Local club is working on electric goodyear racing with AMA scale race type planes and lines. Is anyone else looking at this that can offer some guidence? I think the game is to get as much power and speed as you can without too much wing loading from weight. Most days are windy so 100 mph with 40 laps would be nice.

MM  

Must be real neat to see those 1-flip starts!

Oh...... Uh.... 1 switch starts.

And the fast fills for the pit stops to pour all those electrons back in to ......

Oh ......


Well, never mind.

Giffy,

I have a '74 Shoestring ready for paint that is set up for both an Enya .15 (because I had it) and an electric setup (because a friend wanted to try it.)  The project got bogged down and is still in primer. (I hate painting....) Not sure what the electric setup was, since that was contributed to the project--but not by me.

The impetus was that one of the new guys wanted more racing and less flipping. Personally, I think the equipment plus the pitting is about two-thirds of the race; and the piloting is only one third. But if you get even one new team onto the circle with some kind of electric deal, that's something. I'm just not sure what the race will be about. Switching batteries the fastest? The reliability of a shutoff triggering the ESC? Willingness to smoke the lightest weight electronics? Max amp testing on a fully charged battery? Would any rules end up like the old Clown rules where tortoise and hare strategies come into play?

Just a few thoughts from 5-6 years ago....with no real answers, yet.

Divot McSlow

We should come up with some rules to make these fast (100mph) without being too expensive.

Could we have a battery big enough to have one pit stop without changing the battery? The pitting challenge would be bringing it in with a random motor cut out.

MM

MM, you guys probably have OS 18TZ's from Clown Racing. When I dropped an 18TZ right into a Sport Goodyear, it went 17 flat on .015 x52's on its first clocking. If you already own the engine, then it's free!





Thanks to Bill Lee for the correction.

Quote from: bill bischoff on June 24, 2026, 07:36:36 PMMM, you guys probably have OS 18TZ's from Clown Racing. When I dropped an 18TZ right into a Clown, it went 17 flat on .015 x52's on its first clocking. If you already own the engine, then it's free!

Bill, I think you mean " dropped right onto a Sport Goodyear ..."

A wide open OS18TZ on a Goodyear plane would be interesting but this thread is about electric motor powered goodyear racing.

Thanks,
 MM

Seems that the thread quickly morphed into "how can we set the rules to go 100 mph". Bill's suggestion builds on that idea but suggests a way that folks could do it and still maintain the skills that make it "racing". There is no way "flipping a switch" or "one pit stop without changing the battery" can be called racing.

If you went with a Badass 2320-2180kv 6.5x7 apc and a 2200 3s batt it would probably be in the 90mph range. Pitch speed is around 132. the 2200 would probably be in the 2 min run time range. Total elec package weight would be about 12.5 oz depending on how your controlled it(rc throttle or timer). so probably heavier than a glow setup but not that far off and would be close to that 100 mph goal. with a timer you could have a low voltage cut off or i think your could have it see a shutoff signal to pit and make some kind of quick connect plug with like a quarter turn lock, batt velcro and on inboard side so it doesn't fly out the timer button could be programmed to a 5 sec delay so the pilot couldn't hit throttle accidentally. the pit wouldnt be too far off from normal pits now.

Well Bill, that's why we're here just trying to flesh it out. Yes you can easily do 100mph with a glow engine, I think we already have that in many forms. At one time our club all thought AMA Scale race was a goof. Unlimited tank size, mandated pit schedual, a simple horse power event with no strategy. To each his own.

Eventually there will be electric racing. I think we can make it interesting and fast enough not to blow over in a stiff breeze.

Looks like to keep race time about 4 minutes we'll have to do a battery change but keep it simple with Deans connecter on a flex wires. No ridged quick plugs. I think a simple timer would be best. If you had some kind of "boost to pass" throttle there would have to be much research on battery cap/discharge rate/lenght of race ect. whole different cat.

Dave great suggestions.

Thanks,
MM    

Might do like Write and Dunkin would do in AMA Goodyear and Fox Goodyear.  Have batteries to get air borne for so many laps and then the last battery to finish the laps.   They would pit early while other team was flying and tank was big enough to finish the race.  Should have seen look on the father And Son team of Herron when Bill called for last pit and they had not done one yet.   Wright and Dunkin were set up to run a feature race without stops if they had to. It was when they put in max size tank they were hurt a little

Yes, Byron thought of that too. Start the race, do one lap, pit for the required token amount of fuel then go all the way to the end. Eliminates in and out laps and tank filling.

MM    

Quote from: Motorman on June 27, 2026, 09:38:30 AMYes, Byron thought of that too. Start the race, do one lap, pit for the required token amount of fuel then go all the way to the end. Eliminates in and out laps and tank filling.

MM    

Pretty standard scenario to pit early to get in and out before panic time. Sport Goodyears will run 50-60 laps on the 1oz tank, so pitting at 30 is not uncommon.

Looking over all the Goodyear rules on NCLRA. Looks like the NJ 1 oz rules were re-written by someone with self interest. The event (that predates AMA scale race) was made for diesels in the hope it would be a stepping stone to FAI team race. The event became something in itself and was run for many decades with diesels and glows together with neither one having the edge. To have a rule against diesels  for that event is completely ridiculous. Also, the tank was never +/- 5% 31cc it has always been "one ounce" 29.57cc for the entire fuel system. I wish someone would change that on the web site.

MM  

The rules posted were what was used at the 2012 NATS when this was run as an unofficial event. I'm not sure of their origin. If you have rules that contradict what is shown on the NCLRA web site, please submit them to NCLRA.     Now.... back to electric racing.


Bill Bischoff, NCLRA President.

Does my electric Goodyear have to make a "George Jetson's shuttle noise" while I am in the pits to warn other pitmen? I might have to dismantle a Tesla to find out how they do that.

McDivot

No, but any time the pilots are having or anticipating problems, they must inform the other pilots by saying "Ruh-Ro!"

Argh? Ruh-Ro!

In preparation for this E-I-E-I-O (Everyman's Independent Electric Intercompetitive Organization) I have been working on a machine that will enable me to put the smoke bac into the motor controller. The idea is to keep the cost down so that we retain the Everyman nature of the event and not let it be taken over by experts.

I think I can catch the escaping smoke in an oil-bath cannister. That part is done. Now I need to figure out how to put it back into the now-lighter components for the restart. The system needs to be regenerative. I could use some suggestions on unmelting the wires, too. These new events are hard....

It has been many years since the Sky Devils were a club in KCMo.  We started what we called class 2 Godyear using Fox .15 snurles plain bearing.   One ounce fuel tank with shut required if I remember right.   We also plane deminsions same as AMA good year.  I some how won that first race and then everybody went to the bearing Fox .15 schurle.  But like any starting event the guys that tested and practiced soon were at the top.   It was still fun event but other engines were soon allowed to compete.  But that is life.    Those were the days.

Maybe we could develop an electric quick fill system, along the lines of a defibrillator. Clear! 

Instead of a pressurized fuel bottle on your arm how about sleeve of capacitors. Might need to just do it on the July 4th for the potential fireworks.

I like the capacitor idea. Would a LiPo "pop" if you put a mongo cap across it during a pit "recharge?" Would the caps cause the smoke to come out of the motor controller? And, will the rules limit the size and quantity of the caps? To keep explosions to a minimum, perhaps we can limit the caps to fit within a 1'x1'x1' dielectric box? And rubber-coated gloves for the pitman is mandatory. Do we need to switch to Spectra flying lines to avoid electrocution of the pilot(s)?

I had a "quick change" battery concept worked out, but the contacts are a potential problem. Poor contact and you melt them and likely light the plane on fire. This may allow some guys to relive childhood experiences wherein you got your old wreck started and just before release lit the tail on fire--just because you were 9 years old and the plane was falling apart anyway....