Q40 FINALS

The NATS are over for another year.  Not sure what to say.  I think about it in terms of highs and lows.  That's the way Muncie is at the NATS.

The reality is this is the gathering of the best pilots in North America.  There are no easy heats and when you get to the finals you have to let it all out.

Why hold back?

Roy finished Q40 qualifying this morning with some bad luck.  After a perfect day yesterday, Roy ran into bad air in his first race this morning.  <crap>  I really hate that bad air. He spread the Supercat that went fast in Japan across the Muncie pavement. He skipped his last round and got out the backup Supercat.  Roy still qualified for the final.

I had two good wins this morning in my two remaining rounds of qualifying. The Sweet-V was running smooth and running fast.  I actually had the second fastest time of my qualifying matrix at 1:04.

Mike Tallman also qualified for the finals.  Mike is the third member of team "Ground Pounders"

The finals began and all stops were pulled.  28 of the fastest guys lined up for the Q40 national championship.  It was fast.  It was furious.  It was exciting.  After the six rounds of finals, AJ Seaholm was national champion.  Second place was Mike Helsel.  Third was Stephen Vaclav.

Fast time was earned by Matt Fehling flying Nelson and Strega with a 1:02.21

Roy planted another Supercat at "Canadian Corner" due to bad air once again.  Roy was out after three rounds.

I had a couple of third place finishes in the finals due to a couple of cuts at pylon #1 in quite gusty strong wind coming from pylon #1.  I was cutting on the first turn after takeoff due to the longer count.  I got that straightened out and then blew a crankshaft in round 3. I guess it was due.  An older crank and a new top end don't mix. This resulted in a zero.  

I threw in my back up motor and dialled it in for the next round. I had a helluva race going with Mike Helsel.  We ran about five laps together wing tip to wing tip.  I stayed low and Mike stayed above.  I didn't want to move and cause a mid-air so I just stayed low.  Problem was that I got lower with each consecutive lap.  I came around pylon #3 at about 2' above the ground. My plane crossed the line and crashed on the side of it.

Mike Tallman finished in 13th position out of 28 finalists.

That was the end of the Nats for us.  Q40 qualifying and the finals were the most fun.

EF-1 was great and has a lot of potential.  I hate Quickie…

Two helmet cam videos of the Q40 flyoffs for 4th place and for 9th place.

4th Place between Dub Jett, Mathew Fehling and Bryan Blanchard

http://youtu.be/gjQcyhRkF8o

9th place between Tim Yousey and Steve Baker

http://youtu.be/3DF_6bguIGw

I didn't take any photos as I was too busy picking up airplane parts.   Robert Vess has lots of pictures from the "Vess-cam" at the NMPRA forum:

http://www.nmpraforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4617&start=70

Also there is the NATS News.  Scott Causey took some great photos during the week.  Check out NATS News here:

http://www.modelaircraft.org/events/nats/natsnews.aspx    

See the links for July 15 through to 17th

Randy

422 Q40 Qualifying

I have decided that I HATE Quickie!   Today was a great day in Q40.

We are flying eight rounds of qualifying once again, then on to the finals.

I am in A-matrix and Roy is in B-matrix.  Today I flew first.  Hot and no wind in the morning.

I flew six rounds successfully and the good old Sweet-V was flying well. NO problems with bad air today.  There were only a few crashes from pilots all day today.  What a difference from Quickie.

After six rounds I am in 8th place with a 1:05.  I felt competitive and lead the pack a few times today.  I had two firsts, two seconds, a third and a zero due to double cut at pylon #2.   The pylon #2 judge is ruthless.   Many guys had trouble on pole 2.

After lunch B-matrix flew.  Roy and the orange rocket ship, otherwise known as the Supercat, were on the line.  Roy absolutely dominated the field today.  He had six perfect races and the fastest time of the day at 1:02.  We actually are having trouble setting the needle on the ground but we are not worried about it. I just manage the motor on the line by holding the nose down, up, or pinching the fuel line just before launch.  It seems to be working.

A number of guys seem to be having some needle troubles due to the hot and humid weather.  

Trying to make it an early night tonight.  I have not been sleeping well so I'm just gong to keep it short.

Photos attached and one video from Roy's last race today where he cruised to a 1:03

Youtube video:

http://youtu.be/W66qXlTvAJk

Tomorrow we complete the last two rounds of qualifying and then on to the big FINAL.  Stay tuned.

426 Quickie Finals

What can I say?  It's the highs and the lows of Muncie.

Roy was kicking @ss in the qualifying rounds.  I was chugging along keeping my nose clean.
Then came the the Crash-fest - I mean the Finals.

It's 11:05 in the hotel room.  We left the flying field at 9:00pm to go for dinner.  33 degree heat and humid all day.   Are we on vacation ?

Roy and I both made the finals in Quickie.   Roy placed around 3rd or 4th place in his matrix.   I made it in at 12 place.   Top 12 get in with two wild cards having fast times under the top 12.

Finals started and Roy was now chasing the needle valve setting.  He posted two fourth place finishes which is very odd for Roy.  I had a second and a high speed touch and go off of the pavement due to bad air at pylon 3.   I scraped a wing tip, stressed the landing gear and broke the prop.  This cost me a zero.

Today I decided to go to my backup Quickie which proved to be a good decision.   The motor ran better and I was more competitive.  I posted some seconds and thirds at 1:06.  Roy got it together and was getting firsts and seconds at 1:04.  Then came round 7.    Roy took off, pulled at number 1 and came back through #2 and #3 and hit a patch of bad air.  As you know how low Roy flys, there was no room for correction.  In a fraction of a second it was in the pavement.

Round 8 came for me and all I had to do was finish.  Ten laps, one minute and six seconds or so and I'm home free.   Lap two came and Roy said a bunch of guys in my heat had cut.  Sounds great, right?   I bumped it up about 20 feet to do some cruising.   I cruised right through bad and into the pavement.   <Insert very sad face here>   <Insert swear words and wild waving arm gestures>

There's not much more to say other than the winner was Bill Johanson with Caller Tom Scott.  A great team for sure.  Bill also posted fast time at 1:03.xx    Bill really deserves the win.  He is a great competitor and an excellent pylon flyer.

When the airplanes stopped falling from the sky, Roy finished in 22nd and I finished in 20th position.   Thank goodness that's over.

Final standing posted below.   1:03.23

Some helmet cam video here:

http://youtu.be/6o6YWknZCiM

http://youtu.be/z889sGcns6I

Q40 qualifying heats begin tomorrow.


Randy - out.

426 Quickie 500 Qualifying

Very tired!   A short blog update tonight.   I had to complete the two Q40 matrices tonight after dinner and before writing this post.  It's 10:20pm.   I was out of bed at 6:00am this morning and awake since 5am.

Very hot today in the afternoon.   The morning was quite nice.
24 pilots in 426A matrix.   After 8 rounds, the top 12 will get into the finals plus the two guys below the top 12 with the fastest times.   We completed six rounds in each matrix today.  We will fly two more rounds of qualifying tomorrow in each matrix and then move to the final with 28 pilots for the final.

Matrix A has some fast and furious racing.  Roy posted a 1:03.92.  Roy finished the day in second place.  The Ninja Quickie was really moving!!!   The count got faster and faster as the race went on.  There were not too many planes lost in Matrix A.

Matrix B was another story.  It got HOT in the afternoon.   33 degrees C or so with very little wind.  The bad air was REALLY bad!!!  I am still a bit scarred and wounded from losing two planes last year so I was flying a bit tentative around pylons 2 and 3.  Several times I flew through bad air LONG AFTER the other planes had past.  It's very unsettling.

Unfortunately, Mike Tallman experienced bad air at its baddest!   Mike's plane rolled right upside down at pylon #3 and went straight into the pavement.  Nothing was recoverable.  There was a large hole in the pavement where the motor turned its last few revolutions.  There were also a number of mid air collisions.

Personally, I had a hard day today.  I was chasing the needle valve setting all day and only had acceptable runs in my last two heats.  Even though I was slow in most races, I remained clean without cuts and finished each heat with 2nds or 3rds.  I finished the day in 10th place.
I have decided to change models to my Ninja backup with a different 426 motor.  I tested it after the racing this evening and it seems to be running well.

That's about it for now.  No helmet cam video today.  I'll strap it on tomorrow.
Check out Chuck Andraka's blog link found on the NMPRA forum and more pictures from the Vess-cam also on the forum.    http://www.nmpraforum.com/viewforum.php?f=1&sid=9d617b0c790a71f765e691003a2062e8

Monday July 15

Today was a great day of racing at the Nats.  Hot hot weather with light wind.

Six rounds of Electric Formula One today.

Jim Katz and Mike Langlois came in #1 and #2 with their pair of Sweet Pea V-tail models.
Very well designed, built and raced.  These two guys are a class act and real gentlemen.
Jim turned a new low fast time for the NATS at 1:08.46.  This was set in a great race against Danny Kane Jr.

Third place was Jerry Small flying is Old Tiger.
Jim, Mike and Jerry settled the top three with a fly off at the end of the day.

Roy did well today and placed 5th in a fly off for 4th place against Rich Beers.  Roy flew his Shoestring and Rich flew a Wagner Solution.

I was having a great day with four first place finishes but then two rounds with DOUBLE cuts!
Damn those cuts.  I ended up 13th out of 44.   Should-a, could-a, would-a...

Mike Tallman, the third in the Three Amigos, placed 10th.  Mike and I both flew the Nitroplanes Miss Dara.

Photos attached and some helmet cam video.   One video is Roy's fly off with Rich Beers and the other is the three way fly off for first place.

Fly off for 4th place

http://youtu.be/xSPDsjf3vE4

Fly off for 1st place

http://youtu.be/dJxE1dg1-fA

Robert Vess has more photos here:

http://www.nmpraforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4617&start=10

Roy with Shoestring, Randy with Miss Dara

Mike Langlois and Jim Katz with Sweet Pea

Top Five Winners

Sunday, July 14

My blog entries will be brief.

The NATS boys are gathering.   44 competitors for E-F1.

Everyone checked in today.   No battery heaters allowed.  This was decided by pilot vote.

Roy and I tested today.  Everything seems to be running well.   We tested E-F1 and the 426 Quickies.  No problems.

There are a number of good photos of today's models on the NMPRA forum.  Thanks to Robert Vess.   http://www.nmpraforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4617

Roy and I left Calgary last Thursday.   Overnight in Great Falls, Montana and then also in Missouri Valley - somewhere in Iowa.  No problems with the drive.   The traffic was quite good.  No deer strikes.   We saw very few deer on the way.

Temps this week 32, 33, 34 degrees C.   Today was the start.  Very humid.   You start out OK but tire quickly by 2:00pm but there's a lot more of the day to go yet.  I think humidex temps are near 40+

That's about it for now.   I'll try to post as much as I can and also take some helmet cam video.
Very tired at the end of the day.  Difficult to write much.   First race off the ground at 8:00am tomorrow in E-F1.


Randy