In reference to this same letter that Jack Fehling was passing-out at the Mulberry 500 race this last Weekend concerning SEMPRA 424 racing rules:
I agree almost completely with everything that Jack said in his letter. The only thing I’m neutral on is the weight limit change in 424 and 428. There has been a huge amount of discussion on the racing forums about the weight change issue and I won’t go into it again. I really don’t think this change will affect anything much.
I, like Jack, have been racing a long time. I started in 1975 and raced Q-15, the original Spickler Quickee 500 with the K&B 40 engine, ½ A, F-1, and Sport Pylon. I have seen the detrimental effects that “inch-worming” the rules can have on a racing class. In very short order, the event no longer resembles its original form. It no longer meets the needs of the people for whom it was intended. It no longer addresses and solves the original problems for which it was created. What actually happens is that the class then bumps into and encroaches onto the next higher class, creating basically a duplication of classes. This results in the eventual extinction of one of those classes (generally the original higher class) and the abandonment of the original lower class. This leaves two groups out in the cold. The original lower class pilots, and the higher class pilots that became duplicated.
Examples:
- Goodyear --> F-1 --> EXTINCTION
- Q-15 --> stock non-schnuerl 15 engine and stock prop --> Rossi engine at $60 & stock prop --> Rossi & Cox engines at $60 any prop --> any engine and prop at any price --> EXTINCTION --> Q-40
- The original “Spickler” Quickee-500 with the K&B 40 engine --> all kinds of engines and all kinds of planes --> pylon engines and modified props --> Animal Quickee --> thus aiding in the extinction of F-1 --> 428
- And possibly; 424 --> 428 clone!
A class of racing in which the rules are allowed to be “inch-wormed” so that a state of escalating “speed creep” develops, always evolves into yet another expensive, high-end, high-maintenance, beginner excluding class for the top echelon of very skillful pilots who will do and spend anything to compete at the highest level. I want you to understand that I have absolutely no problem with those who chose to compete at that high level. I admire them and aspire to someday be in that class. But, please, leave 424 alone. Entry level pilots, novices, and many others need and want what 424 offers. There are already two very fast racing classes that already meet the needs of the very best racers.
Now we have 424 for the entry level people and novices, 428 for the go-fast people, and 422 for the really go-fast people. Each of these classes was created and designed to address and solve various problems within the pylon community. Each of these classes was created to meet the needs of certain people. It is my opinion that SEMPRA 424 should stay as it is. Please don’t change it.
Doug Bebensee
[email protected]