Tony P, TJ, Painless, any other scale racer out there

Any news or information about the possibility of reviving real SWRA racing in the AZ area as before? I'm doing scale jets now, but still have my racing stuff, and might be pursuaded to jump back into it if anyone could get it going. I need a two day race to justify the expense and travel time of 10 hrs +, but would like to see it revived if possible.

What's up?

Thanks, Les Morrow

Les,

We've gone to Sacramento for SAM's yearly 2-day race 3 or 4 times and have really enjoyed it. One of the local CDs (who attended the Sac race with us) liked the format and brought it back to Phoenix. We now have two 1-day races (Saturday only) per year with no static judging and a 1:30 Gold breakout (Silver is 2:00, Bronze is 2:30). Attendance is up from previous (SWRA) races and we're all having a blast. I wouldn't even think of going back to the other way.

Gone are the good old days, my friend. My son and I have moved on to Quickie and Q-40 racing and just do the warbird stuff for fun a few times a year.

I sure miss chasing you and Nick around the poles!

Tony

Tony,

I've gone on to building and flying scale jets, and am trying my hand at ScaleMasters. I brought a Eurofighter to the Gunsmoke qualifyer in Mesa last year, and am working on a Fiber Classics MiG 15 for next year. I still fly props, and have a scratched P-40 (about the same size and planform as the Spitfire we flew in AZ) that I was building for the Gold class sitting on the rack, ready for paint. Every time I go by the P-40, I think that I should finish it, but it is a little intense for a sport bird with a modified YS 120SC, so I keep on walking and go back to the jets instead - especially since there isn't any real warbird racing in these parts. I keep hoping something like the warbird races we had in Tucson (before Clay started beating everyone up with the muffler stick) will revive in AZ, but it sure looks doubtful at this point.

Nick has moved on to Dallas, and isn't flying much of anything these days. I did buy him a Hanger 9, 1/4 scale Edge 540 ARF that he says he is going to strip and rebuild/recover and start flying once he moves into a bigger apartment. I bought the kit a couple of months ago, and it's still sitting in my storage room, waiting for him. We'll see if he ever gets around to it.

Nick and I reminisce about our racing days from time to time, and remember how much fun and excitement we always had, but probably won't ever come back like it was before. I'd like to come out sometime and race with you guys (if I ever get the urge to finish the P-40), but Phoenix is a long way to drive for a one day race from Lubbock, and Sacramento is really out of the question for me driving by myself.

I was doing a search about documentation when I ran across the thread about the SWRA, and decided to shoot you a message in the hopes that something might be brewing in the background. I talk to Mike Peck from time to time about the Scalemasters thing, and he said there wasn't much happening with the warbird crowd, but I thought I'd drop you a line and see anyway.

Maybe someday - keep our fingers crossed it will be resurrected and we can go back to the scale racing at some point in the future.

Good to hear from you,

Regards, Les Morrow

I raced in the Speedworld warbird race under the new format, a format brought there by PJ and Pinch. It was a big success with the elimination of the scale judging and as a one day event. Next race is at the end of this month and I will attend. This format has so much more potential than the SWRA and even more important there was not one unhappy face at this event as was always evident at every SWRA event.

John

I haven't looked at this forum in sometime, and coincidently looked at the SWRA web page this morning to see what was going on. I see they had a race scheduled in september in El Paso, did it actually happen? There is also one scheduled in December in Apache Junction, AZ. Is this one tenetive? I miss racing too and wish there where more events to go to, especially closer to me.

We were at one of the Speedworld races last season, I got first in silver flying a Dago Red, and planned to attend another but for some odd reason didn't make it. The race we did make used the SWRA lite rules, no scale judging, one day event and you got a 5 or 10% bonus if the CD thought you did a good job of duplicating a full scale racer, which I think everyone got.

the one Warbird race i did with Tony and Tanner was a great time...dont remember much from the SWRA my pop use to do, but i enjoyd the new Format...i wont be able to make the race this month since i will be in Parker for the Giant Scale race the same weekend.

Cole

I am in the process of starting a SWRA series in California in the Lake Tahoe area. I will be using the same rules and format as the guys in Sacramento do. I have a 3260'x50' freshly paved airstrip outside of truckee that I can use for the event. Glad to see there is interest out there for this kind of racing still. I want to host 5-6 events in 2006 so keep checking back here for more info. I was in the mountain bike event promotion business for years and now that I have retired from cycling I have picked up the racing habit, and want to improve on what is already out there.

Im in Ione CA.
If you host it, I will come.

Well guys,

I finally got the bug again, and pulled the P-40 off the rack to finish. Only have to put a battery pack in it, paint the canopy (glued it on last night), and test fly. Assuming I can still fly the weird racing stuff, I'll have one bird for Gold, assuming I can find a race within driving distance from Lubbock, TX. I also picked up a Hanger 9 P-47 ARF that I'm gonna stuff a YS 120 in, and build it out of the box - probably for Silver class. If a race is planned somewhere between Texas and the West Coast, I'll try to make it, but will really need a couple of days racing, unless I can talk the wife into an extended vacation?

Guess I'd better see how the test flight goes before I start planning on attending any races?

Go fast, turn left, and look out!

Regards, Les

HI Les, I ran across this thread and had to say hi. When are you coming to Gun Smoke. If it is in 07 I'd like to get the ole Pond Racer ready and fly Team Scale with it. I still have to find a couple matched YS 1.20 or 1.40s for it. Talk to you soon.. Thanks... Bill Adams

Hey Bill,

Good to hear from you. Yes, both Nick and I are planning on coming to Gunsmoke in '07. I am planning on flying my Fiberclassics MiG 15 and Nick is thinking about building and flying a F-89 Scorpion that I have a kit in the closet. If you want to fly the Pond, that would be great. We will both be there and we both worked on it, so you would be legal in team scale.

Nick did most of the radio fitting, so if you need to ask him questions, his email is: [email protected] You've got mine, so feel free to ask any questions you need, and hopefully, our memories will kick in and we can give you answers.

Sounds great - BTW, we just had a couple of stock YS 120's with no mods in the airplane. They weren't matched at all, and did a good job for us.

Regards, Les

Hey, Bill!

Find some motors for that Pond Racer and come to our RCPRO Warbird Race at Speedworld on the 25th. It's a 1-day race with no scale judging; a really simple format. No politics, just fun. Our Gold class has a 1:30 breakout instead of the SWRA's 1:38 so you'll have a little more room to race without fear of disqualification. We've got a couple of .91-powered fixed-gear T-34s to abuse you with, too!

Come on out and see what it's all about..................you won't regret it!

Tony Pacini

Hey, Bill-

If that Pond Racer is still in decent condition and you're ever willing to sell or trade it off, please give me a call:

Tony Pacini(928-775-5442)
[email protected]

Joe's got plenty of 1.20s lying around doing nothing and I'm sure he wouldn't miss two of them. I'm sure that even the new 1.10s would pull the Pond Racer around just fine.

Call me!

Tony