from Anthony McDonald

Aprils pylon racing got started off with impossible conditions to fly in. Only the truly insane would attempt to race in these conditions said one of the members, but when it came to a vote there was only one hand raised that did not want to continue. The membership as a whole must be a gathering of dedicated racers at this point.

The T-28/Corsair class was first up with around nine pilots attending. With a strong tailwind on the starts everyone was looking racy, but after the first turn pilots struggled to keep on coarse. One pilot hit a pylon, and recovered to finish well. Reno 450 had four entrees. Three Spitfires, and a lonely Me 109G. All the makings for a battle of Britain reenactment. A Spitfire seemed to explode after the first turn in the second heat. It was later discovered by investigators that the battery bailed out after the fuselage cover flew off.

The Dog Fighter class had four entries. With more speed, and weight on their side they seemed to handle the windy conditions better than the first two classes of the day. Two new pilots joined this class, and were well received. The two heats were fast and furious without the usual cuts that have plagued them in last month's race.

The EF-1 class had the most participants with a total of six if I counted correctly. Two Shoestrings, one Proud Bird, a Miss Dara, an Invictus, a Pogo, and lastly a Nemesis flew. In the first heat a Shoestring, and the Invictus collided after the first pylon. The Invictus went into the vineyard hard, and the Shoestring was able to continue with minor damage. In its first race the Miss Dara took the win. After the race the Shoestring sustained more damage after a failed attempt to land. In the second round the Proud Bird was used as a replacement for the damaged Shoestring. With the exception of a bad landing by the Nemesis pilot there were no more damaged airplanes in this class. There was one new pilot that participated, and again was well received.

After two rounds of racing it was decided by the participants that conditions were too extreme to continue, and the race day was officially called to a end.