RCU Forums - View Single Post - .25 Club Racing
View Single Post
Old 02-20-2006, 08:37 PM
  #17  
smokingwreckage
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: , TX
Posts: 242
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default RE: .25 Club Racing

I keep hearing the phrase "if someone wants to move up." At that point it isn't club racing anymore. Most people I know who quit pylon racing do so after crashing their airplanes. It's just too much money to replace planes every 4th or 5th event because of air-to-airs if pylon racing is viewed as a fun club activity. In any event, if someone wants to move up, they'll still have the HOR for when the days are warm and the wind is just a bit high to risk balsa.

Keep the goals of the venture in mind:

1) Fun. This requires equal performance airplanes, such as I proposed above.
2) Cheap. GMS + HOR is less total $$$$ than a Q500 ARF in the box, and will not turn to splinters first bump or muffed landing. Q500s are expensive and fragile, and air-to-airs are common in pylon. HORs will require fewer replacement airframes, and are 1/5 to 1/3 the price of the cheapest Q500 arf when replacement is due. If you don't want ROG starts, a HOR V-tail airframe costs less than $20, all new materials. Also, HORs fly fine on standard servos, receivers, and batteries that most people have stashed in a corner, anyway. No need for expensive mini servos and lightweight batteries to lighten the planes enough a bushing engine will do the job. With flight packs about double the cost of engines, it make sense to use flight packs already owned and buy engines than to use engines already owned and buy flight packs.
3) Small flying area. The Q500 planes are simply too fast (95-100mph), even with a bearing .25 or bushing .40. The HORs might run 65 on a good day with the same engines. You can slow them down even more by requiring a 9x4 MAS or APC prop.

I challenge anyone to come up with a lower cost way to fly aircraft competitive with each other on glow engines in a small area.