We have an excellent racing class in the fun fighters!!
In this class the all ingredients really are there !!
They are swift fun little machines to fly, they are NOT difficult to control or fly around the course once they are set up right. There is a thread on how to set them up nicely on our forum.
They do get a bit small as they go around pylon no 1 tho' but the beauty of them is they are simple and fast to put together and they are about as cheap as you could whish for in an RC plane let alone a racer. They are all popular WWII models and they all fly well. The stand out is of course the RareBear because you can get it in plain white and use a good contrasting colour scheme. However the T28 and the Mustang seem to fly pretty well too.
An event or two like the willows cup and Maitland would help enormously (if only the weather would cooperate this year) Just two or three trophy races a year, single day things like the willows cup and Maitland at different clubs do make a difference.
I know That Tony J looks after the timing gear for the NSW pylon Association and holding events would normally have to fit in with him. Although he's as keen as anyone and very enthusiastic about pylon he also has commitments and he lives up in the hunter region too.
We could run racing without the timing gear, in fact any club could at minimum expense set up a pylon system. It would run a little differently to the way NSW Pylon days are run and scored.
It CAN be done with flagers and callers I worked out a system (see attached excel file) or perhaps there's someone who can come up with an even better solution any suggestion are very welcome??
My suggestion was things would go something like this. We tried it briefly at our fly-in day last year and it worked quite well.
You would have either 9 people or 6 people competing. it goes something like this there is a draw every picks a number out of a hat from 1 to 9 names are allocated to those places in the draw.
Then there are either 2 or 3 planes in each heat a caller and a flagger for each plane. The draw rotates so that there are the right number of heats so that everyone, calls for everyone else, flags for everyone else and races against everyone else. For 6 competitors this requires 15 heats of two planes (easily done in a day) and for 9 competitors it requires 12 heats of 3 planes.
Flaggers stand perpendicular to pylon 1. A flag is held up and lowered as each plane passes pylon no 1 and then stays up and is waved on completion of lap 10. If a plane cuts then it's corresponding flag doesn't go up and they have to do another lap. The flaggers have to be able to count the 10 laps and which ever one does 10 first wins the heat. ie who's ever flag waves first wins. After each heat a pilot is awarded a score of 1, 2, or 3. 1 for 1st 2 for second 3 for 3rd, more than two cuts and a pilot get a 3 automatically. The scores are added and the pilot with the lowest number wins the day second lowest takes second and third gets third. reasonably simple and easy to run.
All that's required in the way of hardware are the usual hand held radios 4 different coloured flags, hard hats, a clip board, a pen and 3 pylons. All of which we have at PRCAC.
In theory if there was enough interest we could run afternoon racing on a certain day we might not get through 15 heats but we could run 6 of the draw one afternoon and the final 6 on another day. There are other considerations you can't just take over the field on a regular whole day when every one is flying because that's not how our club works some people aren't interested in competing and they have to be able to enjoy their flying as well. There are safety concerns that need to addressed and things need to be put in place all of which we have worked out and done well for the willows cup.
I'm happy to try and organise something with in a framework that suits the club and all of the members if the committee is agreeable. There has to be a reasonable amount of interest to make it work. We really need 6 people minimum. Personally I'd be very keen to see how many pilots would be interested in say an organised afternoon of pylon heats now and then?
Years ago I can remember going out to Pitt Town to watch pylon, Things were different then!!
this was before ARFs were being raced so every model there was scratch built and there were more competitors then than there are now. There were also quite a few spectators and it was a great days entertainment that part at least hasn't changed !!
EF1 is a great class too they are really nice models to fly once set up right and they do about the same speed as an FFC but they are a little easier to see because they are bigger and retain their energy a little more being heavier, so landings take a little concentration on our field. Once in the air an EF1 is defiantly easier to get around the course neatly than an FFC. Wing tipper and I have flown Our EF1s around the course at McCoy park practicing and it was no trouble at all. NSWpylon does have an active EF1 class this year which is good to see and PK is keeping a running leader board on the championships for all classes this year. you will find a link on the calendar page at nswpylon.org
(24-06-2014, 07:35 PM)wingtipper Wrote: one reason rocket , is because people can only enter one comp , example , people who enter Q500 CLASS , may also have FUNFIGHTERS and other types of racer planes , but they are limited to enter just one catagory at a race meet . i think NSW PYLON.COM need to address this a little .
another reason , is that for some reason people arent trying it . i was one that was hesitant and gave the same answers as people i ask to try it now . It's only when you experience that fun , and realise we arent being serious with the racing in funfighter class , and there is no commitment required , that you get hooked .
BUT TRYING TO GET PEOPLE TO GIVE IT A GO IS THE HARDEST PART I FIND .
I agree 'tipper I think we might have a chat about entering different classes at Nowra. The thing is if everyone enters more than one class then they don't end up going in the cage and it kind of makes it unfair on everyone else.
They do allow it from time to time if there's enough people to run the whole show 'cause you need callers and judges as well as fliers. They also do it to try and get the numbers for a particular class on the day. If someone turns up with a only rarebear and wants to race then they will allow people to race in two classes so that there is someone for then to race against. I know the reasoning doesn't seem to make sense from first glance but when the heats are being put together on the day just depends on how many and from what classes competitors register.
I agree with you 110% on your second point, that people need to be giving this a go it's seriously good fun and it not only adds another dimension to an already great hobby but it really sharpens up your flying and increases your confidence as well.