Official
Sponsors of the 2002 USRA World Championship Series:
I am
very pleased and proud to announce the addition of three Official Sponsors of our series.
The first is APC propellers, the producers of the fine props that we use in our
AT-6 class. Fred Burgdorf and his brother
Otto have been producing propellers for model aircraft for many years, and we all know how
big a competitor Fred is! APC props are
widely used in general R/C flying, pattern, IMAC, and pylon racing. APC props have also been the propeller of choice
for the USRA AT-6 class for many years and Fred and Otto’s support towards the sport
has been very generous and valuable. APC will
continue their support this year, and we are very pleased to have them back.
The next sponsor is an old friend of mine who helped to teach me to fly, and
certainly to race. I am speaking of John
Creagh and his company Performance Plus Fuels. John
and his wife Sharon have been producers of high quality fuels for many many years. They have a line of products especially formulated
for R/C cars, helicopters, 2-stroke, and 4-stroke engines.
They also offer custom blended fuels for specialty uses like Giant Scale Racing. Performance Plus Fuels uses a computer controlled
dispensing system that precisely blends the fuel in 1 gallon quantities which ensures
consistency, and freshness. Their fuel has
been widely used in our sport and has many Gold Trophy race victories and World
Championships to its credit.
The third sponsor we have added is one that many of you are familiar with. I’m speaking about Archie Snider and AeroSport Inc.
Most of you know that not only is AeroSport a potent racing team in Giant Scale
Racing events, it also manufactures many products used by competitors in our sport. AeroSport’s products include the popular EDL
II and EDL IV dataloggers. As many of you
know, a datalogger is a very valuable tool for evaluating changes made to your aircraft,
especially engine modifications and different propellers.
They are also very helpful for monitoring performance at a race to keep the engine
operating at its peak. AeroSport also
produces a line of propellers for 4.6ci and 8.8ci-12.0ci engines. These props are currently the ones to have if you
want to beat the best. The AT-6 kit
that has been the most successful the last few years is also produced by AeroSport. This all composite racer is a close relative to
the Unlimited class NA-50 racer that AeroSport also manufactures. In addition to all of this, AeroSport is also producing parts for some other
racers including the Miss Ashley II and the GR-7.
I want to thank these fine companies for stepping up to the plate to support our
racing series. The support of our sponsors
goes a long way in keeping us a unique and prestigious sport and we are grateful for their
help. If you get the chance, please give
them your business whenever possible and recommend their products to your friends. At the very least, give them a call and let them
know that you appreciate their support of the USRA. Their
names and phone numbers are listed at the bottom of this report.
Board
Business:
The Board will be conducting business this month as outlined in the USRA Bylaws. At our annual meeting this year, the Board
established guidelines for conducting business on a quarterly basis and this month is the
beginning of the second quarter. The Board
will be voting on issues such as approving the payment of bills and the adoption of a USRA
spending policy. In the past, there were no
clear guidelines or procedures for the spending of USRA funds. This had not been a problem until recently and the
need for clear direction is now necessary. A
trial policy will be developed throughout the year and hopefully adopted into our
Constitution and Bylaws at the next annual meeting.
This is your
opportunity as a member to get involved in this organization. I am completing the agenda for this quarter’s
Board session, and I will send it to any member who requests it. I will also distribute the treasurer’s
report for this quarter to anyone who would like to see it.
Please email me at kmcspadden@mwd.dst.ca.us
and I will send you a copy. Review what we
are going to discuss and decide on, and then make your opinions known to your District
Representative, Vice-President, or myself. This
is how our form of representation works, so please use it to its full advantage. You opinion does matter and we do listen to what
you have to say. Many of the decisions that
were made at the annual meeting were heavily influenced by the voices of the members
speaking to our District Representatives, so if you have something to say….Speak Up!
Testing
1…2….3…
Ahhhhh the Spring air is alive with the sounds of racers taking to the sky. Now is the time of year when we bring out the new
airplane or dust off the old one and go out to test fly.
For some competitors, this may be a simple shakedown flight or two just to make
sure nothing falls off the plane. For the
real racers this is the time to search for speed….and time!
If you are testing a new plane, you should pay close attention to the things that
can often get us in trouble with an unproven racer. Control
Surface Throws, and CG. Pay close attention
to these details when you test fly an airplane for the first time and don’t be afraid
to ask another racer who has a similar model to help you establish these two very
important details. It is also not a bad idea
to get another racer to give you a safety inspection.
Often another set of eyes will see something that you may have missed. If you are using new batteries in your
aircraft, it is wise to fully charge and discharge them at least once before you fly. A new set of batteries will often not deliver full
capacity on their first discharge.
Before you fly, insure that you can kill the engine from the transmitter either
with a fuel cutoff or by closing the carburetor. Finding
out that you can’t shutdown the engine once you are in the air and having a problem
is not a good thing. After the first flight,
it is wise to take apart the airplane and give it a close inspection before the next
flight. Many racers do this after EVERY
flight and have saved countless airplanes.
If you are searching for speed, it is important to have the right tools. A datalogger is a great tool for evaluating
performance, especially the engine/prop combo. A
radar gun is nice, but can also mislead you if you let it.
A stopwatch is an inexpensive tool that can be very helpful and is often a better
gauge of performance than a radar gun. When
using a radar gun, most people look for the highest reading they can get off of the
airplane. This only means something when you
are flying the airplane like you race it. Even
a few feet of extra length on your course or a slightly wider turn can give you a
misleading radar gun reading. In the end, the
radar gun reading is only a number and it is hard to relate it to an increase or decrease
in performance AROUND the course. That is why
I prefer the stopwatch.
A good testing regimen that I recommend takes a few extra pieces of gear and a few
helping hands, but it is well worth it. Get
yourself a tape measure and mark a spot 800 feet down from where you stand when you
fly…the approximate position of pylon 1 or 2. For
testing purposes we only need to nail down one pylon.
Put up a traffic cone or something out on the course for reference. Next, you’ll need to station someone out on
the end of the flying area inline with the
traffic cone, the same as our pylon judges. Give
that person a high-powered flashlight to signal the caller.
You can even have someone drive to that end of the field and use their brake lights
or headlights on their car. Make sure that
they are safely off the course! You can
probably see where I am going with this by now. Fly
the course with your racer and do your best to approximate the distance on the one end of
the course that you do not have a pylon. Time
the half of the course where you do have the pylon beginning when the plane passes in
front of you , and stopping when the plane crosses in front of you on the opposite side of
the course. These half lap times are a good
evaluation of the top speed and also take into account the de-acceleration and
acceleration in and out of the turns. You
can easily see the effect of a different propeller, reduction in weight, cleaner airframe,
and increase in engine performance using this technique.
It also is a great way to practice with your caller and establish a rhythm. For testing, I usually have the caller wait until
they see the light before calling my turn so that the times are consistent. If you want to really get fancy, there are
programs for laptop computers that are basically stopwatches, but they also log each lap
time and record them so that you can review your times after the flight. These programs like LapTracker have the capability
of logging times for more than one airplane, so you can use this program at the race to
monitor your performance…..and your competition’s.
Good luck everyone, and we’ll see you at the races!
Ken McSpadden
APC
Propellers |
Performance Plus Fuels |
AeroSport |