B

Bob Axsom

Well Known Member
I copied this from www.sportairrace.org Calendar of Events this morning (11-29-09).

Bob Axsom

Races Scheduled For 2010
These are SARL-sanctioned races where
placing will accumulate points towards
your League total.


24 April, 2010
Texoma 100 Air Race
Sherman, TX
(GYI)

1 May, 2010
BCAF & Air Race
Abilene, TX
(Dyess AFB)

5 June, 2010
West Texas 100 Air Race
Plainview, TX
(PVW)

12 June, 2010
The Great Northwest Air Race
Wenatchee, WA
(EAT)

10 July, 2010
Delaware 150
Toughkenamon, PA
(N57)
24 July, 2010
Air Venture Cup
Mitchell, SD
(MHE)

7 August, 2010
Ozarks Air Race
Eureka Springs, AR
(4M1)

28 August, 2010
The Great Canadian Air Rally
St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada
(CYQS)

25 September, 2010
Pagosa Springs 100 Air Race
Pagosa Springs, CO
(PSO)

2 October, 2010
Grace Flight Air Race
Sherman, TX
(GYI)

16 October, 2010
Memphis 100 Air Race
Memphis, TN
(M01)

30 October, 2010
TVARIII and Pumpkin Dash
Courtland, AL
(9A4)

20 November, 2010
Rocket 100 Air Race
Taylor, TX
(T74)
 
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Got this from Mike Thompson Today

Good Evening, Race Nuts.

As March approaches many of us are frantically working to finish winter
repairs/upgrades/modifications in order to be ready for that first race on 10
April.
Don't slow down!

This missive contains a lot of information, so please read carefully.

I have published the site with many changes and several live race pages.
*some are incomplete*!
The reason I published the site "prematurely" is there is a certain urgency for
your entry to he BCAF and Air Race on 1 May.
This year the BCAF and Air Race will be held back at Dyess Air Force Base.
Those of you who attended last year remember a good time and great hospitality
(cars and hotel rooms) not to mention personal attention by the Lancer squadron
personnel.

The military has their own set of requirements though, and this year they want
the necessary forms from "performers" 45 days in advance.
Those requirements include:
DD2400 CIVIL AIRCRAFT CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE
DD2401 CIVIL AIRCRAFT LANDING PERMIT
DD2402 CIVIL AIRCRAFT HOLD HARMLESS AGREEMENT

and the BCAF folks want their own application which you might as well fill out
and send in all at the same time.

All of these documents are available for download on the BCAF race page.
If you even think you want to run the BCAF race this year, please give it some
thought and make a decision and if yes - get these forms in to Gray Bridwell!
The deadline for the race entry and entry fee is 10 April - but the DOD stuff
needs to be in by 17 March!

The BCAF course and turn points are on the page (going West this year) and more
detail will be forthcoming.


Now, the Taylor race page is a disgrace - but I will continue working on it and
you can check back every couple of days.
At least you have the route and turn points... you can do a lot with that!
This race will use an afternoon format - fly in Saturday, turn the bird, race at
1600, awards and dinner, a good night's sleep and depart for home plate Sunday.

Pat Purcell is on the ball and the Texoma race page is pretty much complete.
She'll let me know if that's not the case and we'll get it fixed.
There are two courses (long and short) and no, Bruce Hammer - you can't run the
short course!
All the details are there...

One announcement I will make is the introduction of new classes.

After watching entries for two years, we're breaking out the smaller-engines
factory class ships and adding a FAC6 for aircraft less than 130 HP.
FAC5 covers aircraft 130HP to 179 HP.

On the Experimental side, we're going to open RV Gold to cover RV aircraft using
engines larger than 360 CI.
This class will run everything from 390s to 540s - 540s in RV-10s, that is.
When you stuff a 540 into any other RV you usually have to make airframe changes
for weight and balance purposes.
That makes you a "Rocket", and you're Sport FX.

As always, any aircraft can opt to run in a class "higher" than what they
qualify for, so fast RV Blues can bump up to RV Gold if they like.
One class change per year is allowed, and accrued points may or may not follow
the change, so think it through carefully and talk with me if you want.

A lot of information!
Most important is the BCAF DOD forms!
I'll continue to refine the race pages, and will be going live with other races.
I just needed to get the DOD forms out to you ASAP.

Let me know what questions you have, and enjoy the rest of your winter!

- Mike
 
Tram said:
If a fella wanted to get into racing with a stock RV-6.. How does he do so?
Click to expand...

Jeff,

I just started last year, and will tell ya its easy and straight-forward. Bob Axsom and some of the more experienced racers may have some more good info, but a great place to start is the Sport Air Racing League website. Lots of great info there, and there is a "Becoming a Member" tab, which includes registration (which is free).

Mike Thompson, the league director will reply to the registration and help you get started. Not much more complicated than picking a race number, and showing up. The website has links to each race as they get closer, with info on the courses and the participants. Some races have insurance mins (pretty standard levels).

Preparing for the race doesn't have to be more complicated than planning a short cross-country, though many racers plan their turn points carefully, and if you fly low, good terrain and obstacle avoidance planning is important, though straight forward (low is still FAR compliant).

The more you do it, the more you'll likely get into it, and you'll learn, develop and "steal" new tricks along the way, both in terms of flying technique and aircraft mods (if you want to do them, though its not required). One "hazard" of the racing scene is that your stock RV may not be stock for long! :)

Even though the competetive juices flow in all of us a bit, its a much more low key scene than Reno, where big bucks are spent and are at stake. No prize money in SARL, just good-natured competition and great camaraderie. The vets have been very friendly and helpful to me, and its just a great group of folks. Everyone is welcome, whether you want to race hard or just come out for a good time...which it is.

There is also a SARL Yahoo Group for discussion forum activities here.

By the way, you are in a great location to get to a lot of the races!

Hope to see you out there Jeff, and if there is anything I can do to assist, please let me know...happy to pass on what has been passed on to me.

Cheers,
Bob
 
Yeh, I'm going to have to check it out.. :)

Our -6 isn't a speed demon - fixed pitch, 0-320, but she's plenty fun to fly. :)
 
Darrel Reiley and Bob Mills covered it well

Tram said:
If a fella wanted to get into racing with a stock RV-6.. How does he do so?
Click to expand...

It is not necessary to join the Sport Air Racing League (SARL) at www.sportairrace.org to enter and fly in the races but I heartily recommend it. I just went to the member only part of the site and found that there are now well over 270 members. As Bob Mills said, it is free and you can get a number that you kind of identify with in time - I'm Race #71. You will be in the RV Red class (320s) which is just now picking up more than one or two entries per race - your participation would make you very welcome and point rich.

For practice you might want to plan for a specific race to start like the Texoma 100 in Sherman Texas. If you go to the webside and click on Calendar of Events you will link to a page which has all of the races listed.

You will notice that some races have the name underlined and some do not. The ones with the name underlined are "live" and they are linked to displays that provide links like this for Texoma:

I am racing!

Who's In: Texoma 100 Air Race

Texoma 100 Air Race Information​

The "I am racing" link is where you let Mike Thompson (This is strictly a one man operation - God bless him) know that you want to enter the specific race. The "Who's In ..." link is where you go to find out who is entered so far. For a practice plan the last one "Texoma 100 Air Race Information" is the one of interest.

There is a lot of information but the primary item of interest for this exercise is Course "A":

Course "A"
GYI-North Texas Regional, Sherman, TX
F00-Jones Field, Bonham, TX
DUA-Eaker Field, Durant, OK
1F4-Madill, OK
37K-FalconHead, Burneyville, OK
F31-Lake Texoma, Kingston, OK
135.3 NM​

In this race all of the turn points are airports found on sectional charts and in a GPS database. The site has a picture of the course drawn up on a sectional as well as the list above. In my planning I draw the course on a sectional chart and write up a flight plan manually. I also enter the flight plan into the GPS receiver(s) I plan to use. For short races like this I plan to fly low but you need to know the ground elevation and the obstructions (mostly towers) along the course to plan the minimum safe and FAR compliant altitude.

Once I have the flight plan completed I work on a detailed race check list for my kneeboard. The points of interest are the start, each of the turns, the finish and the recovery. My current method is to make up a small page for each one. The usual contents are:

A small picture of the point printed from Google earth or a diagram of the turn requirements (in the case of the Texoma 100 diagrams are provided through these links:
Texoma 100 Start and Turn One

Texoma 100 Turn Two and Turn Three

Texoma 100 Turn Four and Finish​

In addition to the diagrams these links provide detail requirements such as the specific turn point & procedure, the required altitude, the radio frequency and the number and location of required calls.

These radio calls are important to alert the turn marshals and timers so you don't get missed. This is what I cover next on my check list. The organizer for this race wants 5 mile, 3 mile and 0 mile calls with specific wording. Basically you want to identify your race number, identify the reference point on the ground and how far you are from it on the frequency that the ground personnel are listening to.

In your RV-6 you will be blazing into the turn or finish at around 200 mph making all of these calls watching for traffic trying desperately not to miss the turn and you do not want to think a lot about the desired outcome of the turn. I always list the heading I want to roll out on, the minimum altitude and the new radio frequency for the next leg.

Beyond this planning you can take some of the later GPS receivers and put them in simulated mode and virtually fly the race.

Good luck and I hope to see you at the races - maybe Courtland Alabama on October 30 if not sooner.

Bob Axsom (flying RV-6A in the RV Blue Class)
 
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courtland race in Alabama

We are makin plans for the Tennessee Valley Air Race and Speed Dash to be held on Oct 30th. Looks like a flyin in the morning, speed dash and race, and then a pumpkin drop at some point. Will be food and entertainment too.
come on out should be fun.

Chris M RACE34 myplane it totally stock and it has won a few races so don't worry about being stock....
 
Well.. I'm registered.. :)

I guess I need to do some reading some small, cheap, speed tricks.. :)
 
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