The final details of the Zenoah and JR sponsorships are coming together now, and it’s looking great. As we’ve said before, each event will have over $4000 in Zenoah products to award. When we get everything worked out we’ll let you know how they will be distributed. Pete Bergstrom from Zenoah has been a big help in putting this deal together and we’re proud to say that the 2003 USRA World Championship Series is sponsored by Zenoah!
To make things even better, Peter Goldsmith, also from Horizon Hobbies, has agreed to sponsor our series with products from world-class radio manufacturer JR. Their sponsorship of our series will be in the form of $4500 worth of product and will be awarded to individual event winners and to season-end champions. More details will follow soon.
Please join me in giving Pete and Peter a big thanks for their support of our series. You can do your part by using and recommending JR and Zenoah products to all of your modeling friends. Both Pete and Peter will also be at our races this year, so make sure to tell them thanks in person when you see them.
West Coast Race Date and Location Change
It’s not completely official yet, but it’s looking like Denny Baker, Archie Snider, and the rest of the West Coast organizers will be moving their race to sunny Parker, Arizona. The date has also tentatively been moved to October 23-26. The event will be held at the Avi Suquilla airport, which is owned by the Colorado River Indian Tribes. (CRIT). The tribes also own the Blue Water Casino-Resort that is located less than a mile away on the banks of the Colorado River, and we’re waiting for final confirmation from them. If it happens, we’ll all be having a grand time on the river in October. I’ll keep you all posted on how it turns out and all of the other details as they take shape. In the meantime, check out the Blue Water Resort website at www.bluewaterfun.com.
Ohio Race Co-Promotion
Here’s a quick note on the Ohio race in August. I had a chance to look at the flyer that they are putting together and it looks like the race will also be held in conjunction with a custom car show at the airport. This is a great idea and I’m sure we’ll see a bunch more spectators at this year’s event. Don’t miss out, make your plans to go to Ohio this year.
F-1GT Class Testing
Denny Baker and Fred Sattler have been testing the new prop design for the F-1GT class on Denny’s Cosmic Wind, which has a stock GT-80 in it. I also was able to bring Rick Schrameck’s GR-7 up to the top-secret central California research facility (read that: Madera) to put in a few flights with the stock engine and prop combination. The results were fantastic! The airplanes fly at a very nice speed just slightly faster than a T-6. The rpms that we are seeing are in the 9400-9700 range which suits the GT-80 very well. In the turn, the revs go down to 9000, which is right where the Zenoah makes maximum horsepower so acceleration out of the turn is great. Interestingly, the two airplanes were identical in speed on the straights, so it looks like the engine/prop combination is having an equalizing effect. As with any spec class though, the small details will still be important so an airplane that is flown well and built clean, light, and straight will have the advantage.
The best part of the test was the fact that there was zero hassle in flying the plane. I flew six times in three hours and all I had to do was gas and fly, gas and fly, check the batteries, gas and fly! It was very enjoyable and the performance didn’t vary with the changing conditions. The hardest part was getting used to taxiing a GR-7 out to the runway to take off! I don’t want to sound like a broken record here, but if you want to have more fun with less work and less money and still go fast, fly F-1GT.
The durability testing on the new F-1GT props by APC has wrapped up, and APC will be setting up production soon. The props will be available directly from APC and it is listed as the “F-1GT” prop. This prop has been designed and tested for use on the stock GT-80 running on gas and ignition, and I would strongly discourage anyone from using it on a full-blown alcohol fueled race motor. Fred Burgdorf has been very kind and generous to us with his help in producing this prop, and it would not be fair to him to use this prop for a purpose other than what it has been designed and tested for. A big thank you to Fred Burgdorf and Fred Sattler who teamed up on the design and production work for the new prop….Thanks!
Tech Articles for RC Excellence
Ed Rankin has been working hard on a series of technical articles for RC Excellence and he needs our help. He needs photos of airplanes mailed to him so he can use them to illustrate the articles. Dig out the photo albums and help the man out! As many of you know, Ed is a retired aeronautical engineer and designs and builds many different kits for Giant Scale Racing. You can find all of Ed’s information by clicking here.
Kansas 2003!
It’s almost here….less than 90 days away….the first race of the 2003 season….Are you ready? Don’t miss it !!!
See you soon!!
Ken McSpadden