Anyone know Pylon history?
10-07-2008, 06:02 PM
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Anyone know Pylon history?
I'd like to know the history of Pylon, and this seems the best place to ask! It has changed over the years (planes/classes/engines) and can anyone give specifics?
Like....
What year did R/C Pylon start?
Classes
Engines
Planes
What speeds they went?
I'll probably have more questions as it goes.
Like....
What year did R/C Pylon start?
Classes
Engines
Planes
What speeds they went?
I'll probably have more questions as it goes.
10-07-2008, 07:43 PM
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RE: Anyone know Pylon history?
Go to the NMPRA web site and go to NMPRA History it is on the left hand side. The web address is http://www.nmpra.org/ there is a good write up.
10-07-2008, 09:57 PM
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RE: Anyone know Pylon history?
The original pylon race in the 50's was 5 laps around two pylons 0.1 miles apart. Quite boring since only one airplane was flown at a time. Remember, that was before crystal controlled receivers allow more than one airplane in the air on a frequency band. Airplane designs in that early era tied the engine size to wing area. Typical speeds were slow ranging from 30 mph in the 50's to about 75 mph toward the mid-60's.
Jerry Nelson along with a few others on the west coast originated Formula One in the mid-60's. When first started, both semi-scale and prototype designs were allowed. After a couple years, the prototypical designs were no longer allowed, but dozens of scale designs were produced. When the very first races were run, many of the models used .35 sized engine with sport props, so the times for the 10 lap, 2 1/2 mile course were a bit more than 2 minutes.
By 1968, the event was growing in strength and popularity. Over 600 NMPRA members, and races all over the country. At the same time, the east coast pylon members wanted to fly a slightly different event with more wing area. I think that since the west has mostly paved runways, the smaller 450 in wings worked well, while the grass strips in the east needed more wing area. So Formula Two was created with a 600 sq. in. wing was developed. In the end, FII died, and the faster harder to fly F1 carried on.
As the event got faster and faster, the number of people in racing declined. I think the peak was reached when the times were around 1:30, and lost about a third of the membership for each 10 seconds that were cut off of the times. By the end in the early 90's, typical times were under 1:10 for the fastest pilots. With $6-7 fuel for a flight, and $3-5 for the glow plug for each flight, not to mention the travel, hotels, and contest fees, too many were unable to make house payments and race. So after 25+ years, F1 was dead. Engines that started with simple sport engines, soon developed into full blown racing engines running 65% nitro. They were made by K&B, Supertigre, and finally Nelson. A whole host of people modified these engines for competition.
In the early 70's, most people did not think they could compete in Formula One. They were correct, since the engines were difficult to maintain and tune, the airplanes were hard to land (a Q40 lands like a trainer by comparison), props were hand made, and the expenses to be successful were quite large. So in southern California, Glen Spickler developed an airplane call a Quickie 500 for a club racing event. The rules were simple, the engine was stock and cheap, and for about the same cost as a engine rebuild in F1, you could have a new engine and airframe. These airplanes could be built in a couple of evening, or one very long night, and raced by everyone.
The only problem with quickie was that many people did not want to buy the sluggo "standard engine" (like a K&B 8011), but wanted a newer hotter motor. Bad move. Enter the "engine of the month club". Since these engines were unknown quantities, many competitors chose to cheat. Engines like OS, HB, ST, Webra, Rossi, Fox, K&B, and several others came and went. It was a constant chase for power. Some people would buy 4 or 5 to match parts to achieve power. Very expensive. All was lost until:
The Nelson Quickie engine. Blew the rest away. Most of the cheaters quit racing. Numbers when down for the short term, but soon exceeded earlier numbers. There have been some problems, and I think that a single standard engine design should be adopted for the long term.
There was also the Q15 event that came as a simple easy to fly event, and died as an expensive easy to fly event. However, the engines developed for it were great.
Q40 was developed to replace both Q15 and F1. The original intent was to use the Quickie engine, but the people that developed the class blew it. They needed to have a bigger airplane with more drag, so a quickie engine and prop would work. And why do we need two events running the same speed with two airframes?
They should have kept the old F1 airframes, and detuned the quickie engine to slow 428 to about 140-150.
We are getting close to having to seriously consider electric power. Nano technology battery power packs will soon be 1/5 to 1/10 the size and weight of todays systems at higher currents.
Jerry Nelson along with a few others on the west coast originated Formula One in the mid-60's. When first started, both semi-scale and prototype designs were allowed. After a couple years, the prototypical designs were no longer allowed, but dozens of scale designs were produced. When the very first races were run, many of the models used .35 sized engine with sport props, so the times for the 10 lap, 2 1/2 mile course were a bit more than 2 minutes.
By 1968, the event was growing in strength and popularity. Over 600 NMPRA members, and races all over the country. At the same time, the east coast pylon members wanted to fly a slightly different event with more wing area. I think that since the west has mostly paved runways, the smaller 450 in wings worked well, while the grass strips in the east needed more wing area. So Formula Two was created with a 600 sq. in. wing was developed. In the end, FII died, and the faster harder to fly F1 carried on.
As the event got faster and faster, the number of people in racing declined. I think the peak was reached when the times were around 1:30, and lost about a third of the membership for each 10 seconds that were cut off of the times. By the end in the early 90's, typical times were under 1:10 for the fastest pilots. With $6-7 fuel for a flight, and $3-5 for the glow plug for each flight, not to mention the travel, hotels, and contest fees, too many were unable to make house payments and race. So after 25+ years, F1 was dead. Engines that started with simple sport engines, soon developed into full blown racing engines running 65% nitro. They were made by K&B, Supertigre, and finally Nelson. A whole host of people modified these engines for competition.
In the early 70's, most people did not think they could compete in Formula One. They were correct, since the engines were difficult to maintain and tune, the airplanes were hard to land (a Q40 lands like a trainer by comparison), props were hand made, and the expenses to be successful were quite large. So in southern California, Glen Spickler developed an airplane call a Quickie 500 for a club racing event. The rules were simple, the engine was stock and cheap, and for about the same cost as a engine rebuild in F1, you could have a new engine and airframe. These airplanes could be built in a couple of evening, or one very long night, and raced by everyone.
The only problem with quickie was that many people did not want to buy the sluggo "standard engine" (like a K&B 8011), but wanted a newer hotter motor. Bad move. Enter the "engine of the month club". Since these engines were unknown quantities, many competitors chose to cheat. Engines like OS, HB, ST, Webra, Rossi, Fox, K&B, and several others came and went. It was a constant chase for power. Some people would buy 4 or 5 to match parts to achieve power. Very expensive. All was lost until:
The Nelson Quickie engine. Blew the rest away. Most of the cheaters quit racing. Numbers when down for the short term, but soon exceeded earlier numbers. There have been some problems, and I think that a single standard engine design should be adopted for the long term.
There was also the Q15 event that came as a simple easy to fly event, and died as an expensive easy to fly event. However, the engines developed for it were great.
Q40 was developed to replace both Q15 and F1. The original intent was to use the Quickie engine, but the people that developed the class blew it. They needed to have a bigger airplane with more drag, so a quickie engine and prop would work. And why do we need two events running the same speed with two airframes?
They should have kept the old F1 airframes, and detuned the quickie engine to slow 428 to about 140-150.
We are getting close to having to seriously consider electric power. Nano technology battery power packs will soon be 1/5 to 1/10 the size and weight of todays systems at higher currents.
10-07-2008, 10:08 PM
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RE: Anyone know Pylon history?
The Shadel article was good!
HighPlains, THAT was what I was looking for. I knew the classes/planes changed through the years, but wasn't sure of the timelines and all. An old friend raced F1, but the picture of his Nemesis was a big plane, not the smaller .40 size we have now. He is no longer here to give me any details on it, and I wasn't smart enough to ask questions when I could. I was interested in the Q15 and the stages of F1 to Q40. I love to hear any stories of early racing, just like I also enjoy any 50's-early 70's drag racing stories too! A guy at work says his uncle raced pylon in the 70's, so I was wondering how fast they really were back then, compared to todays planes, he says his uncles planes were too fast to time!
Thanks for the great reading guys!
HighPlains, THAT was what I was looking for. I knew the classes/planes changed through the years, but wasn't sure of the timelines and all. An old friend raced F1, but the picture of his Nemesis was a big plane, not the smaller .40 size we have now. He is no longer here to give me any details on it, and I wasn't smart enough to ask questions when I could. I was interested in the Q15 and the stages of F1 to Q40. I love to hear any stories of early racing, just like I also enjoy any 50's-early 70's drag racing stories too! A guy at work says his uncle raced pylon in the 70's, so I was wondering how fast they really were back then, compared to todays planes, he says his uncles planes were too fast to time!
Thanks for the great reading guys!
