Event

By Matt Neumann

Saturday is top five day. The day we’ve waited for all week because today we crown the 2020 National Champion. Not only in Open class, but in Junior and Senior as well.

The morning started with sun and warmer temperature than we’ve experience all week. The sunny skies would give way to partly cloudy as the morning went on. We had a light breeze to start out with, but it got increasingly stronger as the day progressed. Overall, it was not a bad start for Stunt, but got a little bit more interesting as the morning moved on.

By Matt Neumann

While Thursday we had cool temps, strong winds and rain, Friday started out with cool temps, no rain, lots of fog, and hardly any wind.

The fog was so dense, I would guess we had about ¼ mile visibility when we arrived at the field.  We had a hint of a breeze that would stay with us throughout the day. The temperatures would increase a lot throughout the morning along with the flying.

By Matt Neumann

On Thursday, the contestants were treated to cooler temps and no sun, but—and there is always one of those—the tradeoff, however, was an increased wind (lots of it) and even some rain/drizzle. This pretty much says it all weather-wise during competition. At one point, if you were stuck waiting in the mist, the wind actually seemed a little chilly.  A far cry from the heat and humidity that we have seen earlier in the week.

By Gary Freeman

Thursday we started 422. This is the fastest of all the classes flown at the Nats. The airplanes are capable of speeds up to 200 mph. A couple new designs are here this year, one being the Miss Foxy Lady from CMAD models. It is a very nice-looking plane and a top contender.

We got nine heats done and then the skies opened up for a few hours. We started again around 2:30 p.m. and finished after 7 p.m. Needless to say it, was a very long day.

The rest of the Kane family stopped by, including AMA scholarship recipient Nicole Kane.

By Tim Stone

Racing wound up Thursday with two events: Clown Race and Super Slow Rat/Fox combo.

By Phil Cartier

The 1/2A folks had a good time with 15 entries. Along with the usual old timers, some 5 or 6 relative newcomers showed up. They were all “friends of the family” so to speak, being family or friends of the fliers.

1/2A uses much smaller airplanes, and 0.049 motors—maybe a teaspoon and a half of cylinder volume. The motors are very potent though with modern Schneurle transfer ports and double ball bearings. Most common are the Cyclone and Fora engines and the models are dizzyingly fast due to the shorter, 42-foot lines.

By Tim Stone

Racing Wednesday were two events Texas origin: Texas Quickie Rat and Dallas Sport Goodyear. These events usually bring out some of the best races because of their time proven rules. Both events use stock engines that are still easily available and cheap, simple models with no exotic parts.

By Warren Gregory

Winners and Results from F-40, Perky, and 21 Proto.

Chris Montagino preparing for flight

By Gary Freeman

Wednesday we finished up two rounds of qualifying. There were a lot of changes in the top 24 with many tight races. Mike Condon chose the two wild cards as the racers who finished 23 and 24.

The finals, as always, are some very intense heats of racing. Gino DelPonte was one of the favorites to win, but unfortunately, nosed over slightly in the first round, and then in round two, he kissed Pylon 2.

By Matt Neumann