Tag Archives: VMPRA

Event Report – Hamilton 2012

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

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

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

Team Selection Results

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

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

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

Season Championship

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

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

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

Next Event

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

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

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

October Update

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Victorian State Championships – Hamilton

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

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

Notes:

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

Hamilton 2011

General Meeting

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

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

Note: Visitors to park out front

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

Event Report – Cohuna 2012

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Tyler & Warren Mees on the way to the line

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

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

Plane ID - Chris Callow's Voodoo being held high

F3D

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

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

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

AUST WC Team Selection Standings

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

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

F400 VIC

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

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

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

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

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

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

John Schmidli

 

August Update

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Next Event

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

Bendigo 2012 place getter's

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

Calender Update

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

Look forward to see everybody down at Munro.

John Schmidli 

Bendigo 2012 – Event Report

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Bendigo once again played host to the VMPRA for a weekend of FA1 (F3D), F400 & Q500.

On the start line and on time

Despite a bleak forecast, the weather was not too bad. Saturday, there were a few showers that stopped racing, but Sunday was much better and wind conditions were good.

All 3 classes completed 9 rounds, with 3 each on the Saturday and 6 each on Sunday. This event was competely void of any flying incidents which is quite unusual but a testiment to the skill and clean racing that went on.

Tom Wetherill's F3Ds

Saturday saw a lot of FA1s struggling with a quite a few flame-outs which wasn’t evident on Sunday and pylon 3 was a bit of a challenge for some reason (or was that just me?!).

Saturday night was the VMPRA Annual General Meeting where office bearers were elected. Glenn Matthews is now the president, I’m the secretary & Andrew Davies is the contest organizer. Gary Davidson was good enough to stay on as treasurer for another 12 months. Thanks goes out to the previous office holders, Davis Axon, Tom Wetherill and Mike Kellet for all their time and effort. Without these people, we wouldn’t be pylon racing in Victoria.

Special thanks should also go to Rick Townsend & Matt Young for their big effort in

Matt Young (left) - A very successful weekend flying F3D

preparing the airfield for this event. It was a great weekend of racing and congratulations goes to Matt Young for his 3rd place in FA1 in only his 2nd go at flying this class. Great to see new talent joining the ranks. This should inspire other young pilots to give pylon racing a go.

Check out the results >>>

Check out photo gallery >>>

The next event is Munro on August 11-12. Check out the calender >>>

John Schmidli

 

Bendigo – Next Event

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Unless you were lucky enough to travel to AMPRA this year, it’s been a bit of a break since the last race. It’s now time to get ready for the next event which is being held at Marong, near Bendigo on July 14-15, 2012. Q500, F400 & FA1 (F3D) will be run on both days (see event calendar).

Also on this week end, is the VMPRA annual general meeting which is being held at the Marong Caravan Park on Saturday night. This is an important meeting as we are electing a new committee and taking care of important business that ensures the smooth running of VMPRA.

Come along and show your support for pylon racing in Victoria. You can even put your hand up for a position on the committee. Without having these committee positions filled, pylon racing in Victoria would not be as strong as it is or may not exist at all.

Look forward to seeing you all there.

Important:

Please note that the club has its regular flying day on Friday mornings, and they are generally finished by early afternoon. As such – it is not recommended to practice until after the club members have finished.

Also – the club wishes to remind us regarding leaving wire cuttings around the pits – please clean up after you have finished as there are sheep in the paddock and they do not want to have them ingest any wire.

Thanks

Werribee Q500 & Sport pylon day

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The weather for this day was brilliant. There was just a light breeze and mostly sunny. There was even a sighting of sun block in the pits.

Discussion in the pits before racing starts

There was some very close racing in Q500. One race saw a mid-air collision between Terry O’Connor and Mark French. Mark came out of it unscathed but the same couldn’t be said for Terry.

EF-1 models on the start lineThere was 3 EF-1 (Electric F1) models racing and a new comer to pylon, Daniel Arapakis racing his trainer. Well done to Daniel! He improved dramatically during the day.

This event is always a great opportunity for people to try pylon racing for the first time.

The results are now post on the site – results>>>

Daniel waits for the countdown to start

And he's off

Warrnambool 2012 – Event Report

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Brian, James, Jim & Tom on the way out to the line - FA1 (Aust F3D)

Brian, James, Jim & Tom on the way out to the line - FA1 (Aust F3D)

After a break from racing of over a month, VMPRA members headed down to Warrnambool for a weekend of pylon racing. Members of the Warrnambool club turned out in force to help and to provide good food and refreshments for the weekend. The field was in great condition but the weather on Saturday was not so good with very strong wind and the rain starting to fall in the afternoon. Sunday really made up for it, with only a light breeze and scatter cloud cover.

On Saturday we flew 5 rounds of Q500 followed by another 5 rounds of F400. Once the rain started falling, FA1 was abandoned for the day.

FA1 about to lauch

FA1 (Aust F3D) about to launch

Sunday started with FA1 & Q500 alternating until 9 rounds of Q500 had been completed and then a further 4 rounds of FA1 was flown to complete the event.

All in all this was a very enjoyable weekend. As well as the on field action, we all went to the pub for dinner and a good chin wag on the Saturday night. It was a pity that entries for this event were down on the usual numbers but there was plenty of good racing to be had by all.

Results have been posted. See results >>>

Warrnambool Club House & Tony Axon

Warrnambool Club House & Tony Axon

Brian Steele Launching James Hurley's Q500. David Axon's model is just in the air

Brian Steel Launching James Hurley's Q500. David Axon's model is just in the air

Full gallery of photos from this event >>>

Check out this video taken at the event>>>

Munro Event Report – John Hugan Trophy

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Although numbers where a bit down due to the F1 Grand Prix in Melbourne and other clashes, this weekend turned out to be fantastic conditions for flying pylon, the field was in great condition and all had a good time.

F400 was flown with 2 new competitors to this class (Barry Townsend & myself) and Q500 saw Matt Carter flying in his second event (1st being Camperdown) and Ian Rickard who usually helps in the pylon cage on these weekends, flew Q500 for the first time.

The result are now uploaded. You can find them here>>>

The next event is at Warrnambool on April 28 – 29. See you there!

Camperdown – VMPRA Trophy – Event Report

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View from the field of Mt Leura. David Axon in the forground.

What a fantastic start to the pylon racing year. Fine weather, great club and venue and a good turnout of competitors.

2 days of flying FA1, F400 & Q500 plus Beau Murphy & Rick Townsend flew their F5D planes as a demonstration event. These things really go. Beau’s 1st event of racing this plane saw him doing a 57.63 on the 10.5 lap cause. The best time with a FA1 was  59.20! I can see that this class has a good chance of gaining traction among the regular pylon racing fraternity plus bring in new pilots from the electric scene.

F400s being identified. Barry Murphy holding Beau's F5D

F400s being identified. Barry Murphy holding Beau's F5D

The results are now on-line, including lap times for the FA1 rounds. You can find the results via the “Results” menu button at the top of the page or follow this link.

Barry Townsend with his GoPro Camera

During this weekend, Barry Townsend took some video with his helmet mounted GoPro camera. It gives you a great view of the scene from the pilot area during a pylon race. It starts off with some Q500, then F400 & FA1 plus there is some vision of the F5Ds. It’s really well worth a look (especially at full scene as the video clip is HD).