DonStegall
Posts: 624
Joined: 8/8/2005 From: Monroe,
NC, USA Status: offline
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The truth is that all people are off course on a 2 pole pylon course. The pylons are out in front of you, and all course workers are behind a line parallel to the pylon course. With 3 pole pylon racing, the only people on the course are the pilots and their callers, and the starter. All pylon judges, lap counters/timers have been moved off the course at least for the past 7 or more years. The LA Racer 40 and the Sky Raider Mach II make great sport pylon planes. They have the same wing and stabilizer and the fuselages are effectively identical except for the rounded nose, turtle deck and canopy. We allow both planes in RCPRO Club 40 Racing because they have proven to be effectively identical in performance. Many actually prefer the Sky Raider Mach II. The rudder is slightly larger and they will even hover. The engine size is an issue you have to decide how you want to deal with. On a 2 pole course, the distances required to the pylons dramatically increase for engines over .40 in size. For this reason it is best to stay with .40 engines. Some people shy away from them because the .46 is so predominant now. But if you want to set up an "AMA legal" course, stay with .40 or below. Some groups use the OS .40 LA to keep the speed down. We call this the Silver, or Novice, class in RCPRO Club 40 Racing. I did not have any experience with the 40 LA until fairly recently. I flew an LA powered LA Racer at least 6-8 times today, and let some other people fly it. Takeoffs are more of a challenge with the LA in my opinion. With a Thunder Tiger Pro 40, which is the official engine of AMA 424 Sport Quickie and the recommended engine for RCPRO Club 40 Gold (Advanced) class, the plane gets off with much more authority and takeoffs are easier in my opinion. But the speeds are 25-30 mph faster as well. The engine issue is a challenge. In fact, we are going to have a Club 40 "Outlaw" class at the races at my field. But we are flying on a 3 pole course, and the setbacks are not increased for engines over .40 ... But if you can show guys that the TT Pro 40 is the perfect match for the LA Racer 40 or Sky Raider Mach II, you can possibly start a good trend. The benefit of using the TT Pro 40 is that they can be reused in AMA 424 Sport Quickie when guys move up to that class of racing. The Sky Raider Mach II is now available in solid white or solid yellow, and solid red and solid orange are on the way. Hope that helps, and if it is not enough, I can get you more help.
< Message edited by DonStegall -- 3/11/2007 12:00:42 AM >
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Don Stegall RCPRO - http://www.rcpro.org - http://www.rcpylon.com
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