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National Miniature Pylon Racing Association • Since 1965 • AMA Affiliated • October 2004

A Word from the President

Hello everyone! I hope your fall hasgone well. As you are all aware wehad a small snafu in the ballots for thisyears election but with the help ofDarrol and Bob this should becorrected and we will be well on theway to voting in our new leadership fornext year.

By the time you read this we willprobably have a new FAI F3D Team tocheer on for the next WorldChampionships. While I don’t knowwho the team is right now I do wish theteam members all the best of luck andhope that all of our membership willsupport them in their endeavor.

The NMPRA Championship Race iscoming up in December! This is ourfirst combined Q500/QM40Championship race and it is beingably managed by Gary Freeman JR.Shana (of Randy & Shana) hascoordinated a wonderful banquet sitefor Saturday night that should providefor a great evening of awards andcamaraderie. Please plan on joiningus for this event in Florida. It should bea nice time away from the coldweather for us northerners.

Planning for next years Gold CupSeries is underway. Any suggestionsthat you may have regarding the

scheduling, points system or formatplease don’t hesitate to contact Randyor myself.

While I have been busier that I everwould have expected this year, therehave been two people in ourorganization that have been workingbehind the scenes (and sometimesvery much in front) that deserve thecredit for keeping this organizationmoving forward this year. My heartfeltthanks go out to both Darrol Cady andBob Brogdon for their un-flaggingsupport and help over the last 10months. The plans I started with lastyear did not include the manyinstances of simply bad timing thatoccurred to me this year. I guess weall have those years and I apologizefor my lack of racing participation thisyear.

See you at the Championship Race!

Pete

District 1 VP Bill Vargas

Well another Race season has comeand gone. The 2004 point seasonstandings are now perty muchconcrete and can view here within theNMPRA Newsletter,,, thanks RandyBridge and Gary Freeman for keepingtrack of the points respectively. I amsure that a lot of you will be surprisedto see how you did and how youstacked up against others from aroundcountry. But no matter how well youplaced, everyone did a Great Job J Sonow that the 2005 season is upon usand the first Race is just about tohappen, the16th, 17th &18th of Oct 04at Whittier Narrows… Now is a goodtime to set your self a goal for the newseason! The most important thing issupport the races. You cannot havefun racing if you do not show up. Theresults will speak for themselves.Don‘t forget to include Safety in your2005 goals!

As most of you know by now TravisFlynn will be taking over as District 1VP. My reason for stepping down wasto run for the NMPRA Presidentposition. At this time I am not sure yetof the outcome between me andDarrol Cady but hopefully in a fewdays we’ll all know. I’m betting it was alandslide and Darrol owes me a“coldie” Ha!

The August Basin Race was not aswell attended as we would have likedto have seen, but those of us that werethere had fun!

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District 1 VP Bill Vargas (cont’d)As a matter of fact, NMPRA gainedanother Q40 Racer... Joanne Coffey. Ihad the pleasure of calling for her, forone of her heats, on Sunday. She hada hairball of a take off and quicklyrealized she had high rates on andwhen she flicked back to low rates,,,she was on. Unfortunately a mid-airwith Barry took her out later in the daybut I suspect she’ll be back with one ofthem Special “wood” props forWhittier, courtesy of Bruce.

Doug Killebrew was on the poles andtook the victory for both days. I myselfended up bride’s maid both days.Rusty had 3rd on Sat with Fast Timeand Bruce Coffey for 3rd on Sundaywith fast Time.

Doug Killebrew again lead the 428pack on Saturday with a win over JimWomack and Norm Teaguerespectively. Short note here. Thiswas Norm’s first time, I believe,bringing home some “wood” for his 3rdplace

The 424 those guys had a ball and theracing was just as much fun to watchwith all of the close racing. Leadchanges and near misses were acommon sight. Dan Thordarson wasthe man to beat on Saturday as hetook home the 1st Place and FastTime “wood” followed by a very happyWayne Cloud and Don Schelling. OnSunday it was almost a repeat ofSaturday with the exception of BobPonek making a 180 degreecomeback from Saturday to take hiswin over the extremely happy J WayneCloud who scored his first Fast TimeTrophy. Good Job to all the 424Racers! Welcome to racing.

Upcoming aces... Whittier Narrowspractice day on Friday the 16th withtwo one day Races on the 17th and18th of October.

SpeedWorld November Fall Race onthe 13th and the 14th The flyer for thisRace can be viewed at the NMPRAwebsite,,, I hope most of you guys outthere can make this one as it will be agood warm-up for the Winterfest.The WinterFest.is the best Quickierace in the USA to attend as it drawspeople from all over the country. Itdoesn’t get any better. Be sure to getyour registration in early because thisrace will fill quickly. Again the flyer canbe seen at the NMPRA website.

I hope to see all of you at these RacesJBV 41C D-1 VP

District 2-Patt Poinsett

The season has ended for us up herein the Northwest. It was an excitingyear with lots going on. The PROPSorganization has gotten muchstronger, the equipment has improvedgreatly, the participation level isgrowing and we are looking forward toa very exciting 2005 racing season.

Thank you to Horizon Hobbies,PowerMaster Fuel, and to all of theparticipants, helpers and racers whocame to Arlington for the JR Cup racein September. We have final resultsand pictures posted on our website -http://nwprops.com . We had 36pilots flying, what turned out to be agreat weather weekend, lots of funafter the racing and just a beautifulvenue. We have already been asked(many times) if there will be a 2005Arlington JR Cup. At this time, theclub is still contemplating that questionand we will get back to you.

We hope to have the 2005 scheduleset and published before the end ofthe year. As soon as it is done, it alsowill be posted on the website. Pleasecheck back often for updated info.

The Puyallup Model Show is back on.I am sorry to say the PROPS will notbe able to have a booth this year.The show sponsors want toconcentrate on hobby stores andvendors and not clubs. This event isno longer run by the Mt. Rainier Club,an organization that Dan and wereboth part of for many, many years. Itwill be interesting to see a differentapproach to the show. Hopefully itwill have renewed energy and interest.Hope to see you there!

If any of you are interested in beingincluded in our local PROPS mailinglist, please email me atpatt@wininfo.com . In addition to ournewsletters and the website, we dosend out regular emails withinformation on upcoming races, pylonracing issues, new stuff, etc.

Our last race of the season was inOctober in Spokane. Thank you to allthe Spokane guys and gals for hostingthis race, especially so late in the year.Saturday night was quite the event.Almost everyone ended up at MattRussell's home and he and his family

High Performance InformationHigh Performance is published

8 times per year.Information for publication can be

forwarded to:NMPRA Editor, Darrol Cady

PO Box 14723Portland, OR 97293

Phone: (360) 903-3520Email: dcady@pacifier.com

If possible, please submit information inMicrosoft Word format

Race Announcement PolicyHigh Performance will publish announcements ofupcoming races free of charge, on first come, andspace available basis. Also, camera ready copy no

larger than 7.5" wide by 2.5" high (borderdimension). Copy must be

received by the Editor no later than theannounced due date.

Advertising RatesRates are for camera ready artwork.

Artwork, composition and typesetting willbe charged at cost. Printable are 7.5"x10",

lpi=133, halftone permitted. Ads forupcoming issues must be received by

the deadlines published below.

Size Single AnnualFull Page 7.5"x10" $ 50 $ 3501/2 Page 7.5"x5" $ 35 $ 2451/4 Page 7.5"x2.5" $ 20 $ 140Card Ad 3 5/8"x2 3/8" $ 10 $ 70

WantedInteresting photos of planes and events.

Send photos by electronic formatto the editor.

ALL Current Pylon Recordswere set using

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AND THE 2000 AMA NATIONALS

Special price for races only$10.00/gallon plus shipping

Order 24 gallons for your next pylon race and receive 12 "RaceOfficial" Hats for Course Workers

See us "on the web" atwww.powermasterfuels.com

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Phone (800) 847-9086Email: sales@powermasterfuels.com

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hosted quite the barbeque.Apparently we have several musiciansin our midst and the piano was usedand abused well into the night. Thankyou to the Russell's for opening yourhome to everyone.

Final standings for the 2004 seasonare now posted on the PROPS site.

Thanks again to everyone for a terrificseason! We look forward to an evenbetter one in 2005!!!!Blue skies to you all!Patt - 22eNalley Racing Team2004 PROPS SecretaryNMPRA District II VP

District 3-Richard MoldenhauerWe have now finished all of our districtracing for another season. Whatstarted out as rainy, soggy spring andsummer end up as a reasonable fall.Of course, our rain was nothingcompared to what our friends inFlorida received as a result ofhurricanes. Our best wishes fromDistrict 3 to all of you down there whowere affected by the hurricanes. Wehope you and your families came outof it safely.

Eight Canadians traveled to ArlingtonWashington in the Northwest Districtto attend the JR Gold Cup. Sevenfrom District 3 and one from BritishColumbia made for goodrepresentation from up north. Manythanks to Dan and Pat and all thePROPS crew in the Northwest forputting on a great contest. Would it bepossible to invite some of the slowguys next time? Wow, everyone wasFAST! Even though I did not do aswell as I would have liked, it was greatattending yet another contest packedfull of great races.

Arlington was the first JR Gold Cuprace for Doug Houston from our homeclub here in Calgary. I would like topoint out that Doug posted his ownpersonal fast time at 1:04 with his MissCandace. I think this must be a goodfour seconds off his previous personalfast time. This just goes to show howcompetition makes you step up andbetter your own game. Many of ushope to return to Arlington again nextyear.

The final contest in the Canadianprairie district took place inSaskatoon, Saskatchewan at the endof August. This was the championshipweekend for the Canadian PrairiePylon Racing Association summerseason. Again, a pair of Quickie 500and Q40 contests were hosted by theHub City Radio Control Club. Manythanks to the club for putting onanother great show. After the smokecleared, the top three overall seasonpoint’s winners were declared. InQuickie 500, Russ Bouchard finishedfirst, Rod Kelln was second and SteveLandry was third. These three keencompetitors are all from Regina. Rodand Steve were separated by only 0.3points in a total of 343 points. Wow,that’s close. In Q40, Cecil Graval ofCalgary came out on top once againthis year. Delbert Godin of Calgaryand Harold Sattler of North Battleford,Sask. followed in second and thirdplace by points. Harold posted a goodfast time for our district in Q40 at1:06.24 Delbert was only slightlyslower at 1:06.81 – very tight racingindeed ! Many thanks to CharlesSwaney of Calgary for serving as ourDistrict Vice-president for the last twoyears and to Richard Moldenhauer ofSaskatoon for volunteering to servefor the next two.

District 3 racing news, information,and contest results can be found onour website at www.cmpra.com clickon the link for CPPRA (CanadianPrairie Pylon Racing Association).See you in the corners.

Randy Smith for Richard Moldenhauer

District 4 - John Sandusky

Hello racers!After four years serving as yourDistrict 4 VP, it is time that I step down.This is to inform you that John Z.Williams of Boulder Colorado will betaking over for me as of January 1,2005.

John is very dedicated to R/C PylonRacing; I know he will do a great job.He is always willing to talk and shareinformation about anything related toracing whether it is radioconfiguration, engine setup and breakin, flying technique, prop carving etc.He has good ideas about how to makeour racing events better and whatneeds to be done on a national levelfor the betterment of R/C PylonRacing.

John is driven to improve upon hisalready considerable racing ability andI know he will bring this same drive tothe duties of District Vice President.He works hard. How we both endedup on the ballot I do not know; I did notintend for my name to appearalongside his. I apologize for anyconfusion this may cause. Restassured District 4 is in good andcapable hands. (John, this is the firstnotification that you did not want to runthat we have seen. DC)It has been my privilege to supportand work for District 4 and the NMPRAthese last four years. Please join me inwelcoming John Z Williams as thenew Vice President of District 4.Thank you very much,John Sandusky

District 5 VP-Dave Norman

This is a great write up! Please readbetween the lines. It has a real lessonfor most of us to learn. Never beintimidated. (DC)

We wrapped up our last 428 race ofthe year this past Saturday (October9th). I want to share an outstandingarticle written by Phil Zuidema abouthis recollection of our ChampionshipFly-Off October 2, 2004.Dave Norman

District News

Eight pilots and two callers from Canadaattended the Arlington JR Gold Cup race.

Left to right Standing: Jack Ellefson, CecilGraval, Randy Smith, Murray Hamula, Steve

Hamula, Harold Sattler.Kneeling: Andrew McIndoe, Roy Andrassy.

James Graval, Doug Houston

JR Gold CupJR Gold Cup Series 2004Series 2004

A Very Special A Very Special

Thank You Thank You

To Our SponsorsTo Our Sponsors

JR Gold CupSeries 2005

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February 26/27 Phoenix, AZ

May 14/15 Ft. Laudredale, FL

June TBA Bowie, MD

Two dates to be announced at alater time

JR Gold CupSeries 2005

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District NewsRecap of the N.C.P.L.Championship Race, October 2,2004; My Recollection.

The NCPL Championship racefollowed the last NCPL race of theseason. I had started that racereasonably well, but then got a littlecut happy, cutting three heats in a row.That pretty much took care of anychance I had and I ended up in amulti-way tie for some obscureposition in the middle of the pack. So,I was in a pretty disappointed state ofmind. Then I heard somebody saying wewere now having the Championshiprace. I had forgotten that Chuck, whowas the points leader so far, and MaxKern, had proposed a different formatto determine the NCPL champ thisyear. That is, rather than go simply bytotal points accumulated in a season,which rewards those who both do well,and make it to all the races; why nottake the top eight finishers and letthem duke it out in a race? Boy, thatseems much more exciting!I was seeded eighth, the bottom rungthat was going to make it into the flyoffs. “Why bother”, I thought. “There islittle-to-no chance for me. I’ll be flyingseveral people with far superiorairplanes.” Of course, these guyswere all here because they were thebest. I felt out of place. Although I feltI could race with any one, I didn’t thinkmy equipment would stay with theirs;and they don’t make mistakes, so youpretty much have to have the speed.At this point, the competitive spirit inme was well subdued. This was justanother opportunity to wreck my planebefore the year’s end. I am not surewhy I joined in, I guess partly becausePat Galarneault, told me, “Get yourplane ready, we have to get ready forthe fly off.” I had to call for Pat, whowas also in the fly off, and I didn’t wantto come across as a bad sport, so Itrundled my shit out there with mypartner.In the first heat I was racing Bednark,

Eldridge and Steine. Certainly a no-gimme race by any standard. Since Ihad been cutting all day, I kind ofmade a pact with Pat, “No cuts.” DaveNorman called me a wild card. Davesaid, “I never know whether you’recutting or not.” I let Dave in on a nottoo-well kept secret, “Me neither!”The other thing that I was extremelyconscious of was that Chuck had anairplane and propeller combinationliked to gain more speed all throughthe race. He would come on verystrong late in the race. I knew I couldmake no mistakes early as they wouldcost me dearly later. The other thing Iknew is that I would likely be the firstone down to Pylon One. I was runninga big prop (pulls hard off the line andreaches terminal velocity morequickly). That meant, I had to be thefirst one around number One on theway back to Two in order to have anychance at being ahead late in theheat.It’s much better to be in front thantrying to play catch-up. You havecleaner air and a better view (notraffic) to dodge and throw you off yourcourse. Plus, people will tend to cuttrying to catch you. (My usual story.)This theory, though I have known it foryears, was pounded in my head byChuck. I really took a lesson fromChuck’s flying. He likes to do this anddoes it very well. Since I had a betterprop for acceleration, and I was goingon the first push, I needed to getaround number One -- FAST.I was also very conscious of wherePylon One was and insistent in myhead not to cut. I was first around #1and had the lead through the race. Iwas following Pat’s calls and agreedwith all of them. When we hit about lap7 and no one was pushing us like Iexpected, I began to relax on #1 just abit. Pat kept me posted on who wasbehind me and how close they wereso I could gauge how hard I wouldhave to work on the finish. Chuck wasbehind me, but to my surprise, hewasn’t coming up like a runaway

freight train as usual. I just finishedthe race and happened to be ahead ofChuck, Jerry and Dick. Chuck knewhe only needed to finish in the top twoto move into the Final race.Delbert had given me a bit of adviceearlier in the day. He said, “I beenopening up the needle two or threeclicks each heat and it just gets goingfaster and faster.” Since I had a sort of“devil-may-care” attitude going intothis, I thought, “What the heck?”, and Iopened the needle about two clickspast where I normally would. I washesitant, but I was going to try it. Thiswas richer than I had run all day long.It seemed pretty fast earlier in the day,but in this heat, it seemed at least asfast as it had been earlier, maybe alittle faster. Alles ist gut.I helped Pat in the following heat. Itwas, Galarneault, Etken, Norman andSchwartz. A tough heat. I don’tremember exactly how the heat went,but we finished, as I recall, first orsecond, but ended up with a couple ofcuts on One. Pat was a little loose onThree, which cost him dearly as Etkenand Norman knew where pylon. Inorder to keep Pat in the hunt, I calledhim right on number One. On acouple of laps he anticipated me byjust a tenth of a second, but at 130mph, that’s almost twenty feet. Plentyfor a cut. That was a bummer, Etkenand Norman would advance to thefinal heat. Now I was about to race who Iconsider to be the most consistentlycompetitive flyers in the NCPL.Actually, I think they could competewith anyone in the country. They alsoall had “skinned-hinge” planes. Highlyengineered and fast equipment. Thatwas the bad news; the good news wasthat I would go on the first push.Eeveryone else had to go on thesecond push. Randy and Chuck wererunning smaller props. Dave wasrunning the same prop I was. He wasthe one I would have to beat aroundPylon One. When we pushed off, Dave beat me to

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District Newsthe bean line. I thought, “So that’show it’s going to be, huh?” Now I wasfocused. After I came around One, to mysurprise I was in the lead. I know Iwas over the top of the pole, andthought I might have cut, but “Hey!”,“This is for all the marbles.” I flew as well as I am capable of, andabout the third or fourth lap, Dave andChuck were not far behind me whenthe unmistakable sound of a mid-airripped through the air.I told Pat, “That didn’t sound good.”Secretly, I was slightly relieved. Thattook a little pressure off. I assumedChuck and Dave were done for therace.Pat said, “Dave crashed”. I queried,“What about Chuck?” Pat told me,“He’s still flying, but don’t worry abouthim.” “Right. Don’t worry about Chuck andyou’re a fool”, I thought. I didn’t knowwhere Randy was, but knew he couldnot be far behind. Randy doesn’t liketo be behind anyone and since therewere no cut outs in this race, onlythose who cut the least, I knew Randywould come knocking on my doorbefore long. But he wasn’t close, yet.I relaxed slightly on #1 again. Ifigured, no sense in cutting now. Onthe ninth lap coming around One,Chuck was back in it again. “Where did he come from?”, I winced.Chuck was not to be counted out. Iduped myself. Here was the FreightTrain coming. “Damn me”, I mighthave relaxed a bit too much. I guessed he might have cut #1 on thatturn, as he gained a ton on me. Nowwas not the time to be guessing aboutsomeone else’s possible cuts. Wewere both coming down to #2 like wewere on a cable. I could tell he wasn’tfar behind me and hoped that first off,he wouldn’t cut my tail off, andsecondly, whoever executed #2 and#3 the best, would win this race.Chuck knew the same thing. I think we should call Chuck the “Fox”.

He strategizes more than anyone elseI know, and he is more capable ofexecuting strategy, than anyone else Iknow.He came about two feet inside me justbefore #2. I thought, “This is the race.He’s got me.”Then “WHAM” went the flag on #2.Chuck’s plane veered away from thecourse. I slipped inside him and wentaround three, crossing the finish first.Randy came in much later than I hadexpected. He wasn’t a factor. I thinkhe figured I cut out.Okay, now for the cuts. I waited withterrible trepidation. Would my patternof the day rear its ugly head onceagain? “No! – Yes!” There were cuts,but none on me. I could scarcelybelieve it! I was stunned. No one onthat field was more surprised than Iwas about the outcome. Today, thisclunky old Predator, its pilot and callerhad what it took.Pat and I congratulated each other.“We did it!” I say, “We” because wewere the only intact team (those whohelp each other regularly) to finish therace. Chuck and Randy normally helpeach other. Here, they were racingeach other. If a person sees this asonly an individual sport, they arewrong. It is absolutely a team effort.You develop a rhythm that makes ahuge difference. Ask any successfulteam. They will tell you the samething. I feel badly for teams thatchange all the time. They’re not givingthemselves the full capacity tocompete. Thanks, Pat.Walking back to the pits, I had twothoughts:I better get that Seeker done for nextyear.It’s Czechvar, time!Phil Zuidema

District 6-Steve Baker

So help me folks, I just got the wordfrom the ‘Newsletter Article DeadlineNazi’ (a.k.a, Darrol ‘Rolling Stone’

Cady) that the deadline has lapsed.Granted, I prefer to wait until gettingkicked to gather my thoughts for thenext column (read: I need a deadlineto get motivated). So here we go.

Locally, our club just finished for theseason with a fine one-day Q-500contest (424 and 428). Attendancewas much higher than expected. I willprovide more blow-by-blow coverage(and I do mean blow by blow) in asubsequent winter edition of theDistrict 6 report. Right now,something else is on my mind.

This month, I want to discuss the age-old question: What’s happening topylon racing? Several folks in the localand regional racing community havesought an answer and a cure for thedwindling rolls at pylon racing eventsnationwide. Clearly, in an age of somany other things to do other thanrace expensive R/C models for theadmiration of your peers and a tokenaward to mark the event in time, it’seasy to explain. Or is it?

Clearly, no one single factor drivesfolks out of racing, but rather, it’s acomplex combination of factors thateach of us grapples with that signalsour subconscious to either hang inthere and ship our worn-out enginesoff for repair, or hang it up andadvertise what’s left on E-Bay. I amconvinced an equal portion of us thatparticipate in this sport neither know orwonder what it means to be fed with asilver spoon, so I don’t tie any of thisdwindling in participation to the stateof the economy, the cost oftransportation or the price of tea inChina. What then do we do?

Clearly, no one will have an answerthat is the panacea in all 10 districts.What works in one part of the countryto increase participation has little or noeffect in another. Why? Because eachregion has its own history, its ownflying season, its own assets andconstraints, its own pool of experts,

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District Newsleaders and followers, and on and on.Curing the low turnout problem of R/Cpylon racing will require each districtto get to know its own attributes andwork with what it has to improve racinglocally. When enough districts figurethemselves out, growth on thenational level should follow.

Potential for growth throughRegulatory Reform: In a recentconversation I had with a long-timefellow racer from Ohio, I learned thatmany clubs in his part of the countrythat once hosted successful races inthe past were put out of business bythe Catch-22 requirement to own oneof the 10 sets of safety cagesauthorized for use by the AMA. I sayCatch-22 because only 10 weremade, and only these 10 are certified.Obviously, more than 10 sites in theUS hosted contests; hence a lot oflocal racing was vaporized for lack ofcages or a suitable-sized field to setup a legal racing course. I fullyunderstand the need to have the 300feet safety buffer for 422,428/SEMPRA, and FAI classes ofracing, but 424 racing involves lessthan half the equivalent kinetic energyof these other events and the AMAshould entertain reducing the size ofthe safety zone for 424 and othersimilar slower racing events. If eachdistrict VP would look into this andsolve for how much space these sitesreally have for such events, perhaps

this data could be used in one or morerules proposals to restore 424 andsimilar racing events at some of thesesites. It’s been years since this aspectof our rules was examined, andcommon sense would suggest there’sroom for re-negotiation in this area.Anyway, that’s my 2 cents worth.

It’s a New Age: The fact is the averageage of all R/C pylon participants isgrowing because fewer young peopleare taking up the sport. In spite of themuch lower costs associated with R/Cin general (as compared to 20 or 30years ago, ironically when FormulaOne flourished) fewer flyers areinterested in racing. A part of theanswer is in the word: flyers. Note Ididn’t say modelers. While not allmodelers have prerequisite skills andinterests in racing, they typically havea much higher level of overallmodeling skill, technicalunderstanding through more hands-onexperience, appreciation for, andinterest in the finer points of our sportthan the comparable ‘buy and fly’person. Not to slam the entire race ofbuy and fly participants, but at the timethe premier r/c pylon racing classeswere popular, a greater majority ofsuch highly talented modelers existed(with egos to match that thrived onshowing off their building and flyingtalents) than there are today.Fortunately, the ARF industry isgetting better and better at

accommodating this new-age speciesof pylon racing aficionado, and hasalso learned that several of the oldsalts would rather buy an ARF orhighly prefabricated model than maketheir own from a kit or plans. Today’sradios and engines are also betterquality and cheaper than ever before.Local hobby shops often sell their bigticket items at prices that match thoseof mail-order houses. So don’t blamethe R/C industry.

Too many choices: Today, there aremore facets to the hobby than ever,due in large part to technologicaldevelopments in batteries, CNCproduction methods, advances inmass-produced electronics and theuse of composite materials. Theseand other evolutions make entry intothe hobby easier than ever. What allthis has done is give an R/Centhusiast more places to spend hisR/C dollar. Unfortunately, this in turndilutes the number of modelers thatchoose pylon racing as their favoriteR/C pastime. Given that we are incompetition with other forms of thehobby, the answer must be that inorder to get a greater share ofmodelers, we need to do a better jobof promoting our part of the hobby.This means magazine coverage,incentives for club members to assistand participate in racing events, andmore positive public relations.

The type of racing you host has a

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District Newshuge effect on how many will show upto a race. The PGRC has chosen tospecialize in AMA 424 and 428 Q-500,and annually hosts the JR Gold CupRace (Over the years, larger andsmaller factions of us raced Formula1, 1/2A and .15 Quarter Midget). Isthis ideal? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybefor our club. Maybe not always. Criticsof this mix note that there is a hugeleap associated with the transitionfrom 424 to 428, to say nothing of thatbig-big stride to 422. It took 18 yearsfor the nation and the AMA to settle onthe 428 rules now in use. I continue tohear of other means to bridge thesetalent gaps, but without someonecoming forward and promoting one,it’s all talk. With what we know aboutour current events, someone out theremust have an idea. Personally, I likethe idea of Thunder Tiger.40 poweredQ-40’s built to a 3.5 lb spec. As atransition from 424 to 428, why not a.50 or .60 powered class of Q-500? Atleast the airframes are available.Whatever it is, it ought to be easy forthe industry to support and the typical‘buy and fly’ person to get started at acompetitive level. Anyone interestedin debuting one of these or any othersuch innovation can bring it to our first2005 race and demonstrate it. I’llhype it all I can stomach in thiscolumn.

In response to our own club’sdwindling attendance, next year weplan to reach out and contact folks thatused to race with us and see if theycan’t be drawn back into the sport.Other ideas will be explored. If otherdistrict VP’s will talk up their ownexperiences, attendance issues andideas, perhaps together, we can instillsome growth into our aspect of thehobby.

Happy Halloween, Steve BakerAMA 68276NMPRA 15R

District 7- Tom Dobyns

With the end of our season upon us,those in District 7 have been lookingfor sanctuary from Mother Nature.With four hurricanes hitting the SouthEast and all of them touching Florida,a lot of destruction has occurred andtouched the lives of so many. Eventoday, a few weeks after the laststorm, there are many still trying to gettheir homes and business’s repairedand put their lives back to ‘normal’. Isend a great thanks out to all thosewho have come from other states tohelp, especially the power and utilitycrews. They have all worked long hardand hot hours restoring power anddirection back into many, manypeople’s lives. Many of those crewshave been in Florida since Charley,the first storm almost a month and ahalf ago.

In some of the hardest hit areas, it willbe several months before repairs canbe completed and in some cases,started. If you want to help, I suggestyou send your donations to either theRed Cross or The Salvation Army. Iknow that they have many things thatthey are in short supply of.

In the middle of all of the hurricanes,we were able to hold a race in Sunrise,Florida on September 18-19th. Heldby the Markham Park PilotsAssociation and attended by a fewracers from as far away as Venezuela.It was a really nice break from all ofthe storms and impending storms anda chance to see all of your friends andmake sure they were ok. We raced422, 424 and 428 both days. Theweather was extremely hot and waterwas being sold by the case at theconcession stand! To match theweather we raced even hotter andthere were so many close calls it wasalmost unbelievable that no planeswere re-kitted in the air.

With our District Season done for

2004, we look forward to 2005 withgreat anticipation for hopefully a slewof contests this coming season. Planshave not been finalized yet, but assoon as we have a contest calendar I’llget it out to everyone. I can tell youthat our season starts in Sanford onOctober 23-24, 2004 with 424 and 428on their new long course! I hopeeveryone can attend to support theCentral Florida Sport Flyers and theirnewly lengthened field. For moreinformation, contact Chris Mahnkenat: 407-925-2956.

Then in November, the Markham PartPilots Association will host theNational FAI Team Trials on the 19-21st. The dead line is almost closed ifyou are trying out for the team, sohurry up if you want a chance to be apart of Team USA! If you just want tofly FAI and not try out for the team, youcan still register with Ray Brown. Formore information, contact Ray Brownat: 305-205-9500 orteamfutaba@aol.com.

And of course, the Apopka club, theRemote Control Association of CentralFlorida will host the annual Tangerineevent on December 10-12th. This yearthey will hold the Q-40 Championshiprace on Sat. and Sun. and 428 on theFriday. The will also try for 424 allthree days, time permitting. For moreinformation and to register, contactGary Freeman Jr. at: 407-673-0635.

9

Till next time, keep safe and fly fast!Tom Dobyns

District 8 - Dennis CranfillNo Report Filed

JR Gold Cup 2004-Randy Bridge VP

We are all done with the 4th round ofthe JR Gold Cup series, from ArlingtonWashington. From what I heard theweather was nice. It was a bit chillyfor me, but at least the hurricanescan’t make it up and over there. It wasawesome to see a lot of faces that Ihaven’t seen in quite some time. Asalways, the racing was good. It seemsthat most the racers had beenpolishing there skills and everyoneflew extremely well.

A big thank you goes to Pat Poinsettand Dan Nalley for their hard work andpreparation. We were provided with agreat lunch both days, Judy Del Pontecalling all the heats to the trailer, andhaving a ride to the line and back forevery heat. Which helped immenselydue to the massive head ache causedby the local watering hole and someclose friends from California… Thanksguys, we will want to do that againnext year.

There we 36 contestants registeredfor the matrix. It appeared to a badweek for Q40 manufactures, as I don’trecall very many planes playing lawndarts. That is always a good sign.

Congrats to Fred Burgdorf for winningand Mike Helsel for setting FT1:01.64… the top 20 will be posted atthe bottom of the article.

The 2004 NMPRA points’ season isover. Congratulations to everyonewho participated in the racing season,and thanks for supporting theNMPRA. There were 119 membersthat posted points, and 26 racesreported. The most races wereposted from Dist 1 (11). They hadmore than double the races than anyother district, therefore dominating thepoint’s standings. So if you don’t livein Dist 1, I would suggest that you startsome conversation with you Dist VPand find a way to spark some interestin your area. Otherwise having aNational Points system in place is

going to be meaningless. We had 33pilots compete in races all over thecountry (and some from out of thecountry) that were not members of theNMPRA.

Listed below and on page 10 are the2004 NMPRA Points standings:

10

Quickie 500 VP-Gary Freeman JR

No Report Filed

NMPRA Nats VP-Mike Condon

No Report Filed

JR Gold Cup Points 2004JR Gold Cup Points 2004

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11

2005 NMPRA Membership ApplicationPlease check all appropriate boxes.

■■ New Member ■■ I am a current Contest Director■■ Renewal ■■ Please donate excess remitted monies to the FAI Team Fund■■ Change Address

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only $20.00 anywhere in the world.

Make Check Payable To: NMPRA Mail To: NMPRASecretary/TreasurerBob Brogdon5251 Hermitage Dr.Powder Springs, GA 30127phone 770-421-8838

NMPRA OFFICERSPresidentPete Bergstrom511 West Main St.Monticello, IL 61856pbergstrom@horizonhobby.com

Secretary/TreasurerBob Brogdon5251 Hermitage Dr.Powder Springs, GA 30127770-421-8838r.a.brogdon2comcast.net

District 1 VPBill Vargas3795 Plantation Cr.Corona, CA 92881909-734-4601Super46mec@attbi.com

District 2 VPPatt Poinsett14718 SE 185th PlaceRenton, WA 98058425-271-5268patt@wininfo.com

District 3 VPRichard Moldenhauer50 Chomyn CrescentSaskatoon, SK S7K 7R4Canadarmoldenhauer@shaw.ca306-242-7102

District 4 VPJohn Sandusky6765 Nelson StreetArvada, CO 80004303-424-1856jsand@jefferson.lib.co.us

District 5 VPDavid Norman14227 Crane St. NWAndover, MN 55304763-413-3338dnorman2@banta.com

District 6 VPSteve Baker12215 Malin LaneBowie, MD 20715301-434-3568sbaker@bis.doc.gov

District 7 VP:

Tom Dobyns2115 Manor Dr. NEPalm Bay, FL 32906tdobyns@cfl.rr.com321-722-1914

District 8 VPDennis Cranfill110 BirchLake Jackson, TX 77566-4214979-418-7661dccranfill@dow.com

JR Gold Cup and NMPRA Q40 Points VPRandy Bridge662 Stanhope Dr.Casselberry, Fl. 32707407-388-1928randy.c.bridge@1mco.com

Quickie 500 Points VPGary Freeman, Jr.3517 Seaford Ln.Casselberry, FL 32707407-673-0636gary.e.freeman@Imco.com

NMPRA Nats

CoordinatorMike Condon9335 Eastwind Dr.Livonia, MI 48150734-464-7027mcondon@twmi.rr.com

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