USRA 2008 Series Wrapup.

[CRG]

The second and final race of the Unlimited Scale Racing Association 2008 race series (www.usrainfo.org) took place over the Halloween weekend in the California high desert. 60 pilots made the trip to the El Mirage dry lake bed located between Palmdale and Victorville, 85 miles northeast of Los Angeles. Four classes were contested; Sundowner, Formula 1 GT, Formula 1, and Unlimited.

Growing in popularity, the Sundowner class utilizes the Hangar 9 ARF of 80" wingspan, and is open to a multitude of powerplant options, including electric motors. This event had one electric entry, plus an additional 22 conventionally powered models with engines including Saito 1.80's, YS DZ 1.70's and Moki 2.10's. This class provides an excellent platform to experience giant scale racing without the expense of jumping into one of the more advanced classes, and the Sundowner makes for a great sport model that can be flown at club fields.

Both Formula 1 classes require 42% scale models, GT using stock Zenoah GT80 powerplants and F1 having just a capacity limit of 80cc. The GT80 is the engine of choice in F1 but modified to run on alcohol. Speeds for GT models are in the 150mph range, with F1 models around 35mph faster than that. Airframes are for the most part full molded with GR7, Polecat and Kelly F1D types being most common.
Veteran racer Ken McSpadden was the guy to beat in F1, though USRA president Eric Hunter was on his game and gave Kenny a run for his money in Heat 4, taking the win by a narrow margin in a very close race. It was great to see a couple of new racers in the class, Marty Flood being one, and the other Kozo Ooi who was part of a group that came out from Japan to both compete and report on the event for RC Airworld magazine.
In GT, Craig Grunkmeyer continued his form from the August race in Ohio, winning all his heats to take the event win. GT heats are typically very closely contested and this event was no different, with some exciting heats involving multiple lead changes close finishes.

The Unlimited class had the makings of some fast and furious action and did not disappoint. Everybody was going fast with different engine combinations; from the DA powered crew of Larry Sutherland, Tom Keating and Pete Goldsmith; Tom Easterday and Frank Noll with Aerrow 200's; Dave Smith and Don Corum brought the big stuff with their Herbrandson 289's.
This was the race debut for the DA170 in race configuration, Tom Keating using it in his Stiletto to set fast time for the event of 1:16. Pete Goldsmith had a 1:17 right behind that with his DA150 powered Stiletto, also a very potent combination.

Weather for Friday and Saturday's racing was about as good as it gets. Cloud cover kept temperatures down, and winds were light. That came to an end after the conclusion of heat 4 Saturday afternoon with the arrival of rain, which required evacuation of the lakebed. The nature of the lakebed made the possibility of returning Sunday for heat 5 and trophy races questionable at best, and the decision was made to call the race at that point and decide winners on heat points to date.

So after 4 heats, the winners were:
Sundowner - Rick Maida
F1 GT - Craig Grunkmeyer
F1 - Ken McSpadden
Unlimited - Tom Easterday

Series Champions for 2008:
F1 GT - Craig Grunkmeyer
F1 - Eric Hunter
Unlimited - Tom Keating

This race was put together late in the season and the work of organizers Scott Baker and Marty Flood is much appreciated by all. They had help from many others, including Martin and Joyce Treat, Holly Hollingworth, Denny and Barb Baker, Ralph Cunningham, Cliff Sands, Rick Davis and Brian Cragnotti. All repeat offenders in the giant scale race scene and their support is hugely appreciated.

We are also fortunate to enjoy the support of series sponsors Horizon Hobby, California Research Tabulations, and Desert Aircraft. It's their contributions, plus those from a host of other event sponsors that make these events possible.

The 2009 race season is starting to take shape and at present it appears that it will consist of a 3 race series, with events in Ohio, Illinois and a western location to be determined. Look for more news at the USRA site, with dates expected to be announced no later than the IMS at Ontario, CA in January.