How to Break the
World Records:
I have Often
thought that it would be nice to break a world Record but it seemed that many
people who are capable of doing so were not that interested.
There are three World Records that can
be obtained in Radio Control Piston Driven Racing.
(
Being my personal interest)
FAI COURSE
RECORD:
Firstly
there is the World Record associated with the time that it takes to complete 10
laps at a CIAM sanctioned event - normally achieved at a World Championship. This is
relatively simple, as this event is attended by a number of officials that ensure
that the event is run according to FAI rules. Everyone who attends these events
has a chance of being a world record holder. Of course achieving
this aim is not that easy as you have to be really good to be the best flyer in the
world, and get around the pylons better that anyone else. Australia of
course has its World Record Holder in this class with Christopher Callow who has
been the holder for many years and we are very proud of his achievement.
See Picture
with his caller Kevin Callow.
He uses his own designed model with a Dutch designed and manufactured engine.
The
remaining two are speed events, and this is what this article is all about.
SPEED IN A
STRAIGHT LINE:
The Current
Record was achieved in 1971 by Vadimir Goukoune from Russia at 343 kph
average. I have seen speed of this caliber achieved in a normal pylon
race.
So this
should not be hard to beat.
The rules associated with this is detailed in para 7.5 of the FAI sporting
code. Essentially the main rules are you must fly the model for 200 meters
- both ways and below 40 meters to obtain an average. This must be timed
by certified stop watches to the 100th of a second.
I have
read some article how that famous record breaker from the USA (Maynard Hill)
went about breaking this record. Essentially it detailed climbing the model to
a great height and after completing a split S dive the aircraft vertically at
the ground and then level out 40 meters above the ground, and roar flat
out through the speed traps.
The story
told by Maynard Hill was the the propeller acted as a break after a while as
the propeller in the dive overstretched its operating efficiency.
I have often thought that a very sleek and heavy glider would faster than a
engine powered model - however that is not really applicable as we are only
concerned with piston driven engines,
This
possibly would be the easiest record to attempt. After all the
construction methods of building fast models has improved over the last few
years, and also has the racing engines.
SPEED IN A
CLOSED CIRCUIT:
The current
record is held by Maynard Hill from the USA at 241.8 kph in 1984. This
would be easily achieved by a normal F3D model. It would only be a matter
of setting up the course and having a go as most fast F3D models are capable of
top speeds in excess of well over 300 kph.
SO HAVE A GO AND THE RECORD IS YOURS:
The
rules that are detailed in 7.6 of the FAI Sporting Code make its operation
rather messy and hard to set up. The problems are that the closed circuit
is a square with each side being 200 meters. You have to fly around this
being timed by two timers and have one assistant to help direct you around the
pylons. This course must be located on a flat site. There is no
altitude restrictions - which makes the operation simpler. However round
those four pylons would be rather difficult with a very fast model.
Naturally as above the timing equipment must be certified.
This class
is rather wide open and a record should be easily obtainable for some excellent
pilot with a very fast model.
GLEN'S SPEED
MODEL:
My
interest in raw speed was awaked the other day when Glen Matthews came down to
our flying field at Lilydale Melbourne Australia with a speed model that he created. Then I started
to think again.
Some time
ago I wrote an article about Glen's new QM design (Australian Rules 3.5cc class)
I believed that this model had all the attributes to produce a first class
racer. Click
HERE to see past article.
Glen has now
taken out the 3.5 cc engine and replaced it with a very hot RPM F3d engine.
This took a
bit of fitting, and some modifications were made to the airframe.
Firstly the
COG had to be adjusted to accommodate the larger engine so the nose was
shortened by about 8 cm and the tail extended by about 12 cm.
The wing was
totally covered by carbon fiber for strengthening.
A new engine
cowl was enlarged to accommodate the larger 6.5 cc engine.
The fitting
of all the necessary equipment into the models was a work of art - no space at
all to spare.
This is how
he made the model work.
The engine
developed heaps of torque - this made it almost impossible to take off, and it
veered savagely to the left - with a tendency to cartwheel. To fix this Glen
fitted an on board glow driver that was actually two AAA cells. This
enable him to take the model off at low revs because it kept the glow plug
burning all the time even when the engine was very wet with fuel- just enough to
keep the engine happy but definitely not flat out. This minimized the
torque generated, and made take off possible. The engine had onboard
mixture control and Glen was able to set the needle whilst in flight to get it
running to its best potential. Once he had achieved this he was able to
remotely switch off the onboard glow driver.
The prop
that he used which seemed to work best was 6.5 inch diameter with a 8.5 inch
pitch. This is something rather unusual but it is correct for this type of
model where a lot of pitch is required to give maximum speed. This is
entirely different to pylon racing where you need diameter and rather low pitch
to keep the engine revving when under load in the turns. As a general rule for a
F3D engine they run props around about 7 diameter and 7 pitch. This of
course changes depending on the strength of the engine and the airframe used.
I was very
impressed with the speed of Glen's Speed model - he said that
because of its speed he has problems using the trimming controls - as the
aircraft is so fast that before he can get to the trims the aircraft is almost
out of sight.
To me it
seemed that the aircraft flies beautifully - land great. Has a
tendency to go to the left on take off - with torque. So take off is a bit
dicey - but in all it is a nice flying model - and very spectacular. Glen
said that it really gets his juices running when he is piloting it - and I can
certainly understand that. On the day we did not have any measuring
equipment - so we were unable to determine its speed - but I can assure you it
is the fastest model that I have ever seen.
Glen has
thought about going for the speed record - but at this stage nothing is planned
- he said that he just built the model for fun!!
BUT FROM
WHAT I HAVE SEEN GLEN'S MODEL IS CAPABLE OF EASILY BREAKING BOTH THE ABOVE
RECORDS:
If you are
going to have a go let me know and I will give you coverage in this website.