It’s hard to believe spring is already upon us. For many of us the warming of the weather is a signal how close the racing season is. Not only do we have to finish prepping our planes (new and old) but, it is also time to go over all of our support gear such as wagons, starters, tents, trailers and various other tools used during a typical race weekend. Being prepared with your equipment in good working order before your team gets to a race allows for less work and more enjoyment throughout the weekend. Remember, by getting your entry fees in early assures that you will get your preferred frequency and tail number, but also helps the promoter cover the early costs of running a race.
The JR Gold Cup race in Phoenix
The JR Gold Cup race in Phoenix was a blast! The race was hosted by the Speedworld R/C club at their facility north of Phoenix. It was a perfect venue for a Q-40 race. There were, at last count, 62 registered pilots including SpeedDemons Ken McSpadden, John Creagh and myself. Other familiar faces were Dave Presta, Robert Holik, Doug Killabrew and Fred Bergdorf. Practice was Friday and we all tried hard to dial in our racers. Saturday competition started and we raced 5 heats. Sunday we raced 3 heats and then the trophy heats. John and Kenny finished in the top 20 and did a great job representing the USRA. I, on the other hand, showed why I should stay with flying the big ships! John, Kenny and I wanted to thank our good friends Darrol and Rhonda Cady for all of their support over the weekend. Darrol was always quick to jump in and offer any help we needed and we needed a lot. I think we bought 12 props from him. Rhonda was nice enough to pull my name out of the can for the 50/50 raffle. A big thanks goes out to Doug and Mish Clancy for taking me out to a nice dinner and getting me to the airport! Randy Dauer and his Speedworld crew did an excellent job at keeping things going and Jim Allen was a trouper taking care of the CD duties. Thanks again to everyone that made us feel welcomed and we look forward to attending more Q-40 races.
Sponsor news - APC
While in Phoenix I had the opportunity to talk to Fred Bergdorf from APC props. As many of you know, Fred and his brother Otto have provided the props for the Dominator, AT-6 and GT-80 classes. Fred said that APC would sponsor us with the props for these classes again this year. The USRA would like to thank Fred and APC for their continued support!
Website news
The board has past a vote on putting a moderated web board of some type up on the USRA web site. This will allow our members and new visitors to our web site a chance to converse about different aspects of giant scale racing. We need a message board where current members and people interested in our sport can get info and be part of the giant scale racing community. We are hoping that those who participate will keep the posts upbeat and positive.
Also, going up on the USRA web site will be a link to purchase USRA and USRA sponsors apparel. The link will have some examples of embroidery options and a link to an online apparel catalog for ordering. This gives the buyer the opportunity to purchase exactly what they want. The prices for the embroidery will be posted and then we will add that to the price of whatever shirt, jacket, hat, etc. is to be embroidered. The profits from these sales will go into the USRA Championship fund for the end of the year.
Another addition to the USRA web site is a crew member sign up link. People interested in attending a race and getting a “hands on” experience can sign up and get place with a team in need of a crew member.
Sponsor news - RCATS
Michael Luvara has donated one of his RCATS onboard telemetry systems for a raffle to be held at the end of the year. Thanks to Mike and RCATS for their generous donation!
Toldeo Expo Winner
Congratulations to Chris Justus for winning the race category at the annual Toledo Expo with his beautiful GR-7! Great job, Chris!
Park Race Dates Moved
The Parker race has been moved to October 7-10 2004. Please make note on your race calendar.
Fly low and fast!
Scott Hanbury
USRA-President