Happy 50th Anniversary National Miniature Pylon Racing Association (NMPRA)! Founded in 1965 to help deepen and develop the country’s interest in RC Pylon Racing, for the last 50 years, NMPRA has been an active part in developing pylon racing competition around the world.
In honor of this anniversary, museum staff wants to take a moment to answer one of the most common questions visitors (especially school children) ask during their museum visit.
Why is that man in a cage? Is he in jail?
The short answer: No, he is judging the competition.
The long answer: Safety is an important factor in all competition, but especially when model airplanes are careening above one’s head going 150+ miles per hour during a pylon race. Made from a double layer of chain link fence and positioned on the course in such a way to lessen a full-on crash, the cage was designed to be a protected space where the pylon judge could watch the race and manipulate the shutter to inform the pilot/caller teams how they performed.
Cage use first appeared in the AMA Rule Book section on Pylon Racing in 1996. There was to be one cage for each pylon, so each course had a set of three. The largest cage was placed at the first pylon and was big enough for four judges (each judge was responsible for watching one competition aircraft). The cages at the second and third pylon each contained one judge, as the way the course was set up the judge could watch all four aircraft at once. When stored, the smaller cages would stack inside the larger cage, like a series of nesting dolls.
The cage in the museum’s collection is one of the smaller cages for the second or third pylon. It is outfitted with shutters that the judge would open and close to communicate with the callers and pilots during the race.
The use of safety cages fell out of use after only a few years. Judges were moved off course entirely and a light system was set up to indicate the turns. Recently, a similar light system was donated to the museum’s collection; we are still talking about the best way of placing this on exhibit.
While the NMPRA is going to keep racing into the next 50 years of its future, the cage, shutters, light system and collection of pylon racing aircraft will continue to tell visitors its history by answering, “why is there a guy in a cage?”