Just when you think you got things figured out, the teacher of life's lesson smacks you on the knuckles with a heavy ruler, a quick reminder that there's still a lot to learn.... My pylon race day was a prime example.
After a great season last year in T28/Corsair, I thought I was making very good head way in learning the in's and out's of air racing. I learned so much, with the help of so many great fliers/ racers. But, apparently, there's always more to learn and here's a quick summary of what I picked up in "Air-Racing 101" at the WCF field on Sunday ....
First off, don't fly when you're dead tired.... R/C Racing of any kind takes quick reflexes and good hand eye coordination, things that slow down or even disappear when you're tired.
Second, fly, fly, fly! Get a lot of stick time, if you want to be a good pilot. It's even more important when you are racing close to 100mph, 25 feet off the ground. Rusty sticks mean slow reaction times and decreased hand eye coordination.
Third, always have fun. No matter what the results, enjoy the experience.
I nailed the third one, having fun no matter what, but failed at the other two and had terrible day of racing. I came into this round of the WCF series hoping to make up some ground with a solid showing, good finishes and lots of points. As it ended up, lack of sleep and lack of flying time contributed to sliding further down on points and with one airplane in a garbage bag.
The race day was the first hot one of the season, with temps in the mid 80's and very little wind. Pilots and pit crews were moving a little slowly in the heat, but the race clock and race officials never slowed down. This meant people were rushed and a few mistakes were made. Uncharged batteries were accidentally installed, causing mid race emergency landings. But, overall, there was very little carnage for a race day.
I completely lost track of the race results during the day.... But I would guess that in the Dogfighter class, Jon Stychno took the overall win. And in Reno 450, Bryan Germone may have come away with the top spot? In EF1, it was "Red" Jensen taking the overall, with three heat race wins. In T28/Corsair, I was calling for Mike Kalua and I know he won all three of his races, its a safe bet that he won the overall.
For myself, it was a miserable (yet still enjoyable) race day. It would have been a great day to make up some points and both my planes were fast enough to get the job done. But honestly, on this day, my piloting skills were just not up to the task. This fact cost me an airplane, and I'm sure I slipped down in the overall standings. Bummer!
JPH Team news, Mike Kalua pulled off three heat wins for the day and I'm guessing that gave him the overall in T28/Cosair. Mike is leading the points by a good margin right now and with only one more race left in the short series, he's looking good!
Team JPH ran a new entry in the Reno 450 class, a yet to be named Alfa Spitfire. Going by the old saying "if ya can't beat them, join them", our red Sea Fury has been replaced with a much lighter and more aerodynamic airframe. And, while the days results don't show it (all pilot error) the plane is much faster and is now in the hunt for top finishing spots.
Team JPH had an unfortunate mishap in the Dogfighter class which ended up in the complete destruction of the plane (the pilot is fine). In the third and final heat race of the day, while leading, we had a midair strike with Brian Young's Dogfighter and went straight in to the ground at race speed... Thankfully, aside from some yellow paint that needs to be buffed out, Brian's plane landed safely with no damage.
| |||||
copyright © 2024