Event

By Gary Freeman

Monday was the electric EF1 class. There were 29 entries and most everyone had fast airplanes and great thumbs. This class is “box stock,” meaning all items are available to anyone and cannot be modified in any way. This makes the class very fun and easy for everyone. Ray Brown and Lloyd Burnham were the starters for this event; thank you both for a great job. There were a lot of great heats and tight racing. It was good to see some of the newer guys kicking some butt. You can tell they have been practicing.

By Phil Cartier

F2D is an unofficial event we’ve flown for quite a while now.  The cost of going to F2D contests and buying or, in rare cases, building a fleet of models with five or six engines costs quite a bit. And then there are the rules, written by committees in Europe.

But on to more fun. F2D Fast uses AMA Fast Combat rules. Often the rule about midair/crashes usually gets skipped due to a shortage of judges. If a plane crashes, it crashes. If the pit crew/pilot can get it back up safely, it’s good to go and collects more airtime.

By Matt Neumann On Monday, Control Line Aerobatics (Stunt) started off with processing and appearance judging. It is also a time for everyone to get together and start to catch up on things since we last met. For most of us, that was a year ago at the 2019 Nats. I am always amazed at the diverse backgrounds of our pilots.  We have engineers, salespersons, mechanics in both cars and aircraft, professional pilots, and many more. Yet there is one thing that always brings us together— the love of model aircraft; Control Line aerobatic aircraft to be exact.

By Gary Freeman

Day one of the RC Pylon Nats has come and gone. With everything going on in the world today, I think everyone here is looking forward to a safe week with friends and family doing what they love. Thank you, AMA, for allowing us the opportunity.

By Tim Stone

As with the rest of the world, the corona virus has affected Control Line racing at the Nats this year.  The National Control Line Racing Association (NCLRA) officers were waiting until June 10, for AMA to give the okay for Outdoor Nats to proceed. By this time, Indoor and Outdoor Free Flight had decided that they were going to cancel anyway. Not so with NCLRA—race is on! Gentlemen start your engines!

By Phil Cartier

Sunday saw lots more great flying in the F2D Combat Finals. The turnout was low—14 entries. All of the pilots were competent fliers with good equipment and lot of contest experience. It really showed in how smoothly the matches went and the excellent system for scoring and displaying the results.

It took 11 matches on top of the 32 matches on Saturday to get to the new winner.  Bill Maywald won first place with some great flying, not only winning matches but doing so using only three planes. Dave Fischer came in second.

By Phil Cartier

Nats F2D Combat took off to a great start Saturday morning, July 11. Unfortunately, only 14 flyers could make it, but the small field made up for it with lots of action. One could say the cream of the crop. Just about every flyer was meticulously prepared and there were few holdups other than pit crews, pilots, and judges playing Ring Around the Rosie.

AMA looks forward to hosting a fun and safe Nats this year at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC)! Today, we have new developments to announce for Nats 2020. 

Although some Special Interest Groups such as NFFS, NSRCA, IMAC, and NASA are not participating in Nats this year, the Executive Council's vote on 6/10 did not officially cancel those particular events. Other contest directors have approached AMA and are being considered to manage those events during Nats. You are welcome to register for any Nats event up through 06/26, but if an event organizer or contest director does not step up to host your particular event, AMA will fully refund your money and not host that portion of the Nats.

After careful deliberation, the AMA Executive Council has agreed to not cancel the 2020 Outdoor Nats. This decision is aligned with state and federal guidelines for events concerning COVID-19.

The 2020 AMA Nats will take place to the extent that individual Nats organizers plan and conduct their respective events. Additional safety measures will be in place to protect our members, staff, and community. Nats participants and visitors to the International Aeromdeling Center will have limited access to AMA facilities and should anticipate a scaled-back Nats experience.