GO FAST,
TURN LEFT!
Racing Strategies
Above: Beautiful lines and style signify the Little
Toni pylon racer. Right: The Eon Lite packs a
punch while saving weight. Below left: The squat
landing gear and wheel pants are extremely
durable. Below right: Hitec electronics matched
perfectly with the flight demands of the Little Toni.
Although negotiating the course around
the pylons might seem like a simple case
of flying in a straight line, there are some
strategies to consider.
FLY A STRAIGHT LINE FROM
TURN TO TURN. If you veer to the left
or right between pylons, you must correct
to be in position for the next turn; every
correction costs you, because lateral
movement bleeds energy off straight-and-level speed. Also, when traveling at high
speeds, an airplane that veers slightly can
be way off course in a very short time.
DIVE AGAINST THE WIND. If you
fly a little high in the straightaway, you can
use gravity to your advantage by increasing ground speed in the dive.
CLIMB WITH THE WIND. Wind
resistance is decreased in the downwind
leg, so climbing expends very little energy.
If you climb a little while flying with the
wind, your airplane will be in the proper
attitude (and altitude) to take advantage
of gravity going into the next straightaway.
that installation. I ended up turning one
servo arm out and the other in and had to
trim and bend the control linkages.
The KM0283010 motor provided by The
Wings Maker handled the 10x5 folding
prop perfectly. Folding props on pylon racers do have a purpose, although finding
them at your local hobby shop may be difficult. For the most part, they allow for the
low profile of the airplane to land on hard
surfaces without breaking props. I will also
attest to the durability of these props as I
cartwheeled the Little Toni once without
any damage. In fact, it was sort of one of
those “you’ve got to be kidding” moments
when you figure something must have broken. I’ll add that the landing gear is very
rigid as are the wheel pants.
CONCLUSION
The World Models always does a great job
of both photographing and diagramming
their instruction manuals. Little, if any,
concerns were raised in the build. The fuselage, wing and tail were all straight and
squared nicely.
To complete the build, I enlisted the
help of Clint Akins at FlightPower as I was
very concerned about the weight. My goal
was to keep the Little Toni, “Little” and do
so by reducing weight wherever I could—
from the servos to the receiver to the
biggest item—the battery. With Clint’s
help, we came up with the Flight Power Eon
Lite 2100 designed for use in F3A competitions. With a 2C charge rate, 18C
continuous discharge, 25C Burst and 20
grams lighter than other batteries, I knew I
was making progress at shaving weight and
throttle to the wall performance. In the
end, I weighed in at just under the suggested 810 grams.
