012. This event is open to all solo qualified pilots.

There is going to be both a Q500 c& sports class which pretty much allows for everything else. We had a great time last year, so all you budding pylon pilots, Q500 flyers or even experts, come along and have a great day of flying.

Event Report – Hamilton 2012

What a great weekend of pylon racing we had at Hamilton this year. The weather was great for Friday practice and Saturday’s racing. Sunday was a little windy but not bad enough to stop us flying. This event was our Victorian State Championships with trophies provided by the VMAA. On top of this, the F3D racing was the last of the Australian World Championship team selection trials. The aim was to fly 9 rounds of each class but with priority given to completing the F3D comp particularly as Tyler & Warren Mees needed to return to QLD asap to work on Monday.

Saturday morning, we started on time with 3 rounds of Q500 & F400 and finished up at 12 noon sharp. F3D started at 12:30pm after 25 minutes of testing and we were able to run the races through very efficiently, especially with the great help of the Hamilton club members who were manning the pylons (1,2 & 3) plus the start finish line as the 10 lap FAI course was being used for the team trials. Before we knew it, 9 rounds where complete. There was some very fast and spectacular racing with positions on the team at stake.

Sunday was a bit more relaxed affair although there was lots of close racing to be had with 6 rounds of Q500 & F400 to be completed. This was all done and dusted by lunch time. After another great BBQ lunch along with a vast selection of slices. we packed up, presented trophies and headed off home at about 2pm, a lot early than we normally finish.

Team Selection Results

With Beau Murphy’s win, he secured a place on the Australian team. Leigh Hocken and Tyler Mee’s fort it out for a possible 3 place on the team with Tyler winning this battle after his final re-run. I say a possible position because it’s not currently clear as to whether Chris Callow is going to be competing as a member of the team or as the returning World Champion. Time will tell!

The 2 team selection events run here in Victoria this year have been a high-light with having quite a few visitors from interstate. This time, besides Tyler & Warren driving down from QLD, we had the SA contingency of Stuart Humpherson, Trevor Pearce and Frank Weeks racing. The more competitors there are, the more fun to be had.

We also had 2 new pilots flying in Q500. Daniel Arapakis flew his new Viper having flown previously a trainer at Werribee. What a great job he did while enjoying the challenge of bringing his race times down, race after race. Also Paul Pollock flew Q500 for the first time and although a very experience r/c pilot, really enjoyed racing this affordable yet challenging class.

Season Championship

F3D – No changes in 1st & 2nd position, but Glenn Matthews has now moved up to 3rd place.

F400 – Gary Davidson & Jim Orenshaw have swapped places, Gary now in 1st place and like in F3D, Glenn Matthews has popped up into 3rd place.

Q500 – James Hurley & John Schmidli  have swapped places now with James in 1st position (JS – it pains me to say). Ian Haigh remains in 3rd place.

Next Event

The next event is at Bazza’s Padock down at Munro on November 24-25, 2012.

Also note that we have our first event for the year (Camperdown) now listed on the event calender, so be sure to pencil this into your diary.

The championship table has been updated and there is also a photo gallery from this event.

October Update

Victorian State Championships – Hamilton

Not long now until the Victorian State Championships, being held in Hamilton on October 20-21, 2012. This will also be the final selection trial event for the 2013 Australian F3D World Championship Team. We should see another good turn out with some interstate competitors from Queensland and New South Wales. Often at Hamilton there will also be a South Australian contingency.

This event will consist of our usual 3 classes, FA1 (AUST F3D) F400 (VIC) & Q500 so all you Q500 racers can come racing after the Cohuna recess.

Notes:

  • The field will be available for practice on Friday.
  • There will be breakfast available at the field on both days.
  • The field closes at 9:00am on each day.

Hamilton 2011

General Meeting

Also to be held on the Hamilton weekend is the next VMPRA general meeting.

  • Venue: Lake Hamilton Motor Village and Holiday Park, 8 Ballarat Road, Hamilton.
  • Start time: 8:00 pm

Note: Visitors to park out front

So come along and have your say and support pylon racing in Victoria.

Event Report – Cohuna 2012

Tyler & Warren Mees on the way to the line

It was great turning up to the Cohuna field on Saturday morning to a mass of activity, camper-vans, caravans and gazebo’s and the field in the process of being setup. A hive of activity that started the day before with many pilots arriving early to practice; the Cohuna field looked in great condition. To top it off, the weather was spectacular and promised to be good for the whole weekend.

Walking through the pits, it was great to see a good number of competitors, including interstate compeditors, Chris Callow, Tyler Mees, Ranjit Phelan & Tony Howse in attendance for the 3rd F3D team selection trail for the 2013 F3D world championships.

Plane ID - Chris Callow's Voodoo being held high

F3D

After some initial timing equipment setup issues (which were resolved thanks to Kevin Callow), the scene was set for 9 rounds of F3D. As the day went on, the usual suspects rose to the top of the timing sheet with some really fast times being flown. There was a great deal of interest world wide with regular postings of the results on Facebook and many comments posted. As we started a little late and the sun was getting too low, the day’s racing was finished after completing 7 rounds.

We had our usual evening dinner out to talk all things pylon (and the occasional non-related subjects) and after a good night’s sleep (for some), it was back to the field for the remaining 2 rounds. On completion of these rounds the results were:

1st Chris Callow
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Leigh Hocken
See Full Results>>>

AUST WC Team Selection Standings

With the 3rd team trial completed and only the VIC State Champs left, where the 4th trial will be run, this is how the scores look as of 18/9/2012:

Name AMPRA QLD champs Cohuna trial VIC champs Final result
Chris Callow 56.85 56.72 56.78
Leigh Hocken 60.28 62.44 drop 59.92 60.1
Ranjit Phelan 61.54 drop 59.64 57.65 58.64
Frank Cassella 63.41 62.58
Barry Murphy 63.47 140.51
Tyler Mees 65.28 60.42
Beau Murphy 80.9 60.32
Rick Townsend 63.5 63.2 63.35

F400 VIC

After all the excitement of the F3D, we had 7 rounds of F400 to fly. There was the first significant carnage for the weekend with a mid-air between Mike Kellet & Tony Howse. Tony came off 2nd best, but Mike was able to land with just half a horizontal stabilizer. Andrew Davies also lost a plane after impacting the ground during a race.

Gary Davidson & James Hurley (hiding behind his wing - his first time in F3D)

Gary Davidson came 1st making great use of his new Loki, Rick Townsend came 2nd and Tom Wetherill 3rd.
See Full Results>>>

“All in all, this was a great event. Thanks goes out to the Cohuna club for the great food and help all weekend. Another thank you goes to David Axon and Mike Kellet for cut judging for F3D Trials (David’s voice doesn’t carry as far as you would think when he is 100 meters away!). Lastly to starter extraordinaire and all-round good sort, Toni Axon who slugged it out and kept the guys in line for both days.” – (Quote – Terry O’Connor)
Also thanks to Terry and Kim (walking wounded) for the smooth running of the event.

The championship table has been updated and there is also a photo gallery from this event.

The next event is the VIC State Champs at Hamilton on October 20-21, 2012.

John Schmidli

 

August Update

Next Event

It’s time to start preparing for our next event which is down at Munro at Bazza’a Padock on the week end of  August 11-12, 2012. If you haven’t raced down there before, it’s a fantastic field and purpose built for pylon racing. I encourage you to come down to compete, especially if you are flying Q500. So sort out where you’re staying, Stratford is the closest accommodation with a Motel and Caravan Park. If you don’t know where the field it, as it is a private field, contact a member of the committee for details.

Bendigo 2012 place getter's

Our last event at Bendigo went really well and the weather was kind to us this time. There are more photo from the event now on the gallery page courtesy of Bill Matthews from the BRCAC club.

Calender Update

If you check our calender you’ll notice that the classes and schedule hav been updated for the Cohuna event in September. The priority is F3D as this is one of the selection evens for the next World Championships in 2013. This important event could see some competitor coming from interstate. Once F3D has run 9 rounds, then F400 will run 9 rounds. There will not be any Q500 run this week end.

Look forward to see everybody down at Munro.

John Schmidli