Back on September 13, a group of us headed to Lilydale (LDMFA) to compete in a Q500 and Sport racing day. We had a good turn out of regular participants but didn’t get any rookies and only a couple of non regular racers in Maddison Lang and Jarrod Tatham.
Due to the space limitations at Lilydale, the course is shorter than usual so flying a Q500 is quite a bit more frantic than usual. The fastest time for the Q500 for the day was a 72.11, at least 20 seconds shorter than usual.
The weather was great and we all had a great day. James Hurley also did a fabulous job of being contest director for the day. Thanks LDMFA.
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.
While you are waiting for the AMPRA Event Report which is still being worked on. Here’s a news paper article from the Bairnsdale Advertiser reporting on the AMPRA and F5D team selection event.
There has also been a Sports Pylon and Q500 event scheduled for September 13, 2015 at the Lilydale Field (LDMFA). This will be a great opportunity for those who would like to try pylon racing, are new to it or for experienced pilots just wanting to have fun. See Event Calendar >>>
After the Christmas new year break, our minds are now turning back to pylon racing again (as if it wasn’t before!). I hope everybody had a good break and feel recharged for the year ahead.
Sandown F1 R/C Air Race – Jan 11, 2015
This is what we think of Pylon Racing - No.1
There were a group of us from the VMPRA who attended this event to man a static display of various pylon racers, talk to interested people and hand out information about the VMPRA. There were a lot of familiar faces and it was good to see quite a few VMPRA members had also come along to have a look.
Chris & Kevin Callow
Part of the flying displays that a good size crowd gathered in the grandstand to watch, was Chris Callow flying an F3D model (Veyron) who along with his dad, Kevin, had come down from Queensland. Together they put on a stunning display which from my perspective (and a good percentage of the crowd) thought were the highlights of the day.
The weather conditions, although not the rain that had been forecast earlier in the week, was sunny but very windy. To make things difficult, pilots flying the displays had to take-off and land on the Pit-Straight bitumen surface with a strong cross-wind. There were quite a few incidents as a result of the cross-wind.
There was also a demonstration of a Great Planes Viper that was kindly donated by Dawn Trading (http://www.dawntrading.com.au) along with an engine that was also kindly donated by R/C Headquarters – Werribee (http://www.rcheadquarters.com.au/). Unfortunately the Viper was one of those victims of the strong wind conditions and was only flown once by our president, Glenn Matthews.
The event was conceived and put together by Steve Green and a whole team of helpers. It was for the promotion of Remote Control hobbies in general and featured more than it’s fair share of R/C aeromodeling. The ground floor of the grandstand was packed with retailer and special interest group displays. There really was a good crowd. Outside there were flying displays and the main attraction was the large scale F1 air racing. With the strong winds and a mishap with a seagull, the F1 planes were decreasing in numbers throughout the day. When you see how many people where in the stand watching them race, I can only imagine the crowd’s reaction to seeing 4 F3Ds racing in front of them. Now that would be something.
At the VMPRA stand, we talked to a lot of people and quite a few were showing interest. I think being involved in this event was very worthwhile and it was a great opportunity to promote R/C aeromodeling and specifically, Pylon Racing.
The next event is Camperdown on Feb 7-8, 2015 which at time of publishing is less than 3 weeks away. This one isn’t to far from Melbourne and is alway a good first event for the calender year. Looks like people are mainly staying at the Motel or the camping group which is a prime location for some slope soaring after the day’s racing. See you there.
The week after Camperdown, there is a Q500/Sports pylon race at the Lilydale Club, (LDMFA). Although not a VMPRA season championship event, it is a perfect chance to try pylon racing for the first time or improve your skills at flying around the pylon course.
So if you want to have a go, bring along a sport model, trainer or the like and join in the fun. Racing will begin at 10am but allow plenty of time to setup and test fly your aircraft.
Report – John Schmidli
Photos – John Schmidli and Andrew Arapakis
Editing/Proof reading – Caroline 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 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.
Victorian pylon racing started in earnest for 2013 on the first weekend of February with a 2 day event at Camperdown, situated in the western districts of Victoria. The Corangamite Model Aircraft Club is located at the Camperdown race course where they utilize the centre field of the course for r/c aeromodelling.
Events at this time of the year can be a rather hot affair. Luckily this year we experienced mild conditions with both days in the low 20s, partly cloudy and only one rain shower that stopped racing for a short time on the Sunday.
Gary Davidson & Toni Axon
This event consisted of our usual 3 classes of Q500, F400 and FA1 (AUST F3D) and we were able to run 9 rounds of each class over the 2 days. It worked out quite well with roughly half the rounds of each class on Saturday and the balance on Sunday.
The racing was a very clean affair with not one plane destroyed in a mid-air or ground impact. It is a testament to the skills of all when there were at times, some very close racing whilst avoiding planes tangling in the air. There were only a few under-cart repairs required due to the rather hard/dry ground. We were all pleased to have Gary Davidson back racing with us after his accident late last year.
F1A
The Murphy’s were again in fine form with Beau in particular who is preparing for the World Champs later this year, coming in 1st place. Barry came 2nd & Tom Wetherill in 3rd place.
F400
Terry O’Connor came 1st, Tom Wetherill 2nd and myself (John Schmidli) in 3rd place although a long way off the pace.
Q500
This was a bit of an upset (well at least for James Hurley and myself)! Daniel Arapakis in only his 3rd Q500 race (and before that a couple of races with a trainer), gained 1st place with some very quick times. James clawed his way back and finished less than 3 seconds away from Daniel in 2nd place. I (John Schmidli) came 3rd place.
Daniel Arapakis & Beau Murphy
Congratulations to Daniel. If you look at his past average times, you can see a large improvement each time. Nearly all his times were under 100 seconds and his best was 93.96 seconds. His acceptance speech was very amusing, referring to all who have helped him to date as uncles (ie Uncle Beau – his caller, Uncle Barry etc).
At the age of 12, Daniel’s path into pylon racing is a great example of how you can take up the sport beginning with simply having a go on some sports pylon races with a trainer (or similar) then getting into it a bit more seriously with the Q500 class. The Q500 class is a very affordable way to start racing and can be every bit as exciting as the faster classes. He has a great amount of support from his father but has also made friends with many of our experienced members who are very happy to give advice and guide him in the right direction.
Championship
At last count we only have three more races for F1A and F400 and five for Q500 in this 2012-2013 season.
FA1 – There has been no change with the top 3 although Beau Murphy in 2nd place is closing the gap on Tom Wetherill at the top. Glenn Matthews is still in 3rd.
F400 – Jim Orenshaw maintains the top position but now in 2nd is Tom Wetherill and 3rd is myself (John Schmidli).
Q500 sees the top 2 still being James Hurley and me (John Schmidli) respectively but Daniel Arapakis has moved up to 3rd place.
Next Event
Our next 3-class event is back at Bazza’s paddock in Munro on March 23-24.
Before that, there is a Q500/EF-1 and Sports event at Baccus Marsh on March 10.
Although not an official VMPRA event, we are all welcome to participate in a 50 Lap Endurance race at Lilydale (LDMFA) on Feb 17. Classes will be Q500 and Sports.
Anybody interested in taking up pylon racing is encouraged to come to the Bacchus Marsh or Lilydale events. Introduce yourself and give it a go!
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.
Due to the space limitations at Lilydale, the course is shorter than usual so flying a Q500 is quite a bit more frantic than usual. The fastest time for the Q500 for the day was a 72.11, at least 20 seconds shorter than usual.
Class – Q500
