Event

By Rich Whitlow (rwhitlow@gmail.com)
We had another beautiful day in Muncie, Indiana at the IMAC Nats! The morning started off cool and the day warmed up nicely. The sky was a pretty blue and everyone was able to fly just as high as they liked, with no threat of climbing into the clouds.

We were able to complete the Unknown Round and two Knowns, before flying stopped for the afternoon.

The races remain close and there is a final round to fly tomorrow with two Unknowns and two Knowns to fly.

By Rich Whitlow (rwhitlow@gmail.com)
Monday started much nicer than Sunday! We had temperatures in the 60s and beautiful blue skies. The weather was perfect for flying!

Hoping to get in a full day, the pilots’ meeting started at 8:45 a.m. and we had a pilots’ picture for posterity!

By Rich Whitlow (rwhitlow@gmail.com)
Everyone converged on the AMA’s national flying site in Muncie, Indiana, on Saturday after the July Fourth holiday. There was plenty of practice flying and preparation. Everyone was putting last-minute touches on his or her flights before the start of competition on Sunday.

This year we are excited to have Dee Force Aviation as a major sponsor of the IMAC Nationals. We truly appreciate the company supporting all of these outstanding pilots!

The 2019 Indoor Free Flight Nats, hosted at the Round Valley Dome in Springerville, Arizona, wrapped up June 2. Check out the event from day one all the way to the final results with our NatsNews 2019 Indoor Free Flight Edition.

NatsNews: 2019 Indoor Free Flight

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)

Lead photo: The P-18 Mass Launch.

Sunday is the last day of the meet. The morning events were both well attended and hard fought. One event is P-18. With more than 15 people flying Open, and at least six in Junior, the air was filled with colorful models. Most of the junior P-18s were built on site during several educational build sessions John McGrath oversaw.

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)

Lead photo: The flightline with 42 entries. This is the most populated Indoor Nats in the last few years.

Contestants descended on the dome Wednesday from all points, as can be seen by the variety of license plates in the parking lot.

The Day 1 tradition of starting out with glider events holds true here in Arizona. All through the building, you could hear the “buzz” of high-speed gliders ballistically shooting at the ceiling and the occasional crunch as something went terribly wrong.

By Rob Romash (rob@eclipsetoys.com)
Once you are either off the airplane in Albuquerque or exit Interstate 25, there are only two ways to drive get to Springerville, Arizona—home of the Springerdome, affectionately called “The Enormodome,” and the site of this year’s Indoor Nats. Either route takes you more than 100 miles into the desert, heading west.