DonStegall

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Barry,

I'm going to mow the field and set up the pylons by Thursday.

And you're welcome to visit my house/shop/field anytime over the weekend.

Let's Party!!!

BarryReade

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I will be coming up on Friday morning and can practice at your place if the course isn't open? Now I just have to find your addy.

DonStegall

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Barry,

The field at Lowe's will be open for practice on Friday all day unless I'm mowing or something.

My address is 606 Ivah Lee Way, Monroe, NC 28110. Google or MSN it and check out the satellite view and you will see the field behind the house.

BarryReade

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How will I know where the course is at Lowe's? That is a huge complex. Will we be on asphalt or grass. I have a shade canopy that I will bring if I have a place to drive some tent stakes in the ground. Friday night to visit at your place and or late afternoon. We should be there around 10 am and can help out if you need any.

DonStegall

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Barry,

If you look at the flier at http://www.lowesrc.com/uploads/sps_2009_bw.pdf and look at the second page, the big red X marks the spot. There is a portajon and a flight line. Plus the pylons will be up. You will be able to find it. It is in the Pennisula Campground.

There is a small paved runway. We will be taking off and landing from the grass. I will have it mowed short.

There is plenty of space for tents and parking. Do bring your tent or tents.

My shop will be a wreak from all of the activity this week.

BarryReade

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Ahh, the signs of productivity. I bet your shop is more organized than mine. Hehehe!!!

DonStegall

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There is a lot of excitement about the Summer Pylon Series at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

I think it is because there are 4 races and there is a race every other week. People know that even if one race gets rained out, they are still going to get to race.

Many thanks to the FAPA club for allowing us to use the Lowe's facility for this Summer Pylon Series. [sm=thumbup.gif]

I may do an electric series at my field this fall. The www.ClubWingman.com and www.ElectricWarbirdRacing.com planes are so quiet that it won't bother the neighbors at all. And there is plenty of parking in my yard.

goliathman

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Hello Pylon Racers,



Today, Wednesday, July 8, I mowed the Lowe’s takeoff and landing strip. I mowed it very close so we will have no problem taking off either Club 40 or Quickie 25 airplanes. I mowed it today because there was a potential for some rain on Thursday and Friday. Now the rain is not showing for Friday and that is a good thing as the pylons will be put up on Thursday. Friday will be available as a practice day.



The first race of the Lowe’s Summer Pylon Series is this Saturday, July 11. Please come out and race or watch.
Registration starts at 9:00 am, wheels up at 10:00 am.



I have made new pylons. These are the big boys. They are painted bright yellow and will have buckets on top for visibility. The right pylon will have an orange bucket and the left pylon will have a white bucket. Unless we have to take off to the left. Then they will be reversed. The orange bucket will be the #1 pylon. If we do take off to the left, we will finish going to the left. We will fly a full 10 laps.



I had to get out my measuring tape to locate the marker for the left pylon. You can be assured that the course is exactly 400 feet long. We will be starting from the middle of the course. This is very convenient for the lap counters as there is a power tower that is exactly in line with the start finish line. I have placed a table on the start/finish line in the pits. But you can look to the wind sock at the helicopter pads at the speedway and the tower to locate the line.



We will not be using the “launch pads” we used at one of the races last year. Your caller will have to launch / let go of the plane and get to you. If you choose to fly to the right of the start line, your caller will have further to run.



The turn lights will be on the left pylon regardless.



We need course helpers. Please bring your friends, or come out to help. There will be a raffle for non-flying course workers for a new and in the box World Models Groovy 3D EP ARF airplane. It comes with a brushless motor. I have one and I love it. It is a great 3D performer, but makes a great sport plane with the throws toned down. And it is very easy to put together and get into the air. See the attached photo.



We WILL NOT have food at the July 11 race. I will have sodas and water for sale. So bring your lunch and snacks. We will not take a lunch break long enough to go out for food. I may have crackers and chips for sale.



I will have Club 40 airplanes for sale for those of you who need replacements and those who want to get started racing. Or if you just want a fun sport plane.



We will have demonstrations of RCPRO Electric Warbird Racing planes … www.ElectricWarbirdRacing.com … and RCPRO Club Wingman … www.ClubWingman.com … These electrics are fun planes. If there is enough interest, we will race them at the August 8 and August 22 races. That gives you a month to get planes, set them up, and practice some. So you electric fans, come out and see what the racing is all about. I’ve attached photos of a P-51 EP and a Wingman II EP.



If you are even thinking about racing, please email me your name, address, email address, AMA #, classes you will be racing, and frequencies for those classes. The flier for the event is at http://www.lowesrc.com/uploads/sps_2009_bw.pdf and anyone can fly in any or all classes. Experts can fly in the Novice class as novices can learn from you. What better way to learn that by seeing the right way to do it? Club 40 Sport/Novice planes only go 60/65 mph and still handle very well. They are fun even at the slower speeds. Only bushing engines are allowed in the Novice class.



Registration will close at 9am for Club 40 Sport and Club 40 Advanced. And at 12pm for Quickie 25. We will race in that order. We will have technical inspections and weigh-ins. So if you practice earlym be prepared to take the wing off of your plane for servo and radio inspections. Exceptions may be made for Quickies with hard to remove servo access covers. If that is the case and you can, have a photo of your servo installation.



The weather is supposed to be nice on Saturday. Come join the fun. I’ve worked very hard to make these races a success and I look forward to seeing you.



Don Stegall

goliathman

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We had a great race today. lots of heats, lots of fun! next one is in two weeks. Don did an excelent job of organizing and running this race, and thanks to the helpers who manned the stations.

tarheelblue

Thanks Don and everyone at the race Saturday at Lowes Motor Speedway. I've been around pylon racing since childhood, but my first entry as pilot. Although somewhat nervous about getting started, everyone I asked for assistance were very helpful. Don did a wonderful job of setting up and running this race. Thanks for all your hard work Don. I enjoyed meeting and talking with all the racers and making some new friendships. I especially enjoyed seeing Jimmy Katz, who I remember racing Formula One with dad in the 70's. Thanks Jimmy for the help and encouragement and starting the races. Again, thanks to Don for a great race and a fun filled day. I plan to see you guys at the Aug race. BB

goliathman

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Hello Pylon Racers,



The second race of the Summer Pylon Series at Lowe’s Motor Speedway is this Saturday July 22, 2009.



We are expecting a good turnout and are starting an hour earlier than the last race. Registration is set to close at 8:00 am. If you can’t make it by then, give me a call at 704-968-2881. Especially if you are only racing in Quickie 25.



We will start with Club 40 Sport/Novice again at 9:00, followed by Club 40 Advanced. We will take a lunch break and race Quickie 25. If we have any entries in the electric classes, we will run them after that. We will at least get some heat times with the electrics.



We will be doing Club 40 tech inspections using the attached form and the rules at http://www.rcpro.org/html/rules/club_40/rules.htm and http://www.rcpro.org/html/rules/club...ifications.htm . If you have assembled your Sky Raider Mach II or LA Racer 40 to the instructions using the stock hardware, you will have no issues. This is just for fairness and safety.



Tech inspections for Quickie 25 will be to the AMA 424 specs excluding the engine.



We got some good pictures of the last race and you can see them at http://greyghost.smugmug.com/gallery...88947782_GijyY



The flier for the races is also attached. See www.LowesRC.com for any updates between now and race time.



We will have drinks and food cooked on site by the Flying Aces Pilots Association. Please bring cash and support the FAPA.



The trailer will be open with Club 40 planes and new stuff including Bubble-Jett tanks and tankers, Jett wheels, and Jett-Stream mufflers.



The current weather prediction is good and I hope to see all of you there to race, help, or watch.



Thanks,



Don Stegall

704-225-3718

704-968-2881

goliathman

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Lot of great racing at Lowe's today!! see you guys on Aug 8/09.

BarryReade

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Yes, a great day of racing. Just got home an hour ago going to crash and unload and write and post pictures tomorrow.

BarryReade

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These pics are from Friday afternoon We didn't see the water puddle in the area until just as the plane was lifting off the wheels caught in the water and you see the results. Duh, My Bad!!! Fortunately it wasn't a problem on race day.

The gent in the pictures is my good friend, caller, pit man, etc. Mark Hagemann and hopefully he will have his own airplane together and competing in the Sport/Novice class next race.

BarryReade

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Here are some other pics from the race. The two gents walking back I believe had a mid air on take off and both were repairable. The sun was creeping up at about 6:30 am.

BarryReade

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More pics. We did a lot of new things this race. We had tecnical inspections and we used a 60 sec time clock on the line. It wasn't enforced this race but, I can see it will evolve to being mandatory in the future.

BarryReade

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More Pics. Pictures of the great folks both pilots and others that made the racing possible by manning the pylons.

BarryReade

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More pics

BarryReade

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More pics. I didn't get as many pics this time as I did last time. Maybe I can do better next time.

goliathman

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Summer Pylon Series Races on 7/25/09

Lowe’s Motor Speedway

By Barry Reade, RCPRO President



It was a great morning at 6 am to be at the field. It was comfortable without a cloud in the sky. You knew it was going to be a hot summer day and a great day for racing. Racers started showing up at 6:20 am and it just continued to grow until race time. Don Stegall was on site at 7 am and soon after the set up of the tents for pylon workers, the Lap Counters, and the registration booth was completed in short order.



There were some new procedures this race, the major one being technical inspections for the planes. All the Club 40 planes were checked for accuracy, allowable changes and proper servo and controls installation. Tom Boyd was assisted by Barry Reade and they were able to inspect and weigh all the Club 40 planes in a very timely manner. Any planes found out of specification were either put in specification or if they met the safety requirements were given a one race waiver so they could compete.



Racing got underway shortly after 9 am and moved right along flying five rounds in each class. Club 40 Advanced had the most heats with 25. All racing was completed around 3 pm and there was plenty of sport flying after the racing was finished.



There was a 50% increase in the Club 40 Sport/novice participants. We went from two to three. Next race we may have a couple more. In Club 40 Advanced we had 14 pilots this race. We lost some to business and family and picked some up. Same will be true for third race. The last race of the series on August 22 should have most everyone.



Quickie 25 was a hoot as usual and had six pilots and the racing was fast and close. For those that are not aware, the Quickie 25 is a bit faster than the Club 40 advanced by a couple of seconds. There are some pilots making noises of building Quickie 25 planes and entering that class also.



Members from the Flying Aces, Larry Moore, Jim Galuska, Mike Darnall, and Jeff Blanken had the food concession going by mid-day. Hopefully the racers, course workers, and spectators will use this venue more the next time. Of course the heat didn’t help food sales as it was quite hot and the wind stopped just before the lunch break was called. Matthew Rudolph was the big help with the lap timing and coordination. Thanks for all your help Matt. Don Stegall’s son Matthew was trained up as a starter by Jim Katz in only a couple of heats and he was the starter most of the day.



Everyone that worked as a course worker during the day got a raffle ticket for the course worker’s raffle. Don donated the prize which was an Ultimate 40S Biplane and Tom Boyd won it. Tom did everything today including technical inspections, pylon judge, and racer



If you haven’t come out to a pylon race before, you are invited to our next race at the Flying Aces site at Lowe's Motor Speedway on August 8th to enjoy the racing.