Victorian State Championships – Munro August 2014 – Event Report

Posted on August 11, 2014 by Scadtastic

The VMPRA State Championships were held at Barry Murphy’s field in Munro, Victoria over the weekend of 2 – 3 August 2014. The event also served as the Victorian Team Trial Qualification round for those that were looking to be on the Australian team for the next F3D World Championships, to be held in Olomouc, Czech Republic in July 2015.

Brian Steele and Andrew Davies

By planning or coincidence – the Queensland-based racers were participating in their equivalent Team Trial event in Rockhampton on the same weekend. There are three places for the Australian Team as well as one for a Junior. Competitors who were going after a position on the team included Leigh Hocken, Beau Murphy and Ranjit Phelan. Thirteen year-old Daniel Arapakis who is chasing an additional position on the team as a Junior.

Due to the importance of the event as a Team Trial, a number of competitors began arriving on the Thursday afternoon – only to be greeted by a major winter storm that was sweeping across the state. Winds were in excess of 100 kph, there was snow in the local hills, trees across the highway and power failures.

Friday was planned to be a practice day, and the field well groomed and was in excellent condition –thanks to the efforts of Ian Ricard. Unfortunately, the winds were still gusting to over 70 km/hr. so not many chose to risk taking flights. By Friday evening, the pit area was full with competitors setting up camp and making sure that adequate supplies of firewood and anti-freeze were available.

Saturday morning dawned a balmy 3 degrees Celsius, but the weather had improved considerably. Racing was to be completed over the standard 10 lap course – so that scores were consistent with the requirements for the Team Trial. It was decided to allow time for practice and then 3 rounds of Q500 Sport were flown to get the workers comfortable with the system, to allow the sun to rise and the weather to warm up.

David Chippendale - His first Q500 event.

Q500 Sport attracted eight entries and by the end of practice and Round1 – Marcus Guss had not only lost his model, but introduced a model loaned from Vern Gibson to pylon #2. Jim Orenshaw’s model did not make it to Pylon #1. After this unfortunate start – no further models were lost or damaged all weekend.

At the end of Round 3, James Hurley had set a very fast pace with a 90.16 and was in first place. John Schmidli was showing good pace with his new Banshee and newcomer David Chippendale was quickly getting a handle on things.

Vern Gibson, Leigh Hocken and Tom Wetherill at the line for test flying.

The main event for the weekend was the F3D FA1 Team Trial. This class attracted 11 entries and the goal was to complete nine rounds. Racing got underway late Saturday morning and the conditions were looking good. After the first Round, Beau Murphy had posted a 57.60, which narrowly edged Leigh Hocken’s 57.75. The txt messages were already being transmitted to/received from Queensland-where fast times were also being posted in their event.

Five rounds of FA1 were flown on Saturday and at the end of the day, Beau Murphy was in the lead and had also posted a fastest time of 55.73. Ranjit Phelan was second with a best time of 56.13 and Glenn Matthews was in third with a best time of 60.45. Daniel Arapakis had posted five scores and was sitting in 6^th place overall. Leigh had experienced problems and withdrew at the end of the day.

Next up was F400 VIC and four rounds were flown. This class also attracted 11 entries. The weather conditions were improving and some fast times were being posted. At the end of four Rounds, Ranjit Phelan was in the lead and had set the pace with a best time of 63.39. Brian Steele had posted a best time of 64.87 and a number of other competitors had times in the 65 second range.

After the racing was completed, an eclectic collection of models – ranging from small electrics to old timers – took to the skies. Masterchef, Andrew Arapakis served up a dinner feast that included sashimi and roast pork.

ED – The remarkable thing about pylon racers is as soon as the wind drops at the end of a day’s racing or during the still of a morning, all sorts of models come out to be flown. Many of them are gliders, old timers and fun-flies. This is contrary to what most expect of the pylon racing fraternity. Basically, we all have the fascination with flight.

Andrew Davies with his diesel powered old-timer.

Sunday morning dawned cold and clear, with the temperature at the field being minus three degrees Celsius! Racing was delayed until the temperature increased and four rounds of Q500 Sport were then flown. James Hurley continued his pace from the previous day and finished in first place with a score of 568.5. Arch rival (and teammate) John Schmidli was second with a score of 592.8 and Ian Haigh was third with a score of 633.8.

The last four rounds of FA1 were then flown and times were slower than the previous day. Beau Murphy finished in first place with a score of 410.7 and Ranjit Phelan was second with a score of 413.3. Daniel Arapakis had a strong finish and posted some good scores. He finished in third place with a score of 442.9.

Andrew and Daniel Arapakis. One happy father/son team

For comparison, the results for the Queensland event were in. Chris Callow had blitzed the field with a score of 389.1. The scores for other competitors that were chasing a position on the Australian team were as follows – Tyler Mees 414.7, Stephen Turna 422.6. Joseph Black who was competing as a Junior had a score of 451.9.

The final event on the program was to complete the remaining five rounds of F400 VIC. There was plenty of close and exciting racing -an amazingly, no carnage. After nine rounds, Ranjit Phelan was in first place with a score of 448.9. Along the way he posted a best time of 62.7. Brian Steele was second with a score of 458.8 and his team mate Andrew Davies was third with a score of 461.2.

Another of the father/son teams. Barry and Beau Murphy

A great weekend of racing was able to be completed – despite the initial impacts due to weather. Special thanks to Barry Murphy for making available an excellent flying facility and to Ian Ricard for the hours spent mowing and preparing the field. Thanks to Nerida Matthews who ran the scoring system and to those that helped make the event possible by working as judges, timers and the starter. Notably there were NO reflys!

As usual, there has been intense competition for positions on the Australian team and the final showdown/shoot out for positions will be held at the next competition, which will be held in Cohuna, Victoria in early October.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

FA1

Places:
1st Beau Murphy
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Daniel Arapakis

Fastest Time: 55.73 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 11
Course – 10 Lap

F400

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Brian Steele
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 62.70 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors: 10
Course – 10 Lap

Q500

Places:
1st James Hurley
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Ian Haigh

Fastest Time: 90.16 – James Hurley
No. of competitors: 8
Course – 10 Lap

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

Two events into the new season championship for 2014-2015 and this is how the positions sit.

FA1

Brian Steele remains at the top and Ranjit Phelan has improved his position and jumped into 2nd place, displacing Tom Wetherill down to 3rd place.

1 – Brian Steele
2 – Ranjit Phelan
3 – Tom Wetherill

F400

Ranjit Phelan stays in 1st place, Brian Steele and Glenn Matthews move up into 2nd & 3rd place respectively.

1 – Ranjit Phelan
2 – Brian Steele
3 – Glen Matthews

Q500

James Hurley has moved up to 1st position as well as John Schmidli up to 2nd position. Tom Wetherill is now in 3rd due to not flying at the Munro event.

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

.Full Championship Results>>>

Next Events

Daniel & Beau, 3rd and 1st place in F3D

The next event on the VMPRA calender is the Q500, Sports and EF-1 day at Werribee on August 24. A great event for those flying or wanting to get into racing Q500 class. Even if you don’t have a Q500 aircraft, you can have a go with any sports type aircraft. Ideally a 46 size trainer or sports model would do. Also there is an oppertunity for electric/scale racing with the EF-1 class.

The next full 3 class race event is at Cohuna on October 4-5. This is the last of the 2015 World Championship team trials for F3D class so this is sure to be an exciting event.

Check Event Calender >>>

Event Report: Tom Wetherill
Additional Post items & photos: John Schmidli
Additional Photos: Andrew and Lydia 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

Bendigo July 2014 – Event Report

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Scadtastic

VMPRA returned to the Bendigo Radio Control Aircraft Club (BRCAC) for the annual pylon event that was held at the club’s field in Marong, Victoria on the weekend of 5 – 6 July 2014. This is a very popular event on the VMPRA calendar for many reasons. The club and field are great, the accommodation is very close to the field and the local hotel serves up excellent food, which is very important for getting some extra insulation on the cold winter nights.

While weather can be a factor at this time or year, competitors enjoyed very good overall conditions during practice on Friday and over racing during the weekend. The racing program included Q500 Sport, VIC F400 and FA1, with the objective of flying as many rounds in each class as possible. Per usual VMPRA practice, racing was held over 10 ½ laps to reduce the requirements for the number of course workers.

Friday practice was a somewhat leisurely affair as the weather was good, except for a brief rain shower, and there was plenty of opportunity to get in flights. The field was in excellent condition – and special thanks go out to Rick Townsend spending nine hours with his lawn mower.
Regular competitors came from Victoria and New South Wales as well as a large contingent of racers arrived from South Australia. The host Bendigo club was also well represented with a good number of entries.

Racing got underway on Saturday morning with four founds of VIC F400. There was an impressive 17 entries in this class and it immediately became clear that if Shaun Jacobsen could tame his new DKT powered AR-6, that he would be putting in some good times. Brian Steele had also pried open his wallet and purchased a new Nelson.

By the end of Round 4 he had posted an impressive time of 64.76 seconds, just short of a 64.6 that was posted by Glenn Matthews with his Nelson powered Supercat. Daniel Arapakis and Ranjit Phelan were also fast with times 65 second times.

Next up was Q500 Sport, and this class attracted 13 entries. John Schmidli and Barry Townsend were debuting impressive new Banshee models. Daniel Arapakis “unretired” himself from Q500, as he was saving his FA1 models for the next Team Trial. Three rounds were flown and James Hurley posted the fastest time with a 101.03. Behind him there were many close races. John and Barry were still coming to grips with their new models.

After a brief break, four rounds of FA1 were flown. This class attracted nine entries, including Rick Townsend’s new Veyron and Glenn Matthews new VooDoo. After four rounds, Rick was about 2 seconds ahead of Tom Wetherill, with Bryan Steele in third. Ranjit Phelan had posted the fastest time with a 60.69.

On Saturday evening, most of the competitors met at the Marong Family Hotel for dinner. This was followed by the VMPRA Annual General Meeting, which was held at the caravan park.

Plans for an early start on Sunday morning were thwarted by fog, which did not clear until mid-morning. As a result, the target was re-set at completing seven rounds for each class.

First up was Q500 Sport and times were improving significantly. In the end, James Hurley was in first place with a score of 612.6, Daniel Arapakis was second with a score of 703.4 and John Schmidli was third with a score of 726.6. Tom Wetherill had a score of 606.7, but opted to let the class regulars take the placings. Daniel Arapakis had the fastest time with a 93.95.

The next task was to complete the remaining three rounds of VIC F400 and the pace also improved from the Saturday. In the end, Ranjit Phelan was in first place with a score of 392.3 and the fast time of 62.92…not far behind the pace of the faster FA1’s. Shaun Jacobsen was second with a score of 401.8 and Brian Steele was third with a score of 416.1.

The final class to be flown was FA1 and three additional rounds were completed. Conditions had changed from the prior day and a few 200’s were showing upon the scoreboard. Late in the afternoon the position of the sun became problematic, so starter Mick Kellett would wait for cloud cover to appear before starting the final few heats.

After the seven rounds were completed, Brian Steele was in first place with a score of 391.0, Tom Wetherill was second with a score of 524.6 and Glenn Matthews was third with a score of 526.5. Ranjit Phelan posted the fastest time with a 60.11. Rick Townsend detonated an engine in spectacular fashion.

At the end of the day the awards were handed out to the place getters. VMPRA and the competitors expressed their thanks to the Bendigo club for hosting VMPRA and supplying hot food and drinks, to Rick Townsend for preparing the field, to the people who had worked the course in the cold conditions and to the group from South Australia that had travelled to compete. Tom Jacobson is the ring leader for the SA group and their presence and camaraderie really enhanced the event.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

FA1

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 60.11 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors: 9
Course – 10.5 Lap

F400

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Shaun Jacobsen
3rd Brian Steele

Fastest Time: 62.92 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors: 14
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

Places:
1st James Hurley
2nd Daniel Arapakis
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 93.95 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors: 13
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the full results>>>

2014-2015 Season Championship

This was the first event for the new season championship for 2014-2015 and this is how the positions sit.

FA1

1 – Brian Steele
2 – Tom Wetherill
3 – Glenn Matthews

F400

1 – Ranjit Phelan
2 – Shaun Jacobsen
3 – Brian Steele

Q500

1 – Tom Wetherill
2 – James Hurley
3 – Daniel Arapakis

It’s early days for the championship and everybody has a chance to be in the mix for the championship. All you have to do is go racing.

Full Championship Results>>>

Next Events

The next event is the Victorian State Championships being held on August 2-3, at the fantastic pylon racing field of Barry Murphy’s. Not only is this the State Champs, but it is also another of the F3D 2015 World Championship team trials, so there will be some hotly contested racing in F3D. We will also be flying the 10 lap course and obviously, F3D will take priority due to the importance of this result to selecting the next Australian team. As this is a private field, If you would like to attend this event and don’t know the location, please contact a member of committee for directions. See you all there.

Check Event Calender >>>

Event Report: Tom Wetherill
Additional Post items & photos: John Schmidli

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

AMPRA 2014 – Event Report

Posted on June 16, 2014 by Scadtastic

The 2014 AMPRA Championship event was held at the Maryborough club’s field, Queensland on the long weekend of 7 to9 June. Five classed were flown including FA1 (FAI – F3D), F400/F3T, F3R and Q500 Sport. FA1 was the first of a series of team trials to represent Australia at the 2015 F3D World Championships that will be held in Olomouc, in the Czech Republic. In addition to the competition for places on the Senior Team, Daniel Arapakis and Joseph Black, were competing for the opportunity to represent Australia as a Junior.

A large contingent from Victoria travelled to the event –either by driving the 4,500 km round trip or flying to Brisbane and renting a car. Most arrived on the Thursday evening and were ready to start practice on Friday morning. The field was in immaculate condition and the club members were on hand to serve up food and drinks throughout the weekend. The weather was also perfect and the forecast was looking good – so everyone was looking forward to the weekend ahead.

(L-R) Tyler & Warren Mees, Leigh Hocken, Vern Gibson and Barry and Beau Murphy

The first event on the program for Saturday was to complete five rounds of FA1. There were 15 entries – 8 from Victoria. Leigh Hocken, Tyler Mees and Beau Murphy all set an impressive pace, each recording 57 second times. There was plenty of close and exciting racing, however, at the end of Round 5, Leigh was just ahead and had posted a best time of 56.86seconds. For the Juniors, Daniel had posted four scores and Joseph had two scores, with three 200’s.

After a leisurely break for lunch, five rounds of Q500 were flown. This class only attracted four entries – half of which were from the Mees family. Two places were awarded to the entry level pilots– with Jack Hickey taking first and Allan Taylor taking second. Tyler Mees posted the fastest time of 106.58 seconds.

The day’s racing had progressed very well and was completed by mid-afternoon. This allowed plenty of time for further tuning of the FA1’s and other models to get ready for the next day of racing.

Andrew & Daniel Arapakis

On Sunday morning, the field was closed at 0830 and the timing equipment was set up. Four more rounds of FAI were scheduled for the morning, and the matrix was changed from the prior day. Leigh, Tyler and Beau continued their pace and finished in the first three positions with scores of 407.1, 409.7 and 414.8, respectively.

Ranjit Phelan finished the event strongly and ended up with a score of 430.0. Tom Wetherill was fifth with a score of 443.5. Daniel Arapakis was sixth and the first Junior home with a score of 450.6 – edging out Brian Steele. A good result for the Victorian-based racers, who took out five of the top seven placings.

In the afternoon, five alternating rounds of F400 and F3T were flown. F400 (no nitro) attracted seven entries from Victoria and New South Wales and F3T (15% nitro) attracted 11 entries from Queensland. There was close racing in both classes. In F400 there was a tie for first place as well as a tie for third place – first time that anyone could remember that happening! In order to break the ties – fly-off’s were held. The first fly-off was between Ranjit Phelan and Daniel Arapakis for first place and both pilots had one cut. However, Ranjit had the lower score and took out first place.

Tom Wetherill and Tony Howse had a fly-off for third place. However, Tony had a cut and Tom Wetherill took third place. The fastest time in F400 was a 65.42 recorded by Ranjit Phelan.

In F3T, Greg Gillies was setting the pace with impressive speed from his Nelson powered AR-6. Joseph Black was not far behind after five rounds, with a best of 62.86. An additional two rounds of F3T was flown on Monday morning for the QLD racers, as the Victorians had to start the trip back home.

On Monday, the weather turned and became quite windy. The remaining two rounds of F3T were flown. Greg Gillies placed first with a score of 390.1, Joseph Black was second with a score of 400.3 and Rod Williams was third with a score of 414.0.

The last event on the program was F3R, which attracted nine entries from Queensland. Five rounds were flown and Bruce DeChastle had a win by a very narrow margin – 298.9 to 299.0 that was posted by Greg Gillies. Rod Williams was third with a score of 318.7.

AMPRA 2014 was very well organised and a great success. The competitors also shared duties working the course and refly’s were a rarity. Most importantly, after four days of flying and racing – no models had been lost. The Victorians enjoyed the event, the weather and the local hospitality from the club and the event organisers.

Report: Tom Wetherill (Thanks fro a great report Tom).

Warrnambool April 2014 – Event Report

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Scadtastic

With the Friday being ANZAC day, it was a good chance to leave early for the trip to Warrnambool and do some test flights and setting up. The weather on the Friday was quite spectacular. Quite a few of us camped out at the field.

Saturday started off with rain but this dispersed by the time test flights started. After setting up the course, F400 started. With the first round completed, it was decided that the course needed to be re positioned due to a visibility issue with the no. 1 pylon judges. There was long grass obscuring the planes taking off, causing some confusion as to which plane to follow. If you don’t know all the plane very well, it is very easy to end up following the wrong plane if you can’t see the launch.

The course was reset and racing started again having dropped the already raced rounds. It was around 11am by the time we got going again. As a result, the number of rounds ended up being 7 rather than the usual 9 rounds for the weekend.

This was also exacerbated by having to reset the course at the last minute on the Sunday due to the predicted wind direction.

Pylons 2 and 3 judges were in place all week end which was excellent. Again this makes for legitimate results.

Thanks goes out to the members of the Warrnambool Club, Toni Axon, Nerida Matthews and all who helped out with pylon judging.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

FA1

Place getters in FA1, Tom Wetherill, Leigh Hocken & Frank Cassella (L-R)

It was good to see the team of Leigh Hocken and Frank Cassella back racing at this event and doing well. F3D is getting serious now with the next event at AMPRA being the start of the Australian team trials for the next world champs in 2015.

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Frank Cassella

Fastest Time: 57.37 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 11
Course – 10.5 Lap

F400

Places:
1st Glenn Matthews
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 68.71 – Glenn Matthews
No. of competitors: 10
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 96.35 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors: 8
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the full results>>>

2013-2014 Season Championship

This event marked the end of the 2013-2014 VMPRA Season Championship after a total of 8 events for FA1 & F400 and 9 for Q500. I know from my point of view, it has added an additional element to the competition through-out the year.

FA1

2013-2014 Season Champion for FA1 – Barry Murphy

2nd place – Brian Steele
3rd place – Glenn Matthews

Congratulation to Barry Murphy who won by a huge margin even though having raced in 1 less event than the maximum. Brian Steele also raced in 1 less event and came in 2nd.

F400

2013-2014 Season Champion for F400 – Glenn Matthews

2nd place – Andrew Davies
3rd place – Daniel Arapakis

Congratulations to Glenn Matthews on winning this class. It was very close at the top with Glenn and Andrew on equal points with only 1 event left to run.

Q500

2013-2014 Season Champion for Q500 – John Schmidli

2nd place – Daniel Arapakis
3rd place – Jim Orenshaw

It was a tight battle all season between Daniel and myself and I had not expected to be able to defend my title from the previous year. Daniel announced at Warrnambool that he was going to retire from Q500 and put all his efforts into FA1 & F400. Well done Daniel. He was responsible for many of us cutting our personal bests by a considerable amount. There is nothing like strong competition to sharpening your performance.

Full Championship Results>>>

New Event

There has been the addition of a Q500, EF-1 & Sport event scheduled for Werribee on August 24, so all those interested, pencil this one in to the calendar. We have been getting quite good size turnouts at these 1 day events, especially being to close to Melbourne.

Next Events

The next event for those wanting to travel to sunny Queensland and to the 1st of the 3, F3D world champ team trials is AMPRA which is being held at Maryborough on the Queen’s birthday week end . Check out the AMPRA schedule and the QMARA website.

The next VMPRA event is at Marong near Bendigo on July 5-6. We intend to run the VMPRA AGM on the Saturday night. Time and location TBC.

Report & Photos: John Schmidli

The written content in this post is accurate to the best of my 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

Munro March 2014 – Event Report

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Scadtastic

Once again a great week end was had down at Barry Murphy’s superb pylon racing field at Munro in Gippsland. The weather forecast was for fairly good conditions. There was a really good turnout with 12 compeditors in FA1, 11 flying F400 and 9 flying Q500. It was great seeing interstate competitors there also in Ranjit Phelan and Tony Howse.

It was a very impressive collection of caravans, trailers and gazebos with the addition of Andrew and Daniel Arapakis’s Basecamp van complete with Dannmann18 livery.

We flew 9 rounds of each class with 4 rounds each for F400 & Q500 and 5 rounds of FA1 on Saturday and the balance made up on the Sunday. This was officially the “John Hughan Trophy” event and trophies were given out at the end of racing on the Sunday. John Hughan was a very big influence on pylon racing in Victoria, Australia and internationally. Most of us flew with John in the past and it is fitting that we remember him with this event.

On Saturday Q500 models were randomly scrutinized checking props, muffler baffles, intake venturis and weight. It was great to see this happen. Also there where cut judges on 2 & 3 all weekend which also kept us honest and the racing very competitive. Thanks to all who volunteered to judged on all the pylons. It’s important for the health of pylon racing to run our races this way.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

FA1

The Minute Master crew - 1st, 2nd & 3rd

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

Fastest Time: 59.78 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 12
Course – 10.5 Lap

No change in places from Camperdown with The “Minute Master” Crew coming 1,2 and 3 again. Daniel was only 0.1 of a sec behind Barry after 9 rounds.

F400

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Andrew Davies
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 66.04 – Gary Davidson
No. of competitors: 11
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

Places:
1st John Schmidli
2nd David Axon
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 91.89 – Gary Davidson
No. of competitors: 9
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the full results>>>

2013-2014 Season Championship

Tony Howse and his beautifully presented F3D model

Now with only one event left for the 2013-2014 Season Championship, we are really down the business end. But also it’s time to consider starting a-fresh for your assault on the title for the 2014-2015 Championship.

FA1

No change at the top with Barry Murphy still in 1st and Brian Steele in 2nd, but Glenn Matthews has jumped up to 3rd place displacing Gary Davidson. It’s tight between these two.

F400

A pair of Super Cats

Glenn Matthews and Andrew Davies are drawn on equal points. It’s a very tight battle at the top for these two. Gary Davidson remains in 3rd place.

Q500

Top position is now John Schmidli with Daniel Arapakis in 2nd having been equal after the Camperdown event. Jim Orenshaw remains in 3rd.

Full Championship Results>>>

Next Event

The next event is at Warrnambool on April 26-27, 2014. FA1, F400 and Q500 classes will be racing. See you there.

Report: John Schmidli
Photos: John Schmidli & Andrew Arapakis

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
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Bacchus Marsh, March 2014 – Event Report

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Scadtastic

Not sure how many people we would get to this event, the good weather and an location that is close to Melbourne, brought out a good number of people. We ended up with 12 Q500, 4 sports and 2 EF-1 pilots. There was a couple of Scanner pilots there but it is a little surprising that with the popularity of this model and the scanner racing program, that there wouldn’t be more interest in going racing more often and trying out flying the international recognized FAI pylon course. Theoretically, I believe the Scanner actually conforms to the Q500 rules, so could be flown as a Q500. A good way to start.

We ran 4 rounds of each class before lunch and another 3 rounds after lunch. There was no helpers for the event so, we took it in turns with Pylon#1 and being starter. I think all who attended had a good time.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results:

Q500

Daniel was blitzing the field again with some fast time. Unforntuneately, a model that Barry Townsend and Tony Curzon were sharing was written off in the first race.

Places:
1st – Daniel Arapakis
2nd – Tom Wetherill
3rd – James Hurley

Fastest Time: 90.37 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors: 12
Course – 10.5 Lap

Sports

There was a bit of a mix of planes in this class, but all where able to work on improving their times. Tony Curzon’s Nemesis was flying very nicely and looked the part going around the course.

Places:
1st – Tony Curzon
2nd – Brian Steele
3rd – Matt Young

Fastest Time: 117.11 – Tony Curzon
No. of competitors: 4
Course – 10.5 Lap

EF-1

Unfortunately Walter Muller’s plane was damages during a take-off incident, so Alan Swift flew 4 round on his own.

Check out the full results>>>

2013-2014 Season Championship

With only 2 races left for the championship, the battle at the top has seen Daniel Arapakis catch up to John Schmidli (myself) on equal points with only accumulated times leaving me at the top (for now)!

Full Championship Results>>>

Next Event

The next full FA1, F400 & Q500 2 day event is at Bazza’s paddock down at Munro on March 22-23, 2014. Sure to be a good turn out as this is a great venue for pylon racing. As this is a private flying field, if you are interested in attending this event and don’t know the location, can contact the committee for the address.

John Schmidli

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

Camperdown Feb, 2014 – Event Report

Posted on February 11, 2014 by Scadtastic

Pylon racing in Victoria was off to a start for the first time this year with a return to Camperdown. As with nearly every race since June, weather had an extraordinary effect on the race. It was hot hot hot!

I’m not sure if it was the predicted hot conditions or the fact that this race was a little early in the year than usual, but numbers were a little down but all who attended seemed to have a good time and the weather actual led to extra socialization after racing finished on the Saturday both at the field and back at the Motel.

Proceedings started on the Saturday with 4 rounds of F400, followed by 3 rounds of Q500. After lunch the day was finished off with 4 rounds of FA1. Sunday started early at 8:30 to try and beat the heat with 3 rounds of FA1, 4 rounds of Q500 and then 3 rounds of F400. Then we had lunch and headed home early. There was some good clean racing and no models went home in a plastic bag. There was only some broken props and under-carts as the ground was a little hard and uneven.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

FA1

The masters and their apprentice (Beau & Barry Murphy and Daniel Arapakis).

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

Fastest Time: 60.44 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 9
Course – 10.5 Lap

F400

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Gary Davidson
3rd James Hurley

Fastest Time: 67.26 – Gary Davidson
No. of competitors: 9
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

There was only 4 people competing this weekend which was really down on recent numbers. Daniel was quick as usual but was finding difficult to get a clean round. James was in form with mostly clean rounds.

Places:
1st James Hurley
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 91.14 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors: 4
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the full results>>>

2013-2014 Season Championship

We are over half way through the 2013 – 2014 VMPRA Championship Year with only Bacchus Marsh (Q500 only), Munro & Warrnambool left to go.

FA1

Barry Murphy is in a very strong position in first place, Brian Steele remains in 2nd and a change in 3rd place of Gary Davidson displacing Glenn Matthews who is now in 4th position.

F400

Glenn Matthews is now in 1st position after displacing Andrew Davies who is now in 2nd place. Gary Davidson remains in 3rd place.

Q500

No change in Q500 for the places with me (John Schmidli) in 1st, Daniel Arapakis in 2nd and Jim Orenshaw in 3rd.

Full Championship Results

Next Events

For the Q500 pilots, there’s a race at Bacchus Marsh on March 2 which will also include EF-1 & Sports.

The next full FA1, F400 & Q500 2 day event is down at Bazza’s paddock down at Munro on March 22-23, 2014.

Report: John Schmidli
Photos: John Schmidli & Andrew Arapakis

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

67th MAAA Model Aircraft Championships – Pylon Racing Report

Posted on January 14, 2014 by Scadtastic

Pylon racing classes for FA1, F400 and Q500 were included in the 67th MAAA Model Aircraft Championships that were held in Albury, New South Wales on 28 to 30 December 2013. The Nationals was hosted by the VMAA and the pylon event, which organised by the VMPRA, was held at the Twin Cities Model Aero Club’s field. The club provided some of the workers necessary to run the event, with the competitors filling in where possible. One day of practice and two days of racing were planned, with the objective of running 9 rounds in each class.

The flying field had undergone some significant changes since the last time the pylon fraternity had visited. Most notably, there was an impressive concrete runway, which replaced the previous runway that was made from conveyor belt matting. However, a new feature was a permanent pilot station and a large sunshade structure that was located immediately adjacent to the runway. The proximity the sunshade as well as the fencing and a power line that was located on the landing approach at one end of the field meant that the pilots would have a challenge landing their models after each race.

Contestants from Victoria and New South Wales began arriving on Saturday 28th December to complete registration and get in some practice and tuning for the conditions. The temperature was in the mid to high 30’s and there was a Total Fire Ban in place across the border in Victoria. Most chose to put in a few flights before heading back to the swimming pool at their motel for refreshments.

On Sunday morning 29 December, the course was set up to allow for the cross-wind conditions. Racing was conducted over 10 ½ laps, with the timers being located at the No1 pylon. Temperatures were slightly lower than the previous day, but conditions were still very hot being in the low 30’s.

Racing got underway mid-morning with 5 rounds of F400 being flown. There were 10 entries and Ranjit Phelan set the pace with a fastest time of 64.85 seconds. Andrew Davies lost a model when it came in contact with a pylon and others tried to sieve their models through the fences and sunshade structure during landing.

Next up was Q500, which attracted eight entries. Daniel Arapakis set the early pace with an impressive time of 94.96 that was backed up with a couple more times in the 95 second range. Jim Orenshaw also posted some impressive 95 second times.

FA1 got underway mid-afternoon and there were 10 entries. However, this was the hottest part of the day and the walk to and from the flight line in the heat was beginning to take its toll on the pilots. As a result, only three rounds were flown before it was agreed to call it a day. The heat also meant that the race times were not as fast as are seen at other locations.

Before racing could get underway on Monday 30 December the course had to be changed, as the wind was coming from the opposite direction…but still a cross-wind. This took some time as the course had to be laid out to avoid obstacles and to stay clear of the control line area that was being used for other Nationals events.

Racing recommenced by mid-morning with four more rounds of FA1 being flown. The heat as well as the rate of attrition increased with both Andrew Davies and Gary Davidson losing models. In the end, Ranjit Phelan flying a model of his own design and manufacture was in first place with a score of 403.4. He was followed by Tom Wetherill with a VooDoo who posted a score of 405.9. Rick Townsend was third with a score of 408.6. Ranjit also posted the best time with a 62.84.

Next up was Q500 and four more rounds were flown to complete the class. David Axon and Barry Townsend had a spectacular mid-air at pylon 1, obliterating both models. Daniel Arapakis cruised home to first place with a score of 687.2. His time of 94.96 was the fast time for the event. Jim Orenshaw was second with a score of 750.6 and James Hurley was third with a score of 802.5.

F400 was up last, with four rounds being flown in the afternoon heat. By this time the pilots and workers were all getting tired and dehydrated so it took some time to get all the rounds completed. The final result was that Ranjit Phelan was in first place with a score of 480.7 with his Nelson powered Polecat. Daniel Arapakis was second with a score of 488.0 with his Nelson powered Terry O’Connor model. Tom Wetherill was third with a score of 512.5 with his Nelson powered Loki. Ranjit’s time of 64.85 seconds from the prior day held as the fast time for the class.

It was a sun burned and somewhat weary group that packed up after the event and stayed on for the prize giving ceremony. Trophies were given to the top three finishers in each class. Special thanks were given to Glenn and Nerida Matthews for running the event, Toni and David Axon for working as starters, the people who worked the course and the host club for providing their facilities.

For more photos, check out the gallery

Report – Anonymous
Photos – Andrew Ararapakis

Munro Nov, 2013 – Event Report

Posted on December 4, 2013 by Scadtastic

Beau Murphy on home turf

The last VMPRA event for this calendar year was held at Munro (near Bairnsdale) at Barry Murphy’s superb, purpose built, pylon racing field. We usually get a good turn-out for events at this venue but as usual only the weather can put a dampener on it. Well, this was literally the problem. Showers on Saturday & Sunday stopping racing briefly until rain settled in on the Sunday afternoon bring the event to another early ending. It has been a bit of an ongoing theme this year.

Despite this there was some good racing to be had. Saturday morning was started with 4 rounds of F400 followed by 4 rounds of Q500 and then 4 rounds of FA1. Sunday started with 3 more rounds of FA1 and then we only managed 1 round of Q500 before the rain settled in.

It was great to see James York from South Australia and Ranjit Phelan from NSW at Munro. Although Ranjit does this fairly regularly, it’s great that these guys travelled such long distances to go pylon racing. Such is the passion we have for this facet of the hobby.

Results

F400

With little over a second between Andrew Davies & Tom Wetherill, it was a close result from 1st to 2nd places.

Places:
1st Andrew Davies
2nd Tom Wetherill
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 66.91 – Tom Wetherill
No. of competitors – 8
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

Daniel was back in fine form with a convincing win in Q500. It was unfortunate that Matt Young broke his plane on the 1st race of the week end and spent the good part of the Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning rebuilding his plane only to have the rounds cut short by the weather so he didn’t fly again for the event. It was good to see Matt back racing and now he’s got a license and a car, we hope to see him more often. James York, also had a plane wrecked in the 1st round but luckily flew his backup plane for the rest of the week end.

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Mike Kellet
3rd Tom Wetherill

Fastest Time: 92.67 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors – 10
Course – 10.5 Lap

FA1

Daniel Arapakis and his very proud father, Andrew

It was good to see Ranjit back down in VIC and he was in fine form taking first place. The story of the week end for our premier class was Daniel Arapakis’s first ever race in FA1. He didn’t just get up there and fly around way off the course. He was attaching right from the start, not only giving Gary Davidson and Jim Orenshaw a good run for their money but beat them with a time of 67.47. Unfortunately this enthusiastic approach to his racing saw a mid-air between him and Gary later in the event. There was also a mid-air between Vern Gibson and Tom Wetherill.

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Barry Murphy
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 58.93 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors – 11
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the results in detail

2013-2014 Season Championship

FA1

Barry Murphy increased his lead from 9 to 13 points with Brian Steele and Glenn Matthews remaining in 2nd & 3rd place respectively.

F400

Gary Davidson remained in 3rd place while Andrew Davies moved ahead of Glenn Matthews into 1st position.

Q500

There was no change in positions with myself (John Schmidli) in 1st, Daniel Arapakis in 2nd and Jim Orenshaw in 3rd place, but Daniel has eaten substantially into my lead.

Full Championship Results

Next Event

There is no other VMPRA events for the rest of the year with the first one being at Camperdown on 1st and 2nd of February (2014).

In the meantime, there is the MAAA Nationals on at Albury/ Wodonga on December 28-30, 2013. Don’t forget to fill in an entry form if you going to fly at the Nats.

Check out the Event Calender for these events and all the new event entries for next year. Make sure you put them in your diary so you don’t miss any of the action.

I won’t be at the Nats so if anybody would like to do a report and/or photos for the Nationals, I’ll put then on this site. So wishing you all a great Christmas and here’s to some more fun racing next year.

John Schmidli (Report & Photos)

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender

Hamilton 2013 – VMPRA State Championship – Event Report

Posted on October 22, 2013 by Scadtastic

Event

On the week end of October 12-13 (2013) the VMPRA held the Victorian State Pylon Championships which was held in Hamilton. Ironically, this is the event that we see a good number of our South Australian friend come across to enjoy a great weekend of pylon racing. On the Friday afternoon when I arrived, there were more of the SA guys at the field than Victorians. All up, there was 7 SA pilots plus a few partners along for the trip and calling.

There was quite a few of us camping over the weekend despite some dire weather predictions. It turned out to be a very pleasant spot to camp. The field at Hamilton was very green with plenty of grass and solid ground. No need for me to get towed out of the mud this time.

We had a great deal of help from the Hamilton members They manning #1 pylon and also number 2 & 3 pylons where manned all weekend. Along with the catering, the VMPRA were very grateful to the Hamilton members.

All weekend we had fairly windy condition with a threat of worsening conditions on the Sunday, so we managed to get 5 round of each class raced just in case Sunday racing was cut short. Yep… It was! F400 completed their 4 rounds on Sunday but Q500 was cut short and FA1 didn’t get to fly at all. It’s been a on-going theme since the new racing season started on July.

Results

FA1

This class being the Formula One of pylon racing and travelling at similar speeds, people who see this class for the first time can not believe what they are seeing.

Leigh Hocken was on form for this weekend after an early hickup in the form of a spectacular wing failure while practicing on Saturday morning. Gary Davidson also lost his model. He now knows where pylon #3 is as he hit it during a race.

We had a couple of pilots from SA flying in the class (Stuart Humpherson & Tom Jacobsen).

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Barry Murphy
3rd Brian Steele

Fastest Time: 61.98 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors – 10
Course – 10.5 Lap

F400

A good size field for this class with 13 compeditor of which 6 were from SA.

Mike Kellet lost his KD Racer (jnr) after he lost it around #1.

Places:
1st Glenn Matthews
2nd Andrew Davies
3rd Terry O;Connor

Fastest Time: 67.89 – Andrew Davies
No. of competitors – 13
Course – 10.5 Lap

Q500

Not my best weekend for this class as I went home with 2 broken models but all caused during dodgy landings. I think the was one less Viper after John Yianni crashed his. The Tee-Que 500 is now becoming the more prevalent Q500 model now. Daniel was flying his new Tee-Que on the weekend.

Places:
1st Tom Weatherill
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Daniel Arakakis

Fastest Time: 99:33 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors – 9
Course – 10.5 Lap

Check out the results in detail

2013-2014 Season Championship

FA1 – Barry Murphy has consolidated his lead further now being 9 points in the lead. Brian Steele has jumped up to 2nd position and Gary Davidson has slipped one position down to 3rd.

F400 – Glenn Matthews and Andrew Davies are in 1st & 2nd place respectively on equal points and Gary Davidson is only 2 points behind them in 3rd place. This is a really close battle.

Q500 – I’ve (John Schmidli) increased my lead with Daniel Arapakis 6 points behind in 2nd place having displacing Jim Orenshaw who is now in 3rd position.

Full Championship Results

Next Event

The next event is on November 23-24th and is back at Bazza’s Paddock near Munro. This purpose-build pylon racing field is fantastic and we always enjoys racing there. I hope to see lots of competitors at this event. If you need to find out the location, as it’s a private field, you can contact a member of the committee and we can give you directions. This is a great place to go pylon racing for the first time, so grab a Quickie model come along.

Another great chance to try pylon racing for yourself, is a club event at the LDMFA on November 10. Although not an official VMPRA event, this is open to anybody as long as you are a VMAA member. It will be a Q500, Sports & Electric pylon race (10.5 laps only). Visit the LDMFA site to find out more.

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

John Schmidli (Report & Photos)

Quick Reference

Event Result
Photo Gallery
Season Championship
Event Calender