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Latest News from the Editor

Updated 7 August 2008

Round 6 at Pitt Town finished. See the calendar page. Beautiful day and some good racing. Very close scores and the championship is now looking very interesting for F400 with only a couple of points separating the top 4. Q500 championship could still be up for grabs by the handsome and talented Peter Kerney if he can continue to beat the hopeless John Little. :-)

Update on the competition for 2008

I have now changed the results sheet to calculate the dropped round and the "Place" is now based on the Drop 1 result rather than the total.

The competition will be extended to 8 rounds. With this extension we also agreed that we will drop your worst round and your final score will be your best 7 rounds. This will allow people to miss a round without penalty.

Scoring will remain the same with 10 for first and 1 less as you go down with all competitors getting at least 1 point.

About Us

Remote control aircraft racing is very popular in New South Wales Australia using "Q500" sport type air frames. Three classes exist "Q500, F400 and F3D". All classes are quite popular and we are seeing people progressing from the entry class into the national classes.

Q500 (sport pylon) is much like the 424 class in the USA and is highly contested by beginners and pro's. You must have a standard popular engine (.46ci max) with a 10*6 prop and the supplied non-tuned muffler and factory head shims installed. We use Standard, 4/1 Fuel (no nitro) which is supplied. The air frames have proved easy to fly and quick to replace with the ARF Sonic 500 and Great Planes Viper 500 being very popular.

F400 is an Australian formula of QM40. F400 flyer's can use any modified (.47ci max) engine and prop. F400's provide performance without the excessive noise and cost of formulas of the past.

Championship rounds will be held in 2006 at different R/C clubs in Sydney and regional New South Wales, only a few hours drive from Sydney. Races are held about every two months in summer and monthly in winter.

Rules for NSW Q500

NSW Pylon rules are identical to the draft rules published on the AMPRA website in the "Class Rules" page, with the exception of the clause in section 5.3.5.1.5 regarding head shims.

IN NSW Q500, A COMPETITOR MUST NOT MODIFY THE HEAD CLEARANCE OF THE ENGINE SUPPLIED BY THE MANUFACTURER. THE FACTORY FITTED HEAD SHIMS MUST REMAIN INTACT. Any violation of this rule will be punished by extreme ridicule. (No seriously, don't do it).

There was a significant amount of discussion on this topic. The NSW committee has decided that for NSW Championship events, the factory installed head shims must be installed. That is, the engine timing must be UNMODIFIED. Many factors such as engine life, tuning and reliability with no nitro fuel and performance were taken into consideration. This decision was made as this is an entry level class and once any modifications are allowed, then things gets out of hand to the detriment of the class. For National events run in NSW, head shims may be removed in line with the national and other state rules. Engine bearings and glow plugs may be replaced due to wear and tear.

Planes & Engines

The predominant engine in the Q500/Sports class is the Thunder Tiger Pro 46. See some more information on this engine here. We have seen some OS AX engines coming in lately but nothing to report.

Pretty much everyone flies the Great Planes Viper 500. Ones of these can be put together in less than 10 hours from opening the box. Flies fantastic and you can be competitive with modifications for durability all that is required. See Andy Lucketts description of the things to do to it for racing and some more on the Cowra website.

For F400 and F3D, you are on you own !!!

Miscellaneous