[secant0give]

hi mate , not knowing what these classes are woujld you be able to explain and post links of the type of planes flown in these classes , and what the class means .
cheers

EF1 = electric formular 1 They are scale models of Reno style formular 1 racers. The class is closly regulated to keep the models similar in performance. The motors that are allowed are almost the same, they use exactly the same prop, an 8X8 APC and they are limited to 4s with a maximum weight of battery that can be carried. The models approved for EF1 are mostly ARFs like The shoestring and Pogo by Eflight and the proud bird by great planes. There's another one by hanger 9 and soon to be another, the Invictus from HK.

Here's a Pic of James's EF1 from Sunday it's a Proud Bird.
   

Q-500 or Quickie 500 is a closely governed class with the idea of keeping the planes cheap and all very similar in performance
So it’s a test of skill rather than a test of planes. The 500 comes from a 500 square inch wing area rule. The wing has a rectangular plan-form and is basically a plank spanning 50inches with a 10 inch cord. There is a minimum airfoil thickness as well. The engines must be stock standard .46 s Mostly “Thunder tiger pro 46’s” The air frames are often V tails but don’t have to be. often they are Great planes Vipers but there are a few other ARFs and there are a few scratch built models as well.

Here’s a pic of my pair of Q-500s (Great Planes Vipers) and below is SRL putting together his very nice, Scratch built pair of Q-500s ready for a days racing.

   

   

F-400 is the Australian version of Q40 I don't know much about this class only that they go very fast use no nitro, have no throttle just a fuel shut off to stop the engine and then you dead stick them in. They are pretty much all composite airframes. It's a much more demanding class to race, in terms of both pilot skill and cost. It is spectacular to watch!!

Here's Jag with his F-400, It goes pretty hard !! Times in the low 70 seconds for the 10 laps are comon. Compare this to good Q-500 time of 110 seconds and you get an idea of the difference in speed between the two classes

   

F3D is the fastest IC class these things really move and it's the next step up after F-400. In F3D the models are allowed to use tune pipes and they are extra lowd, the engines are also 40s but the produce heaps more power than the F-400s

F5D is the fastest electric class and their times are similar to those of F3D in the low or mid 50 seconds but the airframes are much lighter they have a wing loading and a max weight rule and a 1000 Watt minute power limit. They, like F3D and Q40 are increadibly AWOME to watch. You'll never forget the first time you see one fly !!

There is FFC class which stands for Fun fighter class. Any plane from the HK Fun Fighter series is elagable to fly in this one. But the RareBear is the most popular for some very good reasons. To my knowlage no other type has won a day yet. But it could happen I guess. This is the cheapest class but not the easiest to fly. They are limited to 4S lipos and a 5X5 APC prop or the original prop that it comes with and the airframes must be stock.

There are other classes but they are not being run at the moment due to lack of partisipants

You can find out much much more about current classes and the old classes by going to http://nswpylon.org/ and clicking on the rules link or other links. There are lots of links there, to all the class rules, course lay outs and even info on how to best set up a plane to fly pylon.

Hopefully I've got most of the above right

How fast do they go ???

EF1 and FFC and Q-500 all go about 100 miles per hour or 150-160 kilometers per hour. F400s go close to 300 klometers per hour and F3D and F5D go well over 300. It's fast and furious stuff at any level and fantastic fun too!!