Warrnambool 2017 – Event Report

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The VMPRA was back racing in Warrnambool, a regional city on the West Coast of Victoria. The Field was in really good condition and the club was sporting some new structures in the form of a new club house and shed. The new club house was yet to be fitted out, so the guys from SA & NSW were allowed to set-up camp in there.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Travelling to Warrnambool on the Friday was a wet affair although conditions at the field where dry enough for setting up camp and to carry out some practice flights.

Saturday was off to an early start and once setup and was completed, we started with F400. Five rounds were completed and by lunch.

Next up was five rounds of FA1. The full Australian F3D 2017 World Championship team were present for this event so we got to see them in some of their final practice and preparations before heading off to Sweden in late July.

By the time  the FA1 racing had finished it was getting late. We started Q500 with a healthy field of 9 pilot and managed to complete 2 rounds before low light started to become a problem. After stopping for the day, the drizzle set in.
Unfortunately, that was pretty much the weather for the whole night and most of the next day resulting in no racing on the Sunday and pulling up stumps after lunch.

FA1 & F400 classes had a result but Q500 with only 2 rounds completed, was a non-event. It was a pity as we had a good turn-out with Pilots from SA, NSW & VIC.

While waiting for the weather to improve on the Sunday morning, a reporter and photographer from the Warrnambool Standard interviewed the World Champ Team plots and took some photos for the news paper.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Shaun Jacobsen

Fastest Time: 57.85 – Daniel Arapakis (New fastest time for the season)
No. of competitors: 10

Class – F400

Places:
1st Shaun Jacobsen
2nd Beau Murphy
3rd Jim Orenshaw

Fastest Time: 65.77 – Beau Murphy
No. of competitors: 9 

Class – Q500

Non-Event – Only 2 rounds flown before being washed out.

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

We now only have 2 more events left for this season’s championship.

FA1

There was not change for the top 3 positions but Daniel has now closed the gap to Leigh down to 5 points from a previous 12 points.

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Daniel Arapakis
3rd – Brian Steele

F400

Like FA1, there has been no change for the top 3 places but the gap at the top 2 positions is 2 points. Only 5 points covers the top 3 positions.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Barry Murphy
3rd – Jim Orenshaw

Q500

No change for the top positions as all 3 receive 1 attendance point after this class was washed out.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Gary Whitbourn

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The next race on the calendar is back at Munro on May 20th -21st.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli
Additional photos – Tom Wetherill

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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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 Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Warrnambool Race Weekend Update

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  • Test flying finishes at 9 am both days.
  • Set up course and be racing by 9.30

Camping available

  • $10 per site per night
  • Could all campers set up outside of the main fence and pit areas please

Contest Directors

  • Leigh Hocken to CD q500 and f400
  • Mike Kellet to CD F3d

Lunch available both days

Munro March 2017 – Event Report

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Back in March, the VMPRA had a race event back at Barry Murphy’s beautifully prepared pylon racing field down at Munro. It was a great event and the weather was kind to us.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

It was great seeing father and son Q500 team, Matt and Xavier Noonan making their first race appearance at Munro as well as seeing Frank Cassella & Tom Prosser putting in really strong performances over the weekend.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Brian Steele
2nd Frank Cassella
3rd Andrew Davies

Fastest Time: 59.97 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 7

Class – F400

Places:
1st Frank Cassella
2nd Andrew Davies
3rd Barry Murphy

Fastest Time: 69.30 – Frank Cassella
No. of competitors: 7

Class – Q500

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

Fastest Time: 95.22 – John Schmidli
No. of competitors: 8

Season Championship

FA1

For FA1, no change for the top 2 positions but Brian Steele has moved from 6th to 3rd position.

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Daniel Arapakis
3rd – Brian Steele

F400

Like FA1, there has been no move for the top 2 positions but Jim Orenshaw has moved up into 3rd position from 5th.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Barry Murphy
3rd – Jim Orenshaw

Q500

Jim Orenshaw remained at the top position 20 points ahead of John Schmidli in 2nd who move up from 3rd with Gary Whitbourn moving down 1 place to 3rd position.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – John Schmidli
3rd – Gary Whitbourn

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The next race on the calendar is at Warrnambool  on April 22 – 23.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli

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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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 Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Camperdown VMPRA Trophy – 2017

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The first full 3 class race for the year which happens to be the VMPRA Trophy, was held at Camperdown over the weekend of February 4 & 5. Camperdown is always great place to go racing and the local club, the Corangamite Model Aircraft Club is situated in the middle of a horse racing track.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Weather for the Saturday was good although the sun was a bit warm and with concerns of possible rain on the Sunday, our CD for the weekend, (Mick Kellett) pushed to do 5 rounds of all classes on the Saturday. It was a long day with Q500 finishing after 5pm. After F3d finish and prior to Q500, we had to do a course change due to the wind direction shifting. At the end of the day, we had complete 40 races.

Sunday was cloudy and a little cooler. Another course change was required which took a little longer as the measuring line had fallen out of the trailer during the previous change and had to be found to set the pylons correctly.

We needed to complete 3 rounds of each class with rain and thunder forecast for that afternoon. F400 and F3D where competed by about 12:30. After a short lunch break, It all began to be a little challenging for Q500. With smallish numbers, and only 2 heats, we stay out at the flight line for refueling and service the planes to save time. A mid-air collation in the first heat, required a run back to the pits and assembling 2nd planes for Myself (John Schmidli) and John Yianni. The next race, James Hurley’s Viper had the tail fail around 2 & 3. He then had to fetch a 2nd plane. Just as the 2 round was starting a short but very heavy rain storm came through stopping proceeding again. Shortly after, racing resumed and we worked through to the end.

The course was packed up, trophies awarded and after saying a our goodbye, we got away before the rain arrived.

It was an enjoyable weekend and was particularly good to see our regular interstaters, Tom, Shaun & Jarrod Jacobsen and John Yianni from SA and Ranjit Phelan from NSW. It’s big commitment to travel these distances.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Leigh Hocken
3rd Shaun Jacobsen

Fastest Time: 58.69 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors: 9
NOTE: There was not cut judge on Pylon #3 for this class all weekend. 

Class – F400

Places:
1st Shaun Jacobsen
2nd Andrew Davies
3rd Barry Murphy

Fastest Time: 68.75 – Shaun Jacobsen
No. of competitors: 11
NOTE: There was not cut judge on Pylon #3 for this class all weekend. 

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd John Schmidli
3rd Jarrod Jacobsen

Fastest Time: 97.55 – Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 7
NOTE: There was not cut judge on Pylon #3 for this class all weekend. 

Season Championship

FA1

No change for the top 3 for FA1.

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Daniel Arapakis
3rd – Andrew Davies

F400

Andrew Davies has moved up to top spot. Barry Murphy has moved up to 2nd position from 4th and Glenn Matthews is in 3rd position having been in 5th position previously.

1st – Andrew Davies
2nd – Barry Murphy
3rd – Glenn Matthews

Q500

Jim Orenshaw & Gary Whitbourn have remained in first and second places respectively with myself (John Schmidli) moving from 5th position up to 3rd position.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Gary Whitbourn
3rd – John Schmidli

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The next race on the calendar is back at Munro on March 18th -19th.

There has been a number of additions to the calendar so make sure you have these new dates penciled in to your diary so you don’t miss any races.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli

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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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 Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Westernport Q500 and Sports – Jan 2017

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These races that we have out at the Westernport club are just a great day and with so  much enthusiasm for pylon racing coming from sports flyers and new Q500 flyers, these events are our best chance at getting new pylon racing pilots into our regular competitions.

Thanks to all the participants and to the WPMAC for hosting the event.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Results

Class – SPORTS

Places:
1st Manny Reiderich
2nd Mark Jocob
3rd Brian Holmes

Fastest Time: 130.39 – Manny Reiderich
No. of competitors: 9

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Daniel Arapakis
2nd Gary Davidson
3rd John Schmidli

Fastest Time: 95.50 – Daniel Arapakis
No. of competitors: 16

Check out the full results>>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli

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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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
Event Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

February Update – VMPRA Trophy

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The VMPRA Trophy is on at Camperdown this weekend (Feb 4-5)

The Field is in reasonable condition and not as dry as this time last year.

Camperdown Racecourse access conditions:

Friday (03/02/2017)
Racecourse is available from 11:00 am onwards. PLEASE DO NOT ENTER EARLIER THAN 11:00 am.

Saturday (04/02/2017)
Gate open at 8:30 am and NO FLYING.
Entries close at 9:30 am and the course is to be set up.
Test Flying from 10:00 am to 10:30 am.
F400 to commence at 10:30 am.
FA1 practice allowed during lunch break.
FA1 to commence after lunch, followed by Q500.

Sunday (05/02/2017)
Field closed for test flying and racing to commence after 9:00 am.

The schedule for both days is F400, FA1 & Q500 and please let me know if you would be interested in being CD.

Please also note our VMPRA annual membership fees are due.

Munro Dec 2016 – Event Report

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VMPRA’s last event for 2016 was in December back down at Munro.
Unfortunately there was no report written up for the event so, this post contains the basic results & championship standings.

Check out the event photo gallery>>> 

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

Results

Class – FA1

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

Fastest Time: 58.78 – Leigh Hocken
No. of competitors: 7

Class – F400

Places:
1st Ranjit Phelan
2nd Barry Murphy
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 68.13 – Ranjit Phelan
No. of competitors: 7

Class – Q500

Places:
1st Jim Orenshaw
2nd David Chippendale
3rd Andrew Arapakis

Fastest Time: 97.52 – Jim Orenshaw
No. of competitors: 5

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

FA1

Leigh Hocken has remained in top spot, Daniel Arapakis and Andrew Davies both moved up 1 position.

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Daniel Arapakis
3rd – Andrew Davies

F400

Ranjit Phelan popped up from 5th to top spot. Andrew Davies and Jim Orenshaw remained in the 2nd & 3rd positions

1st – Ranjit Phelan
2nd – Andrew Davies
3rd – Jim Orenshaw

Q500

Jim Orenshaw & Gary Whitbourn have remained in first and second places respectively but Ian has now moved up into 3rd position.

1st – Jim Orenshaw
2nd – Gary Whitbourn
3rd – Ian Rickard

Check Out Season Championship >>>

Next Race

The first race for 2017 is a Sports & Q500 event to be held on Jan 22 at the Westernport Model Aircraft Club. Looks like we’ll have a really good turn-out. There is always a good amount on Sport flyers there and the Q500 pilots look to be coming out in force.

Only 2 weeks later and we have our first full 3 class event at Camperdown on Feb 4th – 5th. So it all starting up for another year with the F3D world champs thrown in as well.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report and Photos – John Schmidli

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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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 Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

WPMAC – Sports & Q500 Race

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Happy New Year & Best Wishes for 2017!

The first Pylon Race for 2017 is at Western Port Model Aircraft Club (WPMAC) on Jan 22.
WPMAC is keen to promote Pylon Racing Events and many club members are actively building and flying Q500 & Sports Pylon models. This is also the home of Daniel Arapakis our current Australian F3D Junior Team Member.
The interest in Pylon Racing at Mornington Peninsula is possibly due to the F3D & F5D displays at Hastings Foreshore, provided by our members Barry & Beau Murphy and also Andrew Arrapakis’s encouragement of the sport.

There is also a Facebook invitation where you can indicate that you are coming.

Proposed schedule:

Saturday (21/01/2017)
– Field available for practice
– Overnight camping available

Sunday (22/01/2017)
– 8:30 AM Registration & Pylon cage setup
– 9:00 AM Field open for practice
– 9:30 AM Racing to commence

Field location details:

WPMAC is located on Woolleys Rd Crib Point. Turn left onto Woolleys Rd from Stony Point Road when coming from the Hastings direction, there is a 60km sign at that intersection for your reference point. Once travelling down Woolleys Rd, the road into the club is on your right which is located on the second large bend in the road. There are two signs at that point: one has the street names of Woolley Rd and The Esplanade and the other sign is yellow and indicates a concealed driveway. The Club farm gate is also signed with 737. Please proceed down the dirt track and welcome to a fun day of great racing!

Plus here’s a Google maps view of the entrance so you can visualize where it is.
Don’t take any notice of the street and number that Google displays as it’s not correct.
http://tinyurl.com/z2zrj7z

John Schmidli/Allan Swift

Munro Oct 2016 – Event Report

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The VMPRA was back at Bazza’s Munro pylon field for the last of the F3D Team trials as well as the usual F400 and Q500 classes.

Hot Stuff Model Fuels

At the end of the Saturday, the F3D class had completed 8 rounds on the FAI (10 lap) course. The final results for the F3D 2017 WC team was as pictured below: Daniel Arapakis (Junior member), Beau Murphy, Leigh Hocken and Tyler Mees.

Australia's F3D 2017 World Championship Team

After F3D had finished, 4 rounds of F400 were raced before it became too late to continue. Unfortunately weather conditions on the Sunday again prevented any further racing for the weekend meaning that F400 only flew the 4 rounds from Saturday afternoon and there was no Q500 flown at all.

Check out the event photo gallery>>>

Results

Class – FA1

Places:
1st Leigh Hocken
2nd Beau Murphy
3rd Tyler Mees

Fastest Time: 55.67 – Glenn Matthews (10 course)
No. of competitors: 13

Class – F400

Places:
1st Beau Murphy
2nd Ranjit Phelan
3rd Glenn Matthews

Fastest Time: 62.97 – Beau Murphy (10 course)
No. of competitors: 12

Check out the full results>>>

Season Championship

FA1

Leigh Hocken has remained in top spot, Beau Murphy has jumped up from 5th to 2nd position and Daniel Arapakis moved up from 4th to 3rd position. 

1st – Leigh Hocken
2nd – Beau Murphy
3rd – Daniel Arapakis

F400

Gary Davidson has moved up from 3rd to 1st position displacing Andrew Davies and Jim Orenshaw who are now in 2nd and 3rd position respectively.

1st – Gary Davidson
2nd – Andrew Davies
3rd – Jim Orenshaw

Check Out Season Championship >>>

News

There has been some changes in the committee from those elected back in July at the AGM. James and Gary resigned from the president and treasurer positions. Luckily for the VMPRA, there have been some members step up to take these positions. We also had not elected a secretary at the AGM and I have been doing this work until a replacement was founds. The new (acting) committee are:

  • Mick Kellet – President
  • Andrew Davies – Treasurer
  • Allan Swift – Secretary
These positions will hopefully be formalized at a future event. I’d like to thank the new (acting) committee for volunteering to perform these vital tasks for the successfully running of the VMPRA and trust that we will all support them in their efforts.

Next Race

As most of you will know we had to cancel the November event due to adverse weather conditions. Therefore, the next event will be again at Munro on December 3-4 which will also be the last event for the calander year. Hopefully the weather will be kinder to us and lets make this a good one.

Check Out Complete Calendar >>>

Event Report – John Schmidli
Photos – 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/our perspective and reflects how I/we 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 Calendar

Hot Stuff Model Fuels