F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

I'm just wondering why we don't have any F3D in the states. The planes are wicked cool looking as are th Q40, and i was also wondering if the F3D planes are legal for Q40. I myself don't race them because i'm pretty new to planes, but down the road i would like to give it a try.

Just curious


Danny

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

Not only are they wicked cool, they're pretty wicked expensive from what I hear. :)

There are some guys that fly F3D here - enough that the US is able to put together a team to go to the world champs each time. I'm sure some of the guys that race these will chime in with more info.

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

You pretty much nailed it fizzwater... There are maybe 20 guys across the U.S. that actively practice F3D in hopes of making the U.S. Team every other year, but there are NO F3D contests at all stateside in as long as I can remember..

No, the F3D planes are not legal in Q40, they are a bit bigger, and use completely different motors.

It is a difficult event, and truly brings out the best pilots and someone willing to make a substantial investment to get into it, especially considering it only happens every other year, and you need more than one plane / setup..

I've considered dabbling in it, but prefer head to head racing like we do in Q40 versus against a clock.

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

What's one of those MB engines / pipes go for these days, just out of curiosity?

Heck, I fly 424 and 426 mostly because I don't want to spring the "big bucks" for composite airframes for 422.. I'm cheap. :)

424 is an awful lot of fun for a reasonable investment - as far as racing planes go. Around here we've had nearly 30 entries at some races. 2009/2010 were better than 2011, the economy is keeping some folks from traveling, etc.

Danny - what part of the country are you in? I'm sure there's folks that would help you get your feet wet racing.

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

Oh - I went back and looked, see you're in Oklahoma. I live near Kansas City, and between Wichita KS, Hillsdale KS (south of KC) and Kansas City, we typically have scheduled 6 races during the spring/fall season, mostly 424 (thunder tiger pro .40 engines, APC 9/6 sport props) and 426 (Sport-Jett engines, props typically 8.75" to 8.8" dia APC pylon props). The guys in Wichita also ran a few rounds of the new EF1 class at their fall race, that was fun, too. EF1 would be a decent way to try racing, I think - the planes are a little slower, fly pretty well, and we flew it on the same race course as the 424 & 426 planes so the 10 lap times were around 1:40 or so, gives you time to think a little between corners...

We have a couple of guys that come up from Texas to race with us, plus some from Illinois / Indiana / Wisconsin / Colorado, etc once in a while, too - you ought to come up and play this coming year!

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

i dabble in F3D. it is very costly and only a little faster than QM-40. the planes are bigger. the parts come from all over the world. the motors in the past have been hard to run on a consistant basis. now there better but still need lots of know how to keep them running at there peak. the cost are around 2500 to 4500 per set up dependind on what you want to fly.

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

Fizzwater.

Hey man thanks for the infoI may give that a shot if i can come up with the money to build a racer. I do live in oklahoma, but i'm currently deployed to afghanistan. I'll be coming home in a few months so I may hit you up then. All these numbers you were talking about. 422,424,and 426. What classes are those? I know there are Q500(not to interested in), and the Q40(pretty freaking cool).

Thanks Again


Danny</p>

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

Those numbers are the AMA rulebook designations for different events. 422 is more commonly known as Q40. 424 is Q500 airframes, only no hollow molded wings or tails, with the only approved engine being the Thunder Tiger Pro .40 with an APC 9/6 sport prop. 426 is also Q500 airframes, composites allowed, with the Jett engine specified for the class. There is also 428, which is Q500 with the "long stroke" Nelson and Jett engines, which were getting nearly as fast as some Q40 planes.

The 424 planes are probably around 115 MPH or so, maybe a little more. The 426 planes, around 150. 428, upwards of 170+.

Lots of folks use the Viper by great planes as a 424 plane. It's an ARF, not much work to putting one together, and the TTpro .40 runs right around 100 bucks, so the investment in a race plane is not too bad. Dig around in the forums, there are suggestions for reinforcements, etc, that will make the viper last a little longer by beefing up a couple of weak areas.

Stay safe over there, and by all means, contact me when you're back, I'll let you know when the races are, etc.

And thanks for what you're doing!

RE: F3D? Why don't we have it in the U.S.?
 

Danny, you are just up the road from us in Ardmore. Come on down and race in the Q-25 and EF-1 circuits with us in the DFW area. We are just getting our website up and running, but here it is:

www.ntxpylonracing.org