From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Quickie 500 Needs to be REFORMED!!
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 15:16:06 GMT

In article <1992Aug17.223808.4937@iex.uucp> djones@iex.iex.com writes:
>In article <22808@hacgate.SCG.HAC.COM> lew@4ccvt2.scg.hac.com (Lyman Lew)
>writes:

>I am too in favor of some kind of control being placed on the Quickie 500
>folks. It was always my impression that this class was an INTERMEDIATE class.
>It is for those who aren't quite ready for Formula I or 1/4 scale midgets, but
>had out grown Slow 500 racing. I agree with some of the other posters that most
>of the Quickie 500 guys are a group of 'win at all costs' types....Type A
>personalities!!! But that's ok, there is a place in our hobby for them. Just as
>there is a place for the Sport/SUnday flyers and the Pattern jocks etc. In our
>area (North Central Texas) Slow 500 racing seems to be the big stuff for the
>Sport flyer who likes to go fast and turn left. This class is usually made up
>of 4 Star 40's and K&B 40 engines. All stock. It looks like a lot of fun if
>that is your thing.

Hmmm... this Slow 500 seems to me to be more or less the same idea 
behind the plethora of local C/L Combat events designed to reduce 
speed and let beginners in easily. The more experienced fliers also
like to fly them simply because they are fun and there are enough 
restrictions on the motor and airframe that they don't really enjoy
an advantage, except perhaps being able to build somewhat lighter
and stronger. 

Problem is that every region or club seems to have its own variation
of the theme. There is (or has been) FoxDoo Combat (restricted to 
Goldberg VooDoos and box stock Fox .35 stunt), Duke-a-Doc-a-Doo (any
airplane, stock Fox .35 stunt except for needle valve), Formula GX
(any airplane, any engine, 75 mph speed limit), several varieties 
of Super Slow Combat (most restrict airplanes to Slow-legal dimen-
sions, some have speed limits, some have engine restrictions...)..

Some argue that keeping these events local will discourage the kind 
of thing we saw with Slow Combat when it became a rulebook event. All
the restrictions put on the airplane (profile fuselage, 24" minimum 
fuselage length, five inch nose moment, suction tank) were all for 
naught, since speeds are up there again, since no restrictions were
ever put on motors other than the suction fuel feed (which slows things 
down somewhat but not enough apparently. All the airplane restrictions 
did was to make the event more complex for beginner and expert alike.
The chicken hopper tanks that are needed aren't cheap, and they break.
The airplanes are a lot more difficult to build than a fast combat 
plane and they break a lot easier. Besides it requires one to build 
two different designs for Fast and Slow. Enter the Nelson. Oops.. no 
more beginners event!

I do think that done intelligently, a national Super Slow Combat event 
would work out just fine.







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Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
Internet: NTAIB@SILVER.UCS.INDIANA.EDU |    Frog is Frog ala Peach
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