Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
After a few flights of my Blue Ray, on 2S and then on 3S packs, I'm getting used to it and am practicing flying around practice pylons. I'm going much faster and quicker with more control than I had imagined possible already. I'm Hooked!
The next big step will be flying with other pilots in the air, not to mention real racing. But I'm hooked on the Blue Ray and in electric pylon racing!
Addendum -- I got to talk to Tim today, and I learned that he gets 1-2 requests a day for the free Blue Ray plans. If anywhere near all those people build and fly Blue Rays, Look Out World!
PM me your email address and I'll have Tim email you the plans, etc.
Jim
< Message edited by rocket_jim -- 3/31/2008 2:05:06 AM >
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
Wow! This forum went down yesterday after I posted here, and my post is gonzo! Oh well. It was overly long, anyway.
The portable pylons are ready. We will use 200 feet pylons separation for our first 2S race.
Not long till our first Blue Ray racing. Informal racing in a week at the RCRC Electric Fun Fly Saturday April 26 - a good chance to run thru our rules and procedures and heat sheets and to do some laps and timed heats around the new pylons without the pressures of a real race. Then less than a month till the May 10 race 1 of 3 NARCA pylon races this season. Flyer attached in case you'd like to see it. I looked around, but I had difficulty finding good go-bys for such flyers. I'd love to see your typical pylon race flyer if you have a good one that attracts pilots and spectators, too.
Jim
< Message edited by rocket_jim -- 4/19/2008 12:38:14 PM >
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
With less than a week to go till the first official Blue Ray Electric Pylon Race May 10 at NARCA Epps Field in Harvest, AL, I've been a little surprised how little we've heard from the potential contestants.
I'm told that pylon racers are a tiny percentage of the R/C pilots population. Also that they tend toward doing rather than talking about it, before or after. That seems to be true!
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
The first official NARCA Blue Ray pylon race at Epps Field is history. Tim Batt, Mr. Blue Ray himself, shared the following:
In our first BR race, Tim Batt finished first with a total of 68 points. Doug Bebensee finished second with 66 points. Ernie Duffey finished third with 58 points, and Archie Phillips came in fourth with 56 points. This was Archie's first race, and he finished only 12 points behind the leader after 8 heat races. Great job Archie!
What keeps the scoring close is that we award points only for the number of completed laps in two minutes. This leads to ties which often brings the rear of the pack up in points. It works!
Doug became the cut king with the highest number of cuts. He kept saying that if you don't make a cut, you don't know where the pylon is. Well I sure found out where they are! I nailed one dead center! (I'm not going to tell you about the fact that Doug kept telling us to NOT HIT THE PYLONS!). I'm the third pilot to have this honor. The first was Ernie during a practice session, and then Tony Coberly after the RCRC race while hot dogging.
During the course of the race, Archie and I were the only ones to crash. Archie's plane started having problems after lunch when we did a 3 cell race just for exhibition (no points). We wanted to show every one what the upper racing class would look like. Archie's radio started having problems and caused a minor crash. Some CA took care of the repair.
Oh, one other "crash" occurred. Ernie's plane managed to hit Archie's plane after Archie had safely landed. Ernie's plane struck the tail of Archie's plane and destroyed the vertical fin. About five minutes later, and some hot glue this time, Archie was ready to go again.
I am going to declare the first race a success, not because I won, but because we all had a great time. During the last heat we were cracking up and laughing so hard we could barely fly. I can hardly wait till the next race!
< Message edited by rocket_jim -- 5/13/2008 12:27:33 AM >
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
I'm momentarily Blue Ray-less. Last weekend on my second flight of the day I had a slow but unexpected slightly rough landing. Not sure, perhaps a bug bit me!
Anyway, it looked bad from across the field and even worse in person. One rubber band flew clear across the field! The fuselage was ripped into three sections, a total loss. Blame it on the too-strong rubber band? But the sturdy wing was still just fine. I've come to realize from this and from earlier flights that the front 1/3 of the fuselage is the Blue Ray's Achilles Heel. Or you could say, "Fortunately, the front third of the fuselage absorbed all the energy!"
So I won't spend too much time next time around on the fuselage. Just slap it and several spares together and plan for them to be expendable items.
The next NARCA BR race will be July 26, the Firecracker 4-Minute. 2S and 3S classes. A bunch of normal 2-minute heat races leading up to a 4-minute Final in both classes.
I have a draft logo for that race, any suggestions or improvements?
Jim
< Message edited by rocket_jim -- 5/18/2008 1:39:36 AM >
Posts: 197
Joined: 7/12/2003 From: Provo,
UT, USA Status: offline
I thought you all might wanna see a picture of the Utah Valley 1/2 A Pylon group. This includes the Glow powered (radared at 80-90 mph) and the GWS Electric Warbirds (radared at 45-50 mph)
_____________________________
Mike Gordon AMA 320990 RC Pylon Racing, the ultimate thrill, when sex and drugs just ain''t enough.
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
If there is one thing I've learned in my forray into pylon racing, it's that most pylon racers are really quiet, almost secretive folks on-line. Threads like this one get lots of looks, but few comments. I have been told off-line that's normal and to be expected.
But sometimes it gets a little lonely posting the latest racing news and views, and I wonder if anyone really cares - till I look at the number of hits the posts get.
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
I've been enjoying the Blue Ray this season, but I have destroyed several along the way. I'm beginning to think it's a little small, light, and fast for a brand new pylon racer (like me!) to start out on.
Has anyone found a quick-building foamy electric pylon racer kit with an aerodynamically shaped wing (not flat!) for $40 or thereabouts?
I see where the GWS warbirds and the GWS Formosa may be in that price range, but they are made from EPS. My experience on several EPS planes is that that "S" stands for shatter. So something made out of EPP would be wonderful for a little durability, even if it's a little heavier.
Posts: 53
Joined: 11/24/2005 From: Madison, AL, USA Status: offline
Well, the Firecracker 4-minute 2008 is history! Tim hopes to make it an annual event.
We had 8 entrants. That's double what we had at our first race. If we double participation every time, then the sky's the limit! All had Blue Rays, plus a few brought Run What You Brungs to make it interesting. On the 200 feet apart pylons, the 3s Blue Ray was the clear speed and quickness winner in all classes. Well Duh!
The RCRC Guys went home talking about having a race or even two there yet this season if they can just work it into the busy club schedule. We'll bring our clipboards, our pylons, and our enthusiasm! Oh, yes, our planes!
We had about an hour rain break mid-day. Showed me how many close friends I really have when it comes time to share my pop-up in a driving rainstorm!
Unfortunately my built the night-before and maidened in the first heat race Blue Ray took several heats to dial-in, and I really think something was wrong with it besides the loose pilot nut. Unfortunately it got strained thru a tree, obliterating the evidence. Fortunately it was a low tree just inside the Black Poison Ivy and Ticks Forest. So with a long PVC pole and some luck, I got all my gear back.
And the wet weather ... Slosh! standing water in the grass, and barefoot people all over after the rain! Call it Woodstock without the music, the drugs, and the Love! ... weakened the Scotch tape hinging the ailerons of my Outrage. So at any speed, it would only roll left. What an exciting heat that was. Fortunately I was somehow able to loiter during the race high-lefting to the amazement of the crowd (What's Wrong with That Guy!?) and to bring it back down safely to fix and to fly another day. Now I wonder why I did not try using the barn-door rudder to turn it, but my left hand is pretty dumb so far!
You who were not there missed quite a day of sun, rain, sloshing, and flying! Jim
< Message edited by rocket_jim -- 7/28/2008 2:24:15 AM >
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RE: Where, if anywhere, is electric pylon racing? - 
