T28 Contest Results

4 posts

T28 Racing Results – Dec 2020

Front Page General Interest T28 Contest Results
We held our last T28 race for 2020 on November 28th. We had a good showing with 9 hard core pilots who all came ready to do battle in the sky. The first round kicked off at a little after 10am. The first heat went off smoothly with Brad taking first followed by Frank and George. With heat two things started to get cut throat with Mark, Otto and Steve Manganelli all trying to capture the lead—some just tried too hard  and managing to set new records for the number of cuts in a single race heat. After the fur ball fight Mark got the win simply because he flew cleanly avoiding making any cuts. Steve M and Otto ended up with 4 and 8 cuts respectively. The third heat of round one was clean with Alex first SteveN second and Quan third. Rounds 2 and 3 of the preliminary rounds all saw some great flying with very close finishes. The scores were totaled from the preliminary rounds to determine the matches for the finals. 
The bronze cup final had George taking an easy first place due to the abundant cuts of SteveM and Otto who managed to get rewarded with 4 and 11 cuts —a new record! George managed to avoid their fate and got the first place finish.
The silver cup featured Quan, Frank and Brad. Frank jumped the start putting him a lap down and handing first to Brad and second place to Quan. 
The gold cup had Mark, Alex and SteveN battling it out—for much of the race the lead went back and forth between Alex  and SteveN—on the last lap Alex’s plane went down resulting in a DNF. That left Mark and  SteveN in the race with Mark getting the first place in the end. We were all done flying in less than an hour—a lot of action packed into a short period.
We hope to restart the T28 racing series in January but we will be looking at the virus situation and making adjustments to the schedule as needed. I would like to ask members what they like and don’t like about the current format and what improvements they would like to see. Please feel free to send me your thoughts to: sneu@mac.com
I would like to thank all the members who have helped me with equipment setup, turn judging and “master of ceremonies” duty which without we could not have our T28 races.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and stay safe in the New Year!
Steve Neu

T28 Race Results – October 24th 2020

T28 Contest Results
By Steve Neu
We had a second T28 race date on the schedule in October—some people missed hearing about it resulting in a light turn out. We might have had light attendance but the racing was anything but light! The preliminary races were very tight with pilots doing everything possible to gain advantage—including making lots of cuts. The cuts made for some amusing moments for the pilots who thought they had won a race only to see Carl the upwind cut judge walking towards the center to deliver the bad news—taking pilots from “hero to zero” —or in this case from  first to third place! No one got upset and everyone was having a good time. 
After some hard fought races the preliminary round numbers were totaled and the Silver and Gold races were set. It was interesting to note that Randy did not win a single preliminary race—he was second each time——but his consistency  put him into the Gold  race. The finals races were well matched and tight the whole way with in many cases only 10 feet between planes at the finish. The Gold race was notable for the number of cuts by the the Otto and Alex—they had a fierce battle for the lead—with Otto crossing the line first followed by Alex and then Randy—their celebrations did not last long when the two leaders were awarded with 3 cuts each—a new record for the T28 racing series. Maybe we should rename it the “Gold Cut”?  Randy  who keep out of trouble while the battle raged up front got the win. 
Results:
Silver:
1) Steve N
2) Jeff K
3) Steve M
Gold:
1) Randy W
2) Otto
3) Alex
Our next race date for T28 racing is this coming November 28th. Get your planes trimmed and ready to “go fast and turn left”.

T28 Race Results – Oct 2020

T28 Contest Results
The October 12 2020 foamy T28 races  went off smoothly  with 12 pilots signing up to fly. We followed the same format as the previous race with 3 preliminary heats which set the grouping for the final races. 
The preliminary rounds saw some wing tip to wing tip flying along with some creative shorting of the course to try and catch up to the lead planes—more often than not the offenders were awarded with a cut penalty knocking them down a place for their efforts. Most of the cuts occurred in the first round with fliers getting a little more conservative in the second and third rounds to avoid costly mistakes. A couple unlucky pilots had some problems that kept them from getting to the finals—better luck next time guys!
After the preliminary rounds the numbers were totaled up and fliers were grouped for the finals into 3 groups.  The final series of races had some of the tightest contests with the Gold cup race having three very closely matched planes and pilots trading places for the lead for nearly the whole 10 laps. On the last turn of the last lap Alex decided to risk it all with an early turn trying to gain the lead—-it didn’t work as he was rewarded with a cut taking him to a third place. Even so he was smiling after such a close race.
Some suggestions to help some of the racing new comers—getting your plane setup for racing is usually quite different than for the settings for fun flying. A plane that is setup correctly will be easy to guide around the course allowing you to concentrate on racing than just maintaining control. For some hints and tips follow this link to a previous article on setting up your T28 for racing: https://www.sefsd.org/builds-reviews/fms-t28-expert-setup-for-pylon-racing/
The current schedule has a second race date on the October calendar for this Saturday the 24. We will follow the same format as last time with a pilots meeting at 10 and the first race at 10:10. Charge up your batteries!
Bronze Cup
1)Steve#14
2)Tim#23
3)Vince #88
4)David#7
Silver Cup
1)Brad#6
2)Quan#51
3)Jeff#77
Gold Cup
1)Steve#77
2)Otto#33
3)Alex#27
 

T28 Race Results and an Amazing T28 Racing Video – Sep 2020

General Interest T28 Contest Results
Sept 12th T28 Races.
We had a good turnout with 13 pilots entering the September 12th T28 races. The first races of the preliminary round got going a little after 10am. We had preliminary rounds with the cumulative results determining the groupings for the Bronze, Silver and Gold cup races. There were a few causalities from CFIT(Controlled Fight Into Terrain) for various reasons—the good news was that in nearly all cases the planes were easily repaired and some were able to fly in later rounds. 

After a number of close and hard fought laps around the pylons the matchups for the finals were as follows:

Bronze:
Brad
Quan

Silver:
SteveN
Alex

Gold:
Otto
Frank
SteveM

Quan took first place in the Bronze Cup.

The Silver Cup between Alex And SteveN was likely the closest and most hard fought 10 laps of the day with both planes “cutting the grass” and trading places numerous times. In the end it came down to the last turn before the finish line with yours truly getting ahead of Alex by < 3 feet. 

The Gold Cup was anticlimactic  after the the Silver Cup drama—Both Otto and Frank put themselves down a lap by jumping the start or cutting a turn—which gifted the Gold Cup win to SteveM who coasted to an easy win by staying out of trouble.

We learned a few things and next time we will revise the audio file so as to make the countdown to the start clearer and easier for pilots to follow so as to avoid some of the late/early crossing of the starting line—also some of the sounds will be toned down a little.

In watching some of the flying during the races it was clear that several pilots had their planes setup for what I would call “sport flying” with way too much control travel for racing 6 feet above the ground—the last thing you need is to snap roll the plane while pulling a hard pylon turn. Go back and read some of the setup advice in the newsletters earlier this year. 

We have two races on the schedule for next month with the first on October 12th @ 10am and the second two week later on the 24th at 10am. get in some practice and get your planes trimmed for speed!

Steve Neu

Now for the video from Hobie Sutton Studios (Frank & Alex Sutton).  Just click