RE: SEMPRA Members
Look guys I don't want to start a contraversy here. All I want is to ensure the future of pylon racing and the continuation of our sport as it is. I have not been racing a great number of years but, like many of us started flying in the 424 class and believe that the methods taken by Rick and Scott this last weekend are exactly what are needed to maintain interest to new members and keep a low cost entry level event that someone without a great knowledge of engines or pylon can be successful. For example, this weekend was only the second race ever that my friend Dan ever attended. He is 15 years old and has only been to 4 days of racing total, yet has already attained 3 trophies. All he had to do prior to starting racing was spend $225 for an airplane (predator II), TT Pro 40, a batch of 9x6 APC's, and some standard servos. He is not a very experienced builder and by no means an expert in the field of engines, however it was easily possible for him, ON HIS OWN, to build a competative aircraft and make a standard TT engine turn in the neighborhood of 16,500rpm and have a fun weekend where all aircraft in the same class were within 10% of each other. In my own opinion, which I do not believe to be all knowing by any means, is that doing periodic RPM checks on the line before a race, random baffle checks, and weighing the winning aircraft after each heat is all that is needed to maintain a fun and easy entry level class that anyone can be competative in. I do not believe that people outside of the 424 class should be allowed to race 424, why on earth would you want to, and that the 16,500rpm should not be eliminated. There has to be a line drawn somewhere that keeps the average modeler competative against someone with years of experience. When I flew 424 for a single season in SEMPRA I felt is was exactly what was needed to make the transition to the 428 and Q-4 class of racing. At 15 I was able to build, and run my own engines, without the help of my father and stay at a competative level fo performace. We must ensure that there are limitations that keep new racers in this hobby competative with people that could engineer advantages. I am sure that some people, like my father for example if they wanted to with their vast knowledge of RC, could make a TT turn a 9x6 over 18,000rpm if they wanted, and honestly, how long are these new pilots going to continue paying ttravel, equippment costs, and wasting their time flying against someone that no matter how hard they try get lapped 2 or 3 times a race just because of the difference in their engines. Once again, I am not preaching a method I believe to be the absolute best, but just trying to ensure the maximum fairness for pilots new and old to racing in the 424 class, which later on will fuel our higher classes of racing, keepin pylon alive and well for all of us to enjoy.
I'm sorry if this does not agree with some of you out there, and once again i'm just trying to make sure that racing stays fair for anyone whom descides to try it, but in all honesty, by weighing a winning plane after a heat, sticking a rod in a muffler now and then, and pinching a piece of tubing while taching rpm is just some of the rules I believe keep a fair playing field for everyone. If you cannot handle playing within the rules, join the rest of us in 428 where there is no rpm limit and you can go as fast as you want.
Matthew Fehling