Rogue Eagles Pylon Races
(Ben Musolf - CD,  Richard DeMartini - Assistant)

PILOTS, START YOUR ENGINES!

8:00 - Registration and pre-flight stuff.

9:00 - Racing begins!

Complete Pylon Race Contest Rules

Introducing this season's first Pylon Race contestants

Calvin Emigh

Doug McKee

Larry Myers

Martin Guillen

Ben Musolf

Cliff Sands

The 2011 mini pylon racing season opened on a cold, rainy day at Agate Field.  The brave six pilots fought thru the elements and managed to get four heats of racing, two flights each, before the weather conditions made it unflyable.

Congratulations to Calvin Emigh and Martin Guillen on perfect scores of eight points, the maximum for today's race.  Ben Musolf owes his points to Doug McKee as Doug's plane did double duty performing for both Ben and Doug; this plane sure is durable.  Only one crash by Cliff Sands which appeared to be radio related, perhaps due to the wet conditions.

All who attended, including the judges, had a great time playing in the rain!  Also, a big Thank-You to Joe Kilbourn for helping man the Pylons!

— Rich DeMartini

The weather for our second race of the season was cool with a slight overcast and little to no wind, an ideal day for flying in Southern Oregon.

The eight man field of flyers was antsy to hit the air, and they did, with the best flying since this event began two seasons ago.  Everyone was on their game.  Martin Guillen, with the fastest plane of the day, found out that having the fastest plane doesn't necessarily put you in the number one point position.

Most everyone got in five flights except Cliff Sands who became the victim of a runway mishap.  Cliff's plane was rendered unflyable through no fault of his own.

The cut monster was out in force.  Perhaps due to the tight four-abreast flying that went on all day, there were several cuts.  The result was points taken away.  The absolute tight turning and four-abreast flying put every flyer to the test.

Rick Lindsey, our 2010 Champ, was very consistent and ended up with eighteen points of a possible twenty.  It was his day.

The competition was tough on the judges, too.  Planes flew close in the straight away and in the turns.  Many rounds ended with only inches between planes as they crossed the finish line.  Joe Kilbourn and I had to confer on several heats to get correct placement of the competitors.  Thank you, Joe.

Everyone had a great time.  The flying level has reached an all time high.  This event is just flat out fun to watch!

— Rich DeMartini

A beautiful day for flying on the third race of the season.  Winds about 2mph, temps started out in the fifties and ended in the low seventies, which did play a part as the day unfolded.

The seven man field was ready to rock and roll, with the race for the trophy starting to tighten up.  All fliers got in five flights.

Racing started at a very quick pace!  It was a blistering five heats of racing in just thirty five minutes.

Up to this point there were very few cuts, but it all unraveled in heat #5.  With three competitors, Rick Lindsey, Calvin Emigh and Cliff Sands crossing the start line heading into the first pylon, all cut inside the pole, resulting in one cut each.  Then Rick and Calvin cut again at the second pylon.  This automatically disqualified both Rick and Calvin leaving Cliff Sands with four big points.

The tight competition continued somewhat uneventfully although hard fought.  As the air temp started to rise, those pesky OS10 engines started to lean out, requiring most competitors to readjust their carburetors.

The last heat of the day, #10, saw Larry Myers trying to take Cliff Sands to the well with some very fancy hi/low tail wind flying.  It was a great battle, but Larry just trimmed the deck grass a little too close resulting in the ground being the winner, and his plane in several pieces.  As Larry walked by me, I expressed my condolences and told him I had an extra wing.  He was heard grumbling something to the effect that it would take a lot more than that to get his plane flying again.

Joe DeAscentis was the point winner for today's event with seventeen points out of a possible twenty, Joe was turning around those pylon with about one foot of clearance, a great job of flying.

All in all, another great day of pylon competition.  I can't wait until the next event.

— Rich DeMartini

Today's contest was the fourth event of the series, and the halfway point in the race for the trophy.  The weather was, in a word, beautiful.  Six pilots joined today's event.  All pilots got in five heats of flying.

Action saw Doug McKee having a great day.  He was first to the start flag in four of five races, and led the pack for several laps in each heat.  Jay Strickland showed well in his first ever mini pylon race.  He said, "beginners luck".  I say he's a real competitor and someone to watch.  Plus we were joined by Dave Bartholomew on his return from wintering in the sun.

There were many great battles, but heat #10, the last of the day, saw Jay Strickland and Rick Lindsey really duke it out.  Jay was flying one of Rick's back-up planes.  Rick and Jay were wing tip to wing tip when, whoops, both cut inside pylon #2, giving the win to Ben Musolf.  All that fancy flying was great to watch, but consistency is the name of the game.  The winner in Heat #10, Ben Musolf.

When it was over and the scores counted, Joe DeAscentis and Ben Musolf tied for first with 16 points out of a possible 20.  Great flying and that word again, consistency, by both pilots.  The point spread between all of today's fliers from highest to lowest was just 4 points.  Amazing for 10 heats and 40 rounds of flying.

New blood and their enthusiasm always makes for a fun time.  No crashes and every lap finished with no short runs isn't bad either.

The race for the trophy is within reach of any flyer and the next two events will tell the tale.

Thanks to the volunteer judges, without them there would be no event.

— Rich DeMartini

This was the fifth event of the series.  The weather for today's event was beautiful: high 70's to low 80's, skies clear and blue.  Even though there was a real mix of mechanical problems, engine issues and cuts thru-out the entire day, each of the six pilots got in five heats of racing.

Ben Musolf had perhaps his best day of flying this season.  He was very fast, and sliced the margin barely outside of the pylons by a whisker.  Action saw a great battle in heat #7 where Ben lead the entire race until lap number seven when he cut inside the right hand pylon; a heartbreaking loss for Ben.

Joe DeAscentis had a very consistent day of flying despite being plagued by engine problems.

It was a very subdued Rick Lindsey who quietly scored nineteen out of a possible twenty points for the day.  Almost a perfect score.  Congratulations to Rick.  He is the man to beat and I know everyone will be gunning for him during event #6 on Aug 27.

In the race for the trophy, the top three, Rick Lindsey, Joe DeAscentis, and Ben Musolf, are within six points of each other; but I look for Jay Strickland and Calvin Emigh to be spoilers and really turn the apple cart over in the next race.

Congratulations to all of the contestants.  And, as always, thanks to our judges.  We really appreciate the help.

— Rich DeMartini

This was the sixth event of the series and it was a beautiful day in Southern Oregon with light winds out of the North West at 3 mph.

Racing got off with a bang, that bang was in heat #1 when Rick Lindsey and John Gaines (in John's first race of the season) came together after making a neck to neck high speed turn.  John's plane ended up a crumpled wreck while Rick soldiered on dripping small bits of balsa after every turn.  Joe DeAscentis was completely unconcerned winning first place going away.  Joe's day was just beginning.

With John Gaines on the sidelines after only 3 laps of the first race, he was graciously 'repairing' Rick's damaged #1 racer and a masterful job he did with borrowed tape and ingenuity.  Rick was 'presented' the repaired racer in race 7 which he immediately flew to a resounding last place.  Nice job, Rick.

The second heat also got off to a rocky start as Doug McKee, Dave Bartholomew and Jay Strickland all badly jumped the start and were automatically down a lap.  Ben Musolf found himself in the lead with an angry pack of Lil Extras in hot pursuit.  Jay Strickland was so eager to make up time to catch the fleeing Ben, he 'shorted' the course which led to his disqualification, making Ben the winner of heat #2.

The rest of the day saw many epic seesaw battles with some engine-mechanical issues that we have come to expect.

Joe DeAscentis scored 20 out of 20 possible points for a perfect 5 win day.  This is the first time anyone has scored a perfect 20 this season and he did it with a bent crankshaft.  Many pilots were seen trying to bend their own crankshafts to emulate Mr. DeAscentis!  Congratulations to Joe who has the distinction of going faster with a bent crank than anyone else today.

Rick Lindsey came in a distant second with 14 points flying his back-up plane and a repaired number one.  Rick says he owes his success to the oily residue he refuses to clean off.

Thanks to the volunteer judges, without them there would be no event.

Congratulations to all.  See you September 24th for the grand finale!

— Rich DeMartini

Today was the seventh and final mini Pylon Race of the 2011 season.

A big "thank you" to all who attended, and a very special "thank you" to Chef Jay Strickland for doing the cooking and giving us a great BBQ today.

Thanks to the pilots for a great season of racing and some exciting flying thrills.

Another special thanks goes out to all of those who unselfishly gave their time to help judge throughout the season; without them there would have been no Pylon Races for everyone to enjoy.

Congratulations to Joe DeAscentis for a great season of consistent flying.  He is the 2011 champ!

— Rich DeMartini