NEW Q40 & Q500 Engine by DKT Engines
01-20-2023, 12:47 PM
#29
Larry, We are already experimenting with it. It's not the pylon gods that are the problem. It's the total lack of any significant numbers of new blood. EF1 is a pretty cool event but struggles to get 6 entries at small races, and 15 to 20 at the big contests. In the beginning there were close to a dozen EF1 suppliers of kits, and arf's. Lack of interest, and higher prices drove the ARF market out of pylon racing. Now the Proud Bird II is the only ARF available. There are several kit manufacturers making really good EF1 race planes, but you are going to have to build them. The interest isn't there to incorporate electric into Super Sport Quickie (event 426) or Quarter 40 (event 422). There is some interest to run electrics in Sport Quickie (event 424), and it was down at several races last year with about 10 to 15% participation levels. 424 electric is using the same power package as EF1 but with an APC 9/6E prop. Glow and electric run together. Speeds are essentially the same.
01-21-2023, 08:52 AM
#31
My Feedback: (21)
Let me clarify my comments. By "pylon gods" I meant current competitors who will not see the writing on the wall about the slow death of pylon racing.
I have either been involved in or following pylon racing since 1971. It has been a constant chore to get new participants in the sport. Most successful of the attempts were original 1/4 midget and original quickie 500. Of course the competitors could not let well enough alone and quickly scared and priced most of the newcomers out. Racers are their own worst enemy. I spent years trying to get club members interested in racing. Except for a hand full of diehard racers it was like pulling teeth to get any interest. When sport quickie came along we got together a pretty good number of new racers and had about 2 years of success. Then it went rapidly downhill as the speeds and cost escalated through the roof. Now were back to the same diehards again. The common complaint from the average club member is--------
The planes are too fast--the planes are hard to fly--they scare me---they cost too much---they are ugly---I have no chance against the pros-- can't get glow engines and fuel anymore---THEY COST TOO MUCH!---THEY ARE SCARY FAST!--THEY ARE SO NOISY THE NEIGHBORS COMPLAIN! Have I missed any! While EF-1 is a good idea, still pretty fast for most fliers, it gets little support from the hard core pylon racers. It pretty much fills the spot the old 1/4 midget held. Q-40 is a joke.
supposed to be the replacement for F-1 all we got were super fast, super ugly, super expensive planes that did not attract anymore fliers and actually ran more away.
Quickie 500 morphed into the same thing. Just what we needed, another one engine class. Guys, open your eyes, pylon racing is following the same path as Pattern and Imac, super expensive, super exclusive and declining just the same way.
Larry
I have either been involved in or following pylon racing since 1971. It has been a constant chore to get new participants in the sport. Most successful of the attempts were original 1/4 midget and original quickie 500. Of course the competitors could not let well enough alone and quickly scared and priced most of the newcomers out. Racers are their own worst enemy. I spent years trying to get club members interested in racing. Except for a hand full of diehard racers it was like pulling teeth to get any interest. When sport quickie came along we got together a pretty good number of new racers and had about 2 years of success. Then it went rapidly downhill as the speeds and cost escalated through the roof. Now were back to the same diehards again. The common complaint from the average club member is--------
The planes are too fast--the planes are hard to fly--they scare me---they cost too much---they are ugly---I have no chance against the pros-- can't get glow engines and fuel anymore---THEY COST TOO MUCH!---THEY ARE SCARY FAST!--THEY ARE SO NOISY THE NEIGHBORS COMPLAIN! Have I missed any! While EF-1 is a good idea, still pretty fast for most fliers, it gets little support from the hard core pylon racers. It pretty much fills the spot the old 1/4 midget held. Q-40 is a joke.
supposed to be the replacement for F-1 all we got were super fast, super ugly, super expensive planes that did not attract anymore fliers and actually ran more away.
Quickie 500 morphed into the same thing. Just what we needed, another one engine class. Guys, open your eyes, pylon racing is following the same path as Pattern and Imac, super expensive, super exclusive and declining just the same way.
Larry
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jaka54 (01-16-2024)
