Pre arrival preparation

These are things that should be done prior to arrival at the race site.

Complete your entry form and have it returned to RARA by July 31^st at the latest.
Make sure that you send in a good color picture of the airplane and a headshot of the pilot.
Obtain race insurance (contact Bob Cannon 800-851-2997)
Arrange for your hotel rooms or park a camper out back of the F1 hangar
You will need a Second class medical to race at Reno. Have all your aircraft paperwork in order. Have your bi-annual flight review completed. Bring your logbook. The FAA will want to see it as well as the F1 Pilot Committee Chairman.
Bring a lot of spares: mags, props, spark plugs, and other misc.
Tools: if you don’t bring the tool or part you think you won’t need, you will need it.
Make sure that your plane has been thoroughly test flow. Don’t show up at the race site and expect to do a test flight on a major mod that you have done to your plane. Always do that at home.
Be very comfortable flying your plane. Get a lot of stick time and practice your engine out techniques frequently. When making test flights always wear a parachute if possible.
Make sure that your plane is clean and well prepared. The tech guys will like that. Plus a good-looking plane draws the crowds. A little nice paint and polish goes a long way. Make sure that your crewmembers look professional. Team shirts are a nice touch.
Have your safety equipment ready. Get a good Nomex flight suit and gloves. Please, no short sleeve flight suits. Get a good helmet. Don’t use a bicycle helmet, for obvious reasons. If you are going to use a radio make sure that it works at high RPM.
Have a crew chief that you can count on. Race pilots need to focus on racing. Not non-race related issues.

Technical Inspection

Have your aircraft paperwork in order.

That will include:

· Airworthiness Certificate

· Operating Limitations

· Registration

· Weight and balance

· Aircraft and Engine Logs

· Annual Condition Inspection signed off

Have your cowl loose and ready to be removed.
Be prepared. Fully read the Tech Rules at home to make sure that your plane is legal. Don’t claim that you “did not know” to the Tech Inspector. It’s all in the rules. Or ask someone.
Take notes when the tech inspection is taking place.
Have your crew chief there during the inspection.
Sign up for the inspection on Saturday. First come first serve. Rookies are usually tech’ed first.
Make sure that your pilot safety equipment is available for inspection as well.
Make sure that your fuel tank is empty. A tech official will need to observe 5 gallons of fuel being put in the fuel tank. All fuel used during race week will come from the on site source.
No fueling in the pit area.

Pilot Qualification Requirements

Flight Requirements

Simulate the unassisted race start. Accelerate to full throttle for 300 feet from the start, then simulate an engine failure by closing the throttle abruptly and bring the plane to a full stop without veering more than 20 feet from the centerline.
Race start: start takeoff at full throttle without veering more than 10 feet from either side of center.
A roll in each direction. Followed by a half-roll to the left with a half0roll to the right recovery. All without loss of altitude exceeding 50 feet.
Make three 180 degree turns of at least 60 degrees bank at 500 feet or more at racing speed without appreciable loss of altitude.
Demonstrate 3 laps on the course at racing speeds without climbing in the turns.
Demonstrate formation flying ability and passing techniques on the race course.
Demonstrate a normal landing.
Demonstrate a simulated power-off landing.

Other requirements

Current pilots license.
Class II medical. Required at Reno.
Current pilots log book.
A minimum of 5 take-offs and landings in F1 race type during the previous 45 days.
A minimum of 10 hours of F1 race type or 5 hours if already qualified in a different F1 race type.
Read the Formula One Rules for other pilot requirements.

Course Practice

Only 3 crewmembers will be allowed to come out with the plane. They will need to display their badges to get out to the flight line.
Fly on the course as much as possible. The more time on the course the better. There are 4 days to fly on the course.
Have your crew time each lap. Use a good stopwatch, record lap times.
Have your crew take notes on how you’re flying the course. Have an experienced pilot there to observe and offer comments and suggestions.
Take off with full fuel.
Plan to fly 7 to 9 laps at most. Other people will be waiting to fly on the course also.
Watch experienced pilots fly the course.
Pay attention to how your plane is running. Watch for high temps or any other unusual things. Don’t forget to look inside the cockpit at least once a lap.
Remember to relax.
Have your pre-start procedure well rehearsed with your crew.
It’s not necessary to go out and fly your first few laps at full speed. Try a few laps at a slower speed to get used to the course, then when you’re comfortable bring in the power.
Keep your head on a constant swivel. Use shadows on the ground to help locate other planes. Especially around pylons 1, 2, and 3.
Don’t fly directly behind another plane. You’ll quickly learn about prop wash.
Remember to compensate for the wind in the turns.
Never make a pass on the inside unless the plane being passed is flying extremely wide. Use good judgement here. Read the rules.
Never loose sight of the plane you’re about to pass. Don’t make a pass by flying over the top of another plane. The airplane being overtaken has the right of way.
Pay attention to the course deadline. The deadline on the front straight is the NORTH side of the runway. There will be no exceptions here. If you break this deadline you will be disqualified from that race.
Be predictable in your flying behavior. Other planes might be coming up to pass. Keep your turns constant and keep the altitude constant. No climbing.
Don’t plan to qualify right away. It usually takes 15 to 20 laps for a new pilot to become comfortable and consistent on the course.
After you have flown your laps leave the course after passing Home pylon. Normal procedure is to pull up and to the left. Use a pattern altitude of 1500 AGL. It’s time for the plane and the pilot to cool down for a while. It’s a good time to check oil pressure, oil temps and to do a mag check. Now is a good time to take a look around. Observe where the other runways are and what the local terrain looks like. Watch out for other planes in the pattern.
Again, use 1500 feet AGL as the pattern altitude. Use Left hand traffic for runway 8 and Right hand traffic for runway 26. On Downwind follow the plane in front of you. Use proper spacing. Rock your wings on Downwind and Base. This will help other planes in the air to see you and the ground observers to find you.
Try not to fly airliner patterns. Keep your pattern in close. Don’t fly farther away from the field than your airplane will glide. It’s a long walk back to the pits.
If you’re on short final (over the numbers) and the plane in front of you is still on the hot side consider going around. Don’t wait until the last second to make that decision.
HOT SIDE/COLD SIDE landings: When landing, the HOT side is always the side of the runway away from the crowd. At Reno this always means the North side of the runway. Land on the HOT SIDE and when you get the plane to a controllable speed transition to the COLD side. Keep your speed up until the taxiway turnoff. Fully clear off the taxiway before you shutdown. Remember someone might be right behind you.
Have your crew bring some water to you. You will be surprised how dehydrated you will get. Now’s the time for the “high five’s”.
Double check that your mags are off before you start the tow back to the pits or to the fuel truck.
Re-fuel before going back to the hangar.
De-brief your crew on the plane’s performance while it’s still fresh in your mind. Keep some kind of notebook for this information.

Density Altitude Considerations
Reno/Stead airport is a high density altitude airport. It’s not unusual to have the density altitude be about 6500-7500’msl during race week.
Your airplane will take a lot longer to accelerate on takeoff to flying speed. Especially if you are used to flying at sea level.
Pay particular attention to airspeed. Let your plane fly off and try to stay in ground effect to help acceleration.
Remember when landing: your indicated airspeed will be the same but your true airspeed will be higher. Expect the plane to float some.

Race Qualification

Let the Operations Director know what your intentions are.
Fly two or three hot laps first to get the engine up to temperature before taking the clock.
Only three planes or less will be allowed on the course at one time during qualifying.
Space yourself away from the other planes on the course. You don’t want to have to make a passing attempt during your qualifying attempt.
Use the wing rock method for qualifying. At pylon six smartly rock your wings two or three times to let the timers see you.
Look for the Green flag at Home Pylon to verify that you are on the clock.
Fly two laps for qualifying.
Your fastest lap of the two determines your qualifying speed.
You will only get one chance to qualify. See the Reno Rules of Competition for some exceptions to this.
Look for a White flag after fist lap. One lap to go.
Look for the Checkered flag off of Pylon 6 of lap 2.
After passing Home Pylon for the last time, pull up to the inside and off the course.
Normal cool down and landing to follow.

Racing

Find someone to tow you out. Do this well in advance.
Make sure that your crew brings the timing equipment, re-fueling supplies, some tools and your flight suit and helmet.
Don’t forget to use the bathroom before you leave for the flight line.
A pilot brief will take place about 20 minutes prior to the start to pick starting positions.
Planes will be positioned on the runway about 15 minutes prior to the start.
Engine start usually seven to five minutes from the start.

Start Procedures:

· The White flag will come up at T-5 minutes.

· The White flag will be dropped at T-10 seconds and the Green flag will go up.

· The drop of the Green flag signifies the start of the race.

Your crew will be required to leave the runway at the one-minute signal.
After the start maintain your lane until passing the Home Pylon (using runway 8 takeoff).
Be very cautious of wake turbulence. Flight controls are mushy at best at these speeds (on takeoff).
Try and get the tail up as soon as possible for better visibility.
Don’t try and force the plane into the air too early, let it fly off and stay in ground effect for good acceleration.
If you are in the center lane and you are catching the plane in front of you while still on the ground, your only option is to throttle back.
Pylon turns: ideally the racer completes half of the turn before the pylon.
Approaching the pylon, use peripheral vision on the pylon while searching carefully for the next pylon.
Fly a good, predictable, clean race.
Watch for the Checkered flag. When the Checkered flag is waved the race is over, even if you have not flown all the laps.
Remember to relax and enjoy the race. You’re here to have fun J
When you pull up and off the course follow the plane in front of you and plan for a normal traffic pattern and landing. There are three runways to choose from. If you have an emergency any one of those is good. Just keep your eyes open for other traffic. Someone might be headed for the same runway that you are.

Post Race

It’s best to re-fuel right after the race.
Now’s a good time for the pilot to brief the crew I the plane’s performance and make any recommendations or changes for the next race.
Since the engine is very hot after a race it’s a good idea to pull the top cowling to help things cool off. It also offers the opportunity to check the oil and do an engine inspection.
There will usually be a pilot brief within 15 minutes after the race for the pilots of that last race. That’s the time to talk about the last race in private with the other pilots.
Before the end of the day get the plane fully prepared for the next day’s race. Make sure all is well with the plane and get all the bugs off. Double check the fuel quantity.

Final Thoughts

Everyone should have a copy of The Formula Rules, The Technical Rules and The Aircraft Design Guide. Most of the items that we have covered are in there. If you need a copy contact the Formula One Secretary.
These rules and guidelines should be thoroughly read and understood. Also read The Rules of Competition from Reno.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You’ll find most of the F1 pilots and members will go out of their way to help you.
A few things to remember:

· Think Safety

· Pre-think your emergency procedures

· Always leave yourself a way out

· Self-discipline is more important than any prize or Trophy

· Be predictable

· You’re here to have fun, and to have the best flying experiences of your life.

Class Officers

Executive Committee

President: David Hoover

H - 650-573-1323

W – 510-786-3422

Email – GOFRENZY@aol.com

Vice President: Tony Wright Jr.

H – 530-885-7278

Cell – 916-606-2103

Email – twright@wizwire.com

Secretary: Will Dennis

H – 707-456-0576

W – 707-459-4170

Email – WVDennis@Pacific.net

2001 Pylon Racing Seminar Training Syllabus prepared by David Hoover.