Category Archives: Reports

John Hughan Trophy – Munro Feb 25 – Mar 1 2015 – Event Report

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L-R: Tom Wetherill, Daniel Arapakis, Barry Murphy & Jim Orenshaw

The John Hughan Trophy event was held at Barry Murphy’s field in Munro, VIC on the weekend of 28 February – 1 March 2015.  John was one of the founding members of VMPRA who had a great passion for pylon racing.

The dedicated pylon racing field was in excellent condition as usual.  Many competitors arrived on Friday to set up camp and to get some practice.  A number of friends of the competitors attended as well and helped out as course workers.  This support was greatly appreciated as regulars David and Toni Axon were attending the Avalon Airshow and Nerida Matthews was recovering from the flu.

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The program for the weekend was to run eight rounds of F400 VIC, Q500 Sport and Formula Australia One (FA1), with 4 rounds being flown each day.  The FA1 rules allow use of both muffled and un-muffled pipes.  As per usual VMPRA practice, racing was over 10 ½ laps of the FAI course.

Saturday dawned warm and clear and the temperature and humidity were expected to be high.  After some test flying, the course was set up and racing got underway by mid-morning.

F400 VIC was the first event to be run and this class attracted a modest five entries.  There was close racing, but times were not very fast due to the calm and muggy weather conditions.  At the end of Saturday, Brian Steele was in first place and had posted the fastest time of 69.61 seconds.  Brian held a nine second lead over Glenn Matthews, who was followed closely by Andrew Davies.

Q500 Sport was the next class to be run and this event attracted an impressive 10 entries.  The entry list included two father-son teams – David and Caleb Chippindall and Gary and Alan Whitbourn.  John Schmidli set the early pace with a time of 96.35, but at the end of four rounds he was in second place – 0.6 seconds behind Tom Wetherill.  A bit further back, Andrew Arapakis posted a personal best time of 107.86.  The Chippendall and Whitbourn families had their hands full running all their planes, but were enjoying the challenge.

In the afternoon FA1 was run and this class attracted nine entries.  Some of the regulars were away due to family commitments and saving gear for the World Championships.  The conditions were not conducive for fast times as the weather was hot, humid and there was no wind.  After four rounds, Barry Murphy was in the lead – approximately four seconds clear of Glenn Matthews.  Daniel Arapakis was 0.5 seconds behind in third and had posted the fastest time of 64.82.

The calm weather was interrupted during the night as a major storm front passed through the area – making an interesting time for the camping contingent.  The following morning was cool and the gusty winds required that the course be reset before racing could begin.

The racing program was a repeat of the prior day, with F400 up first.  Brian Steele continued his form and finished first with a score of 425.1.  Glenn Matthews was second with a score of 436.2, closely followed by Andrew Davies with a score of 436.8.

In Q500, Tom Wetherill continued to post consistent times and finished first with a score of 587.7.  The Q500’s were getting blown about in the wind and John Schmidli’s effort was compromised by two heats with cuts.  He finished second with a score of 600.1.  Jim Orenshaw was third with a score of 627.2.  The family battles were won by David Chippindall and Alan Whitbourn, respectively.

The wind picked up throughout the day and the FA1’s seemed to run much better in these conditions.  There was very exciting and close wing-tip to wing-tip racing.  In the end host, Barry Murphy finished in first place with a score of 385.3.  He was followed very closely by Daniel Arapakis in second place with a score of 385.9 – all the practice at this field for the upcoming World Championships was paying off.  Glenn Matthews was a close third with a score of 387.0.

The times improved significantly over the prior day – with Barry Murphy posting the fast time of 60.89.  Notable FA1 performances were also put in by Gary Davidson flying an Evo NXT and Andrew Davies flying the ex-Arapakis Veyron.  The Veyron proved to be very competitive in its debut with Andrew at the helm, just edging Daniel for a 2nd faster time.

At the end of the day, the course was packed up and a prize-giving ceremony was held.  VMPRA expresses its appreciation to Barry Murphy for making the field available and for hosting the competition.  The VMPRA committee apologises for not having trophies available in time for handing out at this event.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results – FA1

Places:
1st Barry Murphy
2nd Daniel Arapakis
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 60.89 – Barry Murphy
No. of competitors: 9
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – F400

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 69.27 – Brian Steele
No. of competitors: 5
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – Q500

Places:
1st Tom Wetherill
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 96.35 – John Schmidli
No. of competitors: 10
Course – 10.5 Laps

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

As we start the 2nd half of the season championship, the following is how the top 3 positions sit.

FA1

Glenn Matthews remains in 1st place but Daniel Arapakis displaced Andrew Davies in 2nd place. Big mover, Barry Murphy jumped from 10th to 6th position with his win of this event.

1 – Glenn Matthews
2 – Daniel Arapakis
3 – Andrew Davies


F400 – Results

Similar movements in the order as for FA1, Andrew Davies remains in 1st position and Brian Steele displaced Glenn Matthews for 2nd place.

1 – Andrew Davies
2 – Brian Steele
3 – Glenn Matthews

Q500 – Results

There is no change in the order but Tom Wetherill is creeping up the points even though he has competed in 1 less event.

1 – John Schmidli
2 – James Hurley
3 – Tom Wetherill

Full Championship Results>>>

 Next Event

The next event is at Warrnambool on the 28-29 of March and it looks like there will be a contingency from South Australia.

Check Out Complete Calender >>>

Event Report – Tom Wetherill.
Additional content  – John Schmidli
Photos – John Schmidli and Andrew Arapakis

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my perspective and reflects how I have experienced this event.
Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.
If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Camperdown 2015 – Event Report

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The VMPRA 2015 season got underway on the weekend of 7 – 8 February at the Corangamite Model Aircraft Club in Camperdown, VIC. The event is a favourite amongst the VMPRA members and the host club members were out in force to help out with working the course and supplying great food and refreshments over the weekend. The flying field, which is located in the centre of a horse racing course, was in good condition due to recent summer rainfall.

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There was a good turnout on Friday as pilots wanted to get some practice after the summer break. However, a hot northerly wind was blowing and the temperature at the field pushed past 40 degrees during the afternoon…so most chose to adjourn early, opting for glider flying at the nearby volcanic crater, rest and cool refreshments.

On Saturday morning, the course was set up during the curfew period while the horse training was underway. The northerly wind continued but the temperature was in the low to mid 30’s – slightly cooler than the previous day. The plan for the weekend was to run eight rounds of each class – F400, Q500 and FA1 – with the two worst scores to be dropped. Racing was over 10 ½ laps per usual VMPRA practice as this reduces the number of workers required to run the event.

Racing got underway late morning and three rounds of F400 were flown. This class attracted eight entries and but this was reduced after a mid-air during round two. Brian Steele took an early lead and had posted the best time of 70.77. Times were not spectacular, due to the heat.

 

Next up was Q500 and this class attracted six entries and three rounds were also flown. There was some close racing and unfortunately the field in this class was also depleted due to another mid-air. After three rounds Tom Wetherill was in the lead with the best time of 96.80. Andrew Arapakis has been improving under the guidance of son Daniel and he posted a personal best time of 108.83.

The main event – FA1 attracted a good turnout with 10 entries. Five rounds were flown to complete racing for the day. The cut judges were kept very busy during the first two rounds and some pilots were still tuning for the conditions. As a result, there were many 200’s on the board. At the end of the afternoon, Leigh Hocken was in the lead and had the best time of 60.78.

During the evening a storm front came through (this is Victoria!) and on Sunday there was a cool breeze from the south. This required that the course be changed and after this was done the remaining five rounds of F400 were flown. At the completion of eight rounds, Brian Steele was in first place with a score of 414.3 and the best time of 64.79. The cooler conditions helped and he was more than 5 seconds quicker than the previous day. Team mate Andrew Davies was second with a score of 430.7 and Gary Davidson was third with a score of 433.5. Andrew and Gary also improved their times by about 5 seconds from the Saturday.

The remaining five rounds of Q500 were flown next and the close racing continued. In the end, Tom Wetherill was in first place with a score of 580.3 and had the fast time of 94.73. James Hurley was second with a score of 620.1 – just edging out arch rival and team mate John Schmidli, who was third with a score of 623.6.

The last event was the completion of the final rounds of FA1 and Leigh Hocken put in some very impressive and aggressive flying to finish in first place with a score of 367.5. Glenn Matthews was a distant second with a score of 407.7. He was followed closely by Barry Murphy with a score of 412.6. Beau Murphy posted the fastest time of 58.43. Daniel Arapakis was flying very impressively against the veterans, but unfortunately lost a model trying to keep up with Leigh.

A prize giving ceremony was held following completion of racing and VMPRA thanked Foster Taylor and the Corangamite club for hosting the event and for providing great food over the weekend. Special thanks were also given to the club members for helping work the event, as well as to Toni Axon for starting, David Axon for serving as a cut judge (and awarding the most cuts) and to Nerida Matthews for running the computer system and taking care of the administrative side of the event.

Report – Tom Wetherill.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Glenn Matthews
3rd Barry Murphy

Fastest Time: 58.43 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 10
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – F400

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Andrew Davies
3rd Gary Davidson

Fastest Time: 64.79 – Brian Steele
No. of competitors: 8
Course – 10.5 Laps

Results – Q500

Places:
1st Tom Wetherill
2nd James Hurley
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 94.73 – Tom Wetherill
No. of competitors: 6
Course – 10.5 Laps

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

As we start the 2nd half of the season championship, the following is how the top 3 positions sit.

FA1

Glenn Matthews bumped Andrew Davies from the top position and Daniel has jumped up from 5th to 3rd position.

1 – Glenn Matthews
2 – Andrew Davies
3 – Daniel Arapakis

F400 – Results

The opposite to FA1, Andrew Davies has bumped Glenn Matthews from the top position down to 2nd place and like Daniel in FA1, Brian Steele has jumped from 5th to 3rd place.

1 – Andrew Davies
2 – Glenn Matthews
3 – Brian Steele

Q500 – Results

No position changes for the top 3 in Q500

1 – John Schmidli
2 – James Hurley
3 – Tom Wetherill

Full Championship Results>>>

 Next Event

Next up is Munro on Feb 28/March 1st for the full 3 class event.

Check Out Complete Calender >>>

Event Report – Tom Wetherill.
Additional content  – John Schmidli
Photos – John Schmidli and Andrew Arapakis

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my perspective and reflects how I have experienced this event.
Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.
If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

New Zealand Nationals 2015 – Event Report

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The New Zealand Nationals were held at the Waharoa Airfield near Matamata in early January 2015 and four pylon classes flown on Monday 5 January at the RC1 flying area. There has been a resurgence of interest in pylon racing in New Zealand recently and this event attracted a very good number of entries.  There were many “old hands” present as well as many newcomers.

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The racing consisted of flying 10 laps of the triangular FAI course – with up to three planes in each heat.  Five rounds were flown, with one score being dropped.

In the morning Q500 Sport and Q500 Expert classes were flown.  The Sport class attracted an impressive 17 entries and there was plenty of close racing.  The most popular model was the Viper and there were also a number of airframes.  The most popular engines were OS 46 AX and Thunder Tiger Pro 46.  The class was won by Tom Wetherill with a score of 399.7.  Paul Clausen was second with a score of 413.6 and Ron Stone was third with a score of 421.7.

The Expert class attracted six entries and featured some exciting racing.  The most popular model was the V-Gun, powered by a Nelson long-stroke engine.  John Danks had stiff competition from Frazer Briggs and finished first with a score of 293.0.  Frazer was second with a score of 300.0 and Paul Clausen was third with a score of 335.2.

In the afternoon, Sportsman and F3D were flown.  Sportsman attracted eight entries and a variety of aircraft types.  Paul Clausen finished in first place with a score of 375.7.  Jarrod Briggs was second with a score of 407.3 and Andrew Palmer was third with a score of 424.5.

The last and fastest class was F3D, which attracted three entries.  An engine failure meant that only two models were able to compete.  Tom Wetherill flew a new Veyron and finished first with a score of 258.1 and John Danks flew a VooDoo and was second with a score of 265.9.

At the end of the day trophies were handed out to all the placegetters.  Special thanks go out to John Danks for CD’ing the event, to Adam Buther and Noeline Craighead for working as starters, Mike Briggs and the and his fellow club members in the Matamata-Piako MAC for all their work preparing the fields and to everyone else who helped with running the event by working as timers and cut judges.

Report – Tom Wetherill
Photos – Tom Wetherill
Gallery Page >>>

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my/our knowledge at the time of publishing. It is written from my perspective and reflects how I have experienced this event.

Photos published as feature images are selected purely for their quality, general interest or topicality. They are chosen from a pool of photos taken by myself and others when time permits.

If a perspective is not being represented, I am more than happy to publish any written content or photos that are supplied to me provided it is fair and reasonable.