About Pylon Racing

Pylon Racing in a nutshell. Pylon Racing is basically, four RC Pilots racing around a set course of three pylons, trying to set the fastest time over ten laps. It sounds simple enough, and it is. 

At Pylon Racing South Africa we have a variety of classes that caters for all skill levels, from your novice pilot, all the way through to the pilots who want to compete at the international level.

We require that a pilot holds at least a SAMAA Solo rating prior to competing at any event. Safety is our number one priority, and we require that all pilots and callers wear head protection while racing behind our safety nets. More info on safety is explained in our sporting code available for download on our site.

But lets talk more about the racing itself. 

The Course: The course consists of three pylons, that is erected in a triangular shape. The 1st pylon is set 180 meters from pylon number two and three and pylon number two and three are 40 meters apart, forming the triangle shape around which the pilots must fly.

To avoid having pilots turn early, and therefor cutting the course, we place judges at strategic points around the course. There judges monitor each pilot as they fly, with the main panel of time keepers monitoring pylon number one. 

Once a pilot crosses the line at pylon one, the judge monitoring that pilot will indicate via a light situated at the pylon that he has crossed the line and the pilot can then turn around and head back around pylon two and three. 

Pilots do this for a total of ten laps after which his/her light will stay on, indicating that the race is complete.