Getting Started in GSR, A Rookie's Perspective

[KennyMac]

Robert...

I agree with your idea, it would help everybody a bunch.

KMac

[joeraf]

I didn't have any grand expectations for my first GS race. I wanted to fly a consistent, clean line. I also wanted to be fairly close to the pack at the start. The learning curve is steep at first but flattens out quickly after a few heats. This was why I was glad to be racing in the GT class. Once the plane is in the air you can forget about the engine and concentrate on flying.


Your flying is always scrutinized throughout the race. Since safety is paramount, any dead line violations or reckless flying gets you a black flag. It is important that your airplane is properly trimmed and that you are familiar with it's handling characteristics before the race.


I found that being methodical and organized is important in being successful here. It starts with prepping the airplane prior to the heat. Developing a mental checklist helps avoid last minute fire drills. Mine is fairly simple for GT, airframe...check integrity, fuel, radio.... make sure batteries are checked, ground support equipment.... ready to go.


Staging for the heats is well organized. Planes are assigned colors corresponding to pilot stations and pylon lights. When everyone on the line is ready a signal to start is given and a 2 minute timer is triggered. The planes are flagged off one by one. The important thing to remember at this point is to fly around each pylon and get a confirmation light. Team Potential Flow failed to do this during a race in 2005 and managed to receive 6 cuts in one heat. If the pylon judge doesn't recognize the plane no credit is given for flying around that pylon.


It's important that the plane's weight plus the holder's weight be greater than the thrust of the engine.
In this example it is very close.

From the USRA web site


The 2 minute clock eventually counts to zero and a one minute timer automatically starts. Those familiar with boat racing will recognize the maneuvering required to arrive at the start finish line as the timer hits zero. The big difference is the number of variables that have to be accounted for. Wind speed, direction, aircraft altitude and the plane's acceleration characteristics are in play. No aerobatics are allowed for positioning. I use the start finish line as a marker for maneuvering the plane. Crossing the line upwind and downwind on race headings every 10 seconds gives me a feel for what the wind is doing to my plane. I try to maintain a moderate altitude. Altitude is important to help acceleration but excessive altitude makes it difficult to judge distance to the line. Crossing the start finish line early earns you a cut. Crossing 2 seconds early earns a gross cut, meaning zero points for the race.

The clock is placed on the start finish line in front of pilots stations



Start and takeoff in my first heat were fine. I flew to the pylons and got the lights that I was supposed to get. Robert helped by giving me time hacks, and turn calls for the start. I hit the start line headed downwind at the 10 second mark, perfect. Make the turn back at 6 seconds, great. I see other planes in the general area headed in the same direction, good. Push the nose over accelerating, hear the starting horn, no start cut about 2 seconds late, head toward #1, where'd everybody go? Robert is hollering to turn. He's telling me not to climb. He's also telling me that there is no traffic to worry about because they're all ahead of me. The heat seems to be over in about 15 seconds. For me it really takes 2 minutes and 4 seconds. Landing comes next, you land in the same order as takeoff. No big deal except four other planes are also landing dead stick. The important thing at this stage is to maneuver the plane to the side of the runway. A Potential Flow plane was T-boned on the runway last year putting him out for the season. I helped pick up the pieces and won't forget that lesson.


I drag the plane back to the pits. The guy in the next pit asks how I did. “2:04” I reply. “Man that's not even good for Dominator (slower) class” is his comeback. “Thanks.”
I get ready to call for Robert two heats later. He does fine (wins). It's then back to the pits to prep for the next heat.


We try to figure out what went wrong in my heat. First was the late start, the plane did not accelerate too well. Second was the late turns, I had to listen and even anticipate the turn call. Third was timing the roll out, I was inconsistent, rolling out early in turn 1, causing a wide course. Fourth was trim, I had too much up trim causing the plane to climb in the straights.


I was determined to improve my times each race, and did. We adjusted the timing for the start by turning in sooner. This caused a steeper dive to the line allowing better acceleration. I also put in a little down trim. This was uncomfortable at first but resulted in a smoother, straighter course. Consistent turns were the hardest part of the race for me. I think that repetition here is the way to improve.


The USRA runs the event just like Reno. The last heats of the week are the trophy races. If there are enough entrants in a class the heats are divided into Gold and Silver groups. The determining factor in heat placement is the number of points earned from the previous heats. The winner of the Silver moves on to be number 1 alternate in the Gold race. If a Gold plane misses his start the alternate jumps into the race. I had accumulated enough points to make the Silver and peaked at the right time by winning the heat. I had to hurry to prep my plane for the Gold as only one heat separated the Silver from the Gold. Robert scrambled to enlist helpers as he was also in the same race. A plane did miss the start in Gold. I tried to start my engine and because it was still hot from the previous race was unable to get it to run. The upside was that I was able to get to the pilots station to call for Robert who eventually won the race.


After racing is done, airplanes in the trophy races are weighed and F1 airplanes are chosen at random for an engine check. When my plane was weighed I was unpleasantly surprised to find that the polecat was 4 pounds overweight. This was a huge disadvantage as most other competitors' planes came much closer to minimum weight. This airplane would have to go on a diet.

[bodywerks]

	Quote: Originally Posted by joeraf
	I finished the construction with the landing gear and wheel pants. The gear supplied with the kit are carbon. I was concerned about the strength of the gear as several people told me that they tend to snap easily. I replaced the gear with a set of TNT 1/4” aluminum gear. I thought I could save weight by having a machinist friend cut a profile. He did a great job and polished the gear to a high gloss. I liked the look. Nice to have extra bling to psyche the competition. Attachment 22287

Man, I wish I had a machinist friend! I have done exactly what you did with other gear, but with only a file, wet/dry sandpaper, scotchbrite, and mothers polish. It took me about 4 hours and saved a whopping 1.3 ounces!

[joeraf]

Bodywerks, more to come on that. I agree that it was definitely not worth the effort.
Joe

[CRG]

Joe,

Don't forget to factor the friction coefficient of Jake's sneaks, which in this case are the limited production, USRA endorsed, Converse SuperGrab Hi-Tops. An excellent piece of footwear, close inspection will show the tread is reversed on the sole allowing greater hold back force. Also good for those spur of the moment tug-of-war bouts...

CG.

	Quote: Originally Posted by joeraf
	It's important that the plane's weight plus the holder's weight be greater than the thrust of the engine. In this example it is very close. Attachment 22644 From the USRA web site

[joeraf]

	Quote: Originally Posted by CRG
	Joe, Don't forget to factor the friction coefficient of Jake's sneaks, which in this case are the limited production, USRA endorsed, Converse SuperGrab Hi-Tops. An excellent piece of footwear, close inspection will show the tread is reversed on the sole allowing greater hold back force. Also good for those spur of the moment tug-of-war bouts... CG.

I believe he was testing the Connys for a shoe endorsement deal.... they were going to call them.... Jaques'

BTW Jake was the first person to introduce himself as we were setting up for the Rantoul race. His first words were "What can I do to help?". A class act.

[CRG]

Both Jake and Pete are great kids, credit to them and Scott. Couldn't tell you the number of times either of them has dropped what they were doing to lend a hand. Part of what makes the race scene as enjoyable as it is.

I don't know if Jake has ever been to a drive-in but we were both sitting in the crappy van at Ohio this year and saw more of a show than we bargained for. No Kenny, noooooo.....

CG.

	Quote: Originally Posted by joeraf
	I believe he was testing the Connys for a shoe endorsement deal.... they were going to call them.... Jakes' BTW Jake was the first person to introduce himself as we were setting up for the Rantoul race. His first words were "What can I do to help?". A class act.

[KennyMac]

Ahhh man......You're killing my buzz....

KMac

[timlime]

mm said Kenny is the dancing queen!

[GR-7 Driver]

Ahhhh....the Crappy Van.. Good Times...Good Times

I am ready to go!! I can't wait to get a couple of drinks in me and look for the RV's. Especially the laundry hatch. hehehe

Looking forward to seeing Tim again. Haven't hungout since the q-40 race at SpeedWorld a couple of years ago. Good Times!!

Scott

[KennyMac]

That's funny....I just posted on the other thread about how I wasn't gonna do no "Dancing Queen"....


Guys....we are seriously off-topic here. Let's let Joe have his cool thread back. We can take this stuff over to the Event Circuit thread.

Go Joe!

KennyMac

[joeraf]

I don't mind at all. The wildest thing that happened to me and Vess was the fight at that bikers bar. We need to hang with you guys more.

[joeraf]

The only good thing about a 10 hour drive home after a race is having the time to plan for the next one.

1. With all the points Robert accumulated at Rantoul, he would continue to race GT and go for the championship. He was very close to breaking the GT class record and maybe with some luck could do so in the next two races.
2. I would move to F1 alcohol class and try to gain experience in that class for the next season.
3. It was too difficult to run in the same class with limited team resources
4. I would have to get to work on the polecat as soon as I got home.
5. I needed to practice.

The first thing that I worked on in the shop was taking weight out of the plane. I would now be giving up 5 pounds to the field if I raced the polecat in F1 alcohol without modifications. I started on the tail. The added benefit from starting at the back of the plane was for every ounce I took out of the tail, I could remove 2 ounces from the nose ballast. I cut the rudder off and replaced it with a lighter foam and balsa structure. The new rudder was 70 grams lighter. I moved the rudder servo from the tail to under the wing. I switched from a larger JR8611 servo to the JR8411. Weight loss here was negligible as I had to add a rudder pushrod. However I would be able to remove more nose weight as I was moving 60 grams forward from the tail. I built a new horizontal tail but did not install it as I ran out of time for Ashtabula. I think I can save 150 grams there.


I then decided to change the landing gear to the carbon gear included in the kit. This change resulted in a reduction of 200 grams. I would just have to chance the ruggedness. Plus, I don't think that the shiny bling psyched anybody. I called RNR a couple of times to order backup landing gear. Got an answering machine, no return calls. I am presently hoping that one of the F1 pilots who also does fiberglass work will be able to supply gear.


The GT-80 alcohol conversion lightens the engine about 440 grams. Add an extra 2 servos to run the dual sliders and mixture controls , a telemetry system and a header tank to add back 200 grams. Adding it all up, I was able to get rid of 1.75 pounds of dead weight.

[KennyMac]

Joe...

I'm glad you mentioned the resources in your text. We've had a few guys team up together and then fly the same class and it makes it really difficult. It's easy to forget that you have to have a caller, and a holder/launcher/recovery guy for each airplane. In GSR. we are not allowed to be on the same frequency as somebody else in your class, so teaming up that way to avoid flying each other and calling/helping for your team mate doesn't work. You are gonna fly your buddy so you each need to have your own caller and helper. The solutions are to get some more buddies to help out, beg borrow and steal some help at the race, or fly different classes. The next thing you find out is that your buddies that come out to help catch the bug and decide they want to race too....Now you need even more buddies, and that's how the Speed Demons grew to the behemouth that it is today!

Sure wish you and Robert V were coming to Parker....we are gonna miss you.

KMac

[Colonel Klank]

A little off topic.....but.....I was very fortunate to see several Formula 1 and Formula Vee races in the seventies and eighties. I saw Chuck Andrews fly "Real Sporty" and I also saw Deke Slayton fly. I have some pics of these planes as well as "Texas Gem" I will try to dig them up.

Patrick