holly711
May 30, 2004, 09:00 PM
!Club Racing Part II -- Getting (Almost) Everyone On Board
!!Club, Pilots, Hobby Supplier and the Family
Now the fun part begins! You have the blessings of the club, (well, most of them hopefully). Note: you can help win the club over by using the coffee and food concessions as extra $$$ for the club. With just a little advertising you can get a bunch of people out there...that helps with the non-racing nay sayers as well. Anyway, you must have worked it out or you would not be reading this segment. Now is the time to contact the AMA, (fax or e-mail), request a sanction, and get their rules and guidelines on how to lay out your race course. Distances between the pylons, pilots, spectators, and so on.
Another thought that might be advantageous for you to think about is to get your local hobby
Shop involved as much as possible. This guy (or gal!) may be able to get you planes and engines at real discounts IF he has an incentive. Something like, “The Joe Slick Hobbies racing
league”. Or “The Area 51 racers sponsored by Joe Slick Hobbies." What ever works.
If the discount is good enough, every one will get the plane and engine from him. Now,
he ain't making much on one plane and engine but, there’s other stuff you have to have,
So while I’m here…I have seen this work for club after club, to the benefit of everyone.
There are a few things that must be taken into consideration before you start talking about planes and engines and such. Money , Time, Mom, and the Kids, are just a few. Us old folks usually have less problems here as the wife WANTS us the he** out of the house for a while. Also we have the time to build a kit or an ARF, either one, it don’t matter. We’re in the hobby already so it’s just another model. That old 4 channel radio is just sitting on the shelf doing nothing, (I was going to sell it at the last swap meet, but, I forgot). However, the younger folks have to work around these things. If you have a wife that will get into the racing with you, YOU ARE A LUCKY MAN !! Remember you will need a caller. Here’s one time she can tell you what to do and you will respond immediately
and enjoy it. (Well…one of the times). Never thought of that, didja?? If you are a little less fortunate, get one of the older kids involved. Girls and boys. Most kids I’ve seen are naturals at this because of the things they have done on the computer. Besides which, it is much easier to say, “I’m going to get a little plane for ________ ________ (fill in child's name here)” than it is to say, ”I’m going to get a race plane." It works a whole lot better also. Include the kids, and it can help you a lot, use them. You have to plan your strategy here! :-)
!!Getting Together on Equipment That Everyone Can Handle
When contemplating planes and engines, you need to be aware of the time and cost involved. Be also aware that, before the season is finished, you might be fixing, rebuilding or even replacing your racer, maybe more than once. Nine times out of ten you will get the radio and engine back, but, the planes don’t usually fair that well. Midair’s really don’t happen that often, but, with three to five aircraft turning a pylon in the same airspace, you might say that you are, “in harms way”.
We mentioned the kids and their mom, so now lets talk about money and time. You need to really know the folks who are going to want to compete. First off are your potential racers builders or ARF pilots? Do they have the time, and the skill, to build up a 35 to 45 inch wing. Do they like building enough to do it? and to repair it? Some of the most economical planes are 25 size shoulder or low wing kits. I’ve seen them any where from $20.00 to $40.00. When you strap a little low end priced .40 2 stroke on it , trust me, that little hummer will race. (We are not talking “scale “ here). Just slab tail feathers, box fuse. And a built –up wing. But, if your racers are like most working stiffs,( I was one of those), they don’t have the time for this anymore. So you need to think ARFs. (Or maybe, classes for both.) Well now…Lets talk about these...
ARF's are only slightly higher priced than a built-up kit when you add everything up. Glue, covering, wheels, etc., etc,. And TIME. The ARF that our club picked took about 4 hours to finish from box to test flight. This may be a great incentive to your members to jump in.
Talk with the club members that seem interested and you will find that most have an opinion and a favorite plane/engine set up. Talk to your hobby shop, see what kind of deals he can make on different brands of planes and engines. In case he doesn't know, ask him to talk to his distributor -- many will offer "club/hobby shop racer packages", for example, offering a dozen of aircraft X at a discount. You will want a well-built plane and a dependable engine, so maybe “super cheap” is not the best way. If you can get some kind of consensus on a plane/engine set up and the Hobby shop is comfortable with the pricing deal, go for it.
So now you have decided on the Gofast Models, “Whizbang”. Before the racing season begins, a good idea here is to have the racing committee build it or buy three and each one build it separately with a lot of conversation between them BEFORE the building season begins. This will help if or when Joe Slick wants to change something or if something indeed really does need changing. The committee members will now know what the plane should look like right out of the box. What it should weigh. etc. etc. ARFs are better here as it is much harder to change the leading edges or to cut lightning holes and such after the basic plane is built. If the models look too much alike a few stripes of
MonoKote or paint takes care of that. Most racers are very innovative with stylizing
their birds.
!!!Some Examples To Think About
Be advised, I’m not recommending any specific airplane or engine, but, just to give you an idea, let me tell you about two set-ups I have raced in the past.
@908040:The “Bridi Air Cruiser” is a .20 size built up kit. It takes maybe 3 days to build. It has a built-up wing, square fuse, and slab tail feathers. We raced them with K&B .32s (or similar). Very inexpensive...roughly $85/90.
@908041:The World Models, “Air Combat Series”. This little .20 sized "yak" ARF and an OS Max 40LA will set you back a whole $130.00. The savings in time and ease of building over a kit is really the way to go in many modeler's mind -- esp. the young, working, family man!
@908042:Another family of choices...the Tower Uproar kit...
@908043:or ARF are inexpensive, easy to build, and quite popular.
@908044:Dying for a more scale airframe? House of Balsa offers two small, inexpensive mustang kits...but these are NOT for beginners, neither in building or flying.
!!Wrap-Up For Now
Once the committee is comfortable with the intended racing package, start announcing the first race date, required planes, be sure to share those rules we talked about last time, and ... get down that old 4 channel, dust that puppy off, check or change the batteries, Get out the epoxy and CA and let’s do it!
@908045:Next time we’ll talk some on the racing itself…until then, check yer 6.
<div class = "dashed">
Link to the prior article(s) in this series:<br>
<a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/4461">An Old Geezers Look at RC Racing, Part I</a><br>
Look for the next installment, coming soon!<br>
</div>
!!Club, Pilots, Hobby Supplier and the Family
Now the fun part begins! You have the blessings of the club, (well, most of them hopefully). Note: you can help win the club over by using the coffee and food concessions as extra $$$ for the club. With just a little advertising you can get a bunch of people out there...that helps with the non-racing nay sayers as well. Anyway, you must have worked it out or you would not be reading this segment. Now is the time to contact the AMA, (fax or e-mail), request a sanction, and get their rules and guidelines on how to lay out your race course. Distances between the pylons, pilots, spectators, and so on.
Another thought that might be advantageous for you to think about is to get your local hobby
Shop involved as much as possible. This guy (or gal!) may be able to get you planes and engines at real discounts IF he has an incentive. Something like, “The Joe Slick Hobbies racing
league”. Or “The Area 51 racers sponsored by Joe Slick Hobbies." What ever works.
If the discount is good enough, every one will get the plane and engine from him. Now,
he ain't making much on one plane and engine but, there’s other stuff you have to have,
So while I’m here…I have seen this work for club after club, to the benefit of everyone.
There are a few things that must be taken into consideration before you start talking about planes and engines and such. Money , Time, Mom, and the Kids, are just a few. Us old folks usually have less problems here as the wife WANTS us the he** out of the house for a while. Also we have the time to build a kit or an ARF, either one, it don’t matter. We’re in the hobby already so it’s just another model. That old 4 channel radio is just sitting on the shelf doing nothing, (I was going to sell it at the last swap meet, but, I forgot). However, the younger folks have to work around these things. If you have a wife that will get into the racing with you, YOU ARE A LUCKY MAN !! Remember you will need a caller. Here’s one time she can tell you what to do and you will respond immediately
and enjoy it. (Well…one of the times). Never thought of that, didja?? If you are a little less fortunate, get one of the older kids involved. Girls and boys. Most kids I’ve seen are naturals at this because of the things they have done on the computer. Besides which, it is much easier to say, “I’m going to get a little plane for ________ ________ (fill in child's name here)” than it is to say, ”I’m going to get a race plane." It works a whole lot better also. Include the kids, and it can help you a lot, use them. You have to plan your strategy here! :-)
!!Getting Together on Equipment That Everyone Can Handle
When contemplating planes and engines, you need to be aware of the time and cost involved. Be also aware that, before the season is finished, you might be fixing, rebuilding or even replacing your racer, maybe more than once. Nine times out of ten you will get the radio and engine back, but, the planes don’t usually fair that well. Midair’s really don’t happen that often, but, with three to five aircraft turning a pylon in the same airspace, you might say that you are, “in harms way”.
We mentioned the kids and their mom, so now lets talk about money and time. You need to really know the folks who are going to want to compete. First off are your potential racers builders or ARF pilots? Do they have the time, and the skill, to build up a 35 to 45 inch wing. Do they like building enough to do it? and to repair it? Some of the most economical planes are 25 size shoulder or low wing kits. I’ve seen them any where from $20.00 to $40.00. When you strap a little low end priced .40 2 stroke on it , trust me, that little hummer will race. (We are not talking “scale “ here). Just slab tail feathers, box fuse. And a built –up wing. But, if your racers are like most working stiffs,( I was one of those), they don’t have the time for this anymore. So you need to think ARFs. (Or maybe, classes for both.) Well now…Lets talk about these...
ARF's are only slightly higher priced than a built-up kit when you add everything up. Glue, covering, wheels, etc., etc,. And TIME. The ARF that our club picked took about 4 hours to finish from box to test flight. This may be a great incentive to your members to jump in.
Talk with the club members that seem interested and you will find that most have an opinion and a favorite plane/engine set up. Talk to your hobby shop, see what kind of deals he can make on different brands of planes and engines. In case he doesn't know, ask him to talk to his distributor -- many will offer "club/hobby shop racer packages", for example, offering a dozen of aircraft X at a discount. You will want a well-built plane and a dependable engine, so maybe “super cheap” is not the best way. If you can get some kind of consensus on a plane/engine set up and the Hobby shop is comfortable with the pricing deal, go for it.
So now you have decided on the Gofast Models, “Whizbang”. Before the racing season begins, a good idea here is to have the racing committee build it or buy three and each one build it separately with a lot of conversation between them BEFORE the building season begins. This will help if or when Joe Slick wants to change something or if something indeed really does need changing. The committee members will now know what the plane should look like right out of the box. What it should weigh. etc. etc. ARFs are better here as it is much harder to change the leading edges or to cut lightning holes and such after the basic plane is built. If the models look too much alike a few stripes of
MonoKote or paint takes care of that. Most racers are very innovative with stylizing
their birds.
!!!Some Examples To Think About
Be advised, I’m not recommending any specific airplane or engine, but, just to give you an idea, let me tell you about two set-ups I have raced in the past.
@908040:The “Bridi Air Cruiser” is a .20 size built up kit. It takes maybe 3 days to build. It has a built-up wing, square fuse, and slab tail feathers. We raced them with K&B .32s (or similar). Very inexpensive...roughly $85/90.
@908041:The World Models, “Air Combat Series”. This little .20 sized "yak" ARF and an OS Max 40LA will set you back a whole $130.00. The savings in time and ease of building over a kit is really the way to go in many modeler's mind -- esp. the young, working, family man!
@908042:Another family of choices...the Tower Uproar kit...
@908043:or ARF are inexpensive, easy to build, and quite popular.
@908044:Dying for a more scale airframe? House of Balsa offers two small, inexpensive mustang kits...but these are NOT for beginners, neither in building or flying.
!!Wrap-Up For Now
Once the committee is comfortable with the intended racing package, start announcing the first race date, required planes, be sure to share those rules we talked about last time, and ... get down that old 4 channel, dust that puppy off, check or change the batteries, Get out the epoxy and CA and let’s do it!
@908045:Next time we’ll talk some on the racing itself…until then, check yer 6.
<div class = "dashed">
Link to the prior article(s) in this series:<br>
<a href="http://www.rcgroups.com/4461">An Old Geezers Look at RC Racing, Part I</a><br>
Look for the next installment, coming soon!<br>
</div>