NFFS

By Don DeLoach

Friday, July 21, was the final day of 2023 Free Flight (FF) Nats competition. The forecast called for partly cloudy skies and light winds. Instead, we got served an unseasonably cool morning, clouds for almost the entire day, and steady winds of 5-10 mph from the northwest. It wasn’t unflyable, but it was more challenging than expected. Here’s why.

A mixed bag of weather … that’s what we had Thursday at the Free Flight (FF) Nats.

Spectacular. Stupendous. Perfect. Wednesday’s weather at the Nats was that good, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed.

What an outstanding day for Free Flight (FF)!

Monday was the first day of official flying at the centennial Free Flight (FF) Nats. It’s hard to believe that 100 years have passed since the very first NAA Nationals, which predated the existence of the AMA by a full 13 years. Back in 1924, model aircraft competition was still a very new concept, often held at full-scale air shows and air races.

The Outdoor Free Flight (FF) Nationals (Nats) are back in Muncie, Indiana, this week, July 17-21.

The morning hours saw the final flights in the F1N and F1N-150 World Cups.

The morning kicked off with a mess of Nats trophies being awarded for the AMA events held on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The screen-printed, acrylic tabletop trophies are an elegant and unexpected change from recent Nats.

Wednesday's flying at the Kibbie Dome was a flurry of activity.

Nats are a big enough deal here that the Best Western Plus has a big welcome screen for the AMA members. Cool to see!