Event

By Wally Adasczik

Cross-Country Soaring Day 3

Day 3 turned out to be a lot drier from a humidity perspective.

The puffy clouds came early and by 10 a.m., the crew was on the road! As fast as folks flew and landed many were walking up the road as crews came back. The photo below is all of the Cross-Country (XC) contestants—helping Jeff Carr. LOL! Not that he needed it by any means.

By Wally Adasczik

F3K Soaring

F3K started with 28 contestants. Hand Launch is so cool and small thermal flying translates to reading good air when you move up to the larger Unlimited/F5J ships. There were a few world and national champions in the contestant pool! Folks come from all over the US for this event. 

I pulled into the IAC and took a gorgeous picture of the sunrise.

LSF Cross Country Day 2

By Wally Adasczik

What a great day for Cross Country (XC)! The whole Parker City Parks and Recreation department showed up, Mr. Mick Beckman, and hung out with us for a few hours. He was very happy that the Parker City, Indiana, park was being used and asked all sorts of questions. The gang learned that he has been with Parker City Municipal for over 55 years! True dedication there, if I say so. Mick is that handsome lad in the light green shirt in the next photo.

Closing report by Mike Unger

Well, the final rounds of the 2021 Heli Nats went off without a hitch on Wednesday morning.  Sportsman started off the day with the first flight at 8:04 a.m., followed by Advanced, Masters, and F3C. The weather was perfect, with temps cold enough in the morning for me to break out my hoodie for a couple of hours. Final flights were completed about 11:30 and we started the awards ceremony at noon.

By Mike Unger

Muncie, Indiana, gave us another awesome day of weather at the AMA Site 5 for Day 3 of the AMA Helicopter Nats.

High temps of 78°, a sunny sky, and low wind made it idea for flying.  Just like the day before, we picked up again Tuesday with the first flight at 8 a.m.

By Mike Unger

Day 2 of the Heli Nats was one of the best days weather wise we have had in years at the Nats.  Temps in the mid-70s, low humidity, nearly clear skies, and low wind. 

We started at 8:02 a.m. with the first flight of the Sportsman class and ended about 6:15 p.m. with the fourth round of the F3C class. 

Day 2 also brought in the Scale helicopters, with one round of static judging and two rounds of flights. The Scale pilots put on quite a show with some very impressive craftmanship and impressive flying.

By Mike Welshans, FAC vice president

The NFFS/AMA Indoor National Championships was held in Pontiac, Michigan, July 20– 23. The event was well attended with more than 50 contestants entered. The event was run by Bill Shailor from Royal Oak, Michigan, with Mike Welshans handling the FAC entries. FAC results by day and event follow.

Tuesday Only

FAC Simple Scale – 5 entered

1st – Jonathan Nunez - 335

2nd – George Bredehoft - 327

3rd – Glen Campbell - 224

By Mike Unger

Well, it's the beginning of August and that means it's Heli Nats time again. 

With COVID turning everything upside down last year, it is nice to have a more normal Nats competition this year.