We had a fairly small turnout for the race, only 6 Q-25'ers and 4 EF-1 pilots, but those who came had a good time. The wind was moderately strong, about 15 knots but it was right out of the South, pretty much straight down the runway. With 6 Q-25 pilots, we chose to fly 3-man heats with the idea of decreasing the mid-air probability. Well, THAT didn't happen... In the very first heat, Jerry Hellums and Gary James had a bit too much "togetherness" at pylon #2 on lap #2 and took down both airplanes. Jerry didn't have a spare, so he was out for the day. That left only Jerry Stafford to complete the race. He won... duh. Then, again on the very first heat of EF-1, Jerry Small and Rich Beers airplanes actually got stuck together on the takeoff roll, flew for a short distance and ended up in the grass. Meanwhile, Chuck Anderson had a wheel that was hanging up a bit and also ended up in the grass during takeoff. Once again, that left only Jerry Stafford to complete the race. Hmmmmm. Nobody wanted to fly against Jerry anymore
Regrettably, Jerry tumbled his EF-1 on the landing and that took him out of the rest of the day too. The rest of the Q-25 heats were going pretty well, until Patrick Stubblefield found his airplane to be occupying the same point in space as the top of pylon #2. The pylon won... That left only 4 "survivors". At the end of 5 heats, there was a 3-way tie for first place, but the pilots decided not to fly it off, that way they can ALL brag that they came in 1st
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With only 2 EF-1 guys left to compete after the disastrous first heat, Jerry Small and Chuck Anderson faced off for round #2. Chuck's wheel was still giving him problems and once again he ended up in the grass, but fortunately with no damage. After a few test takeoffs, Chuck decided that the risk to the airplane wasn't worth it and wisely threw in the towel for the day. We made Jerry Small fly around in circles a couple of times just for fun ( and a timing experiment) and afterward declared him the winner.
We uncovered a few issues with EF-1 racing. First, it appears that it is possible to defeat the circuitry in the chargers and overcharge the batteries. There is not currently a rule against such a practice, but it is certainly a dangerous thing to do and is not in keeping with the intent of the rules. The NMPRA has issued a statement regarding this practice and is taking steps to prevent it from occurring in the future. Checking the voltage of the batteries at the start line is one possible solution. Properly charged batteries range from about 16.6 to 16.8 volts. For the immediate future however, the event CD should not allow the practice of overcharging under the safety provisions. I think that the text of the NMPRA statement is on the NMPRA fourm.
Secondly, from what we saw, it would be a good idea to have holders or launchers for the EF-1 airplanes at the start line, just like fuel planes, especially on a two-pole course. Even with a staggered start, the torque from the instant startup of the motor causes the airplanes to swerve on takeoff and creates a collision hazard on the start. The pile-up on EF-1, heat 1 clearly demonstrated the problem.
A great time was had by all, and a special THANKS! to the Golden Triangle RC Club for hosting the race at their field. The next and final North Texas Q-25/C-40 and EF-1 race will be on November 16th at the Fort Worth Thunderbirds RC Club field. Yours truly will once again be the CD. I hope to see you there!
