NMPRA

By Gary Freeman Jr.

On Friday, we woke up to cloudy and windy skies. It was decided to wait until 9 a.m. and see what the weather was going to do. It did start to break up slightly, and we were able to finish up the last two qualifying rounds and a 5-round final.

By Gary Freeman Jr.

422 started Thursday. This is the fastest class we fly at the nationals. The aircraft are semiscale Pylon Racers. They can do around 190 mph. There are lots of different options for aircraft and two motor selections. One is from Dub Jett and the other is a Nelson from Mike Langlois. Both engines are very competitive.

By Gary Freeman Jr.

Pylon had two more rounds of qualifying on Wednesday, and as I previously mentioned, lots of things changed as far as who made it in. Dennis Cranfil came out with a mission and won both of his heats and made it in. The top 22 made it in, along with the wild cards, 23rd (Ray Brown) and fast time (AJ Hemken).

Sorry but I have to be a proud dad one more time and mention that Brody did an amazing job for his first 426 competition at a Nationals. He finished up with a personal best time of 1:17.

By Gary Freeman Jr.

Tuesday started off a little chilly, with temperatures in the low 50s. The good news was that there was little wind and that made from great racing conditions.

Event 426 is a one-engine class that uses the Dub Jett Super Sport .40.  All of the engines are very close in performance. As a result, this class has very tight heats in almost every race. We completed six of the eight qualifying rounds. The top 22 will make it, along with two “wild cards.”

By Gary Freeman Jr.

On Monday, June 21, we competed in EF1. It is an electric class. It was a very windy day and made things challenging at times, but most handled it well.

EF1 is the only electric class that we race at the Nats. This is a box stock class that makes for some really great racing. We had 32 entries. There were lots of tight races and, unfortunately, a few lost airplanes.

By Gary Freeman Jr.

I would first like to start off by wishing all fathers a very happy Father’s Day.

The 2020 Outdoor Nats took place July 12-August 5 at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. Although the pandemic made for an interesting and complicated year, several events still took place safely, allowing competitors and AMA members to continue to enjoy our hobby.

We have created a photo gallery for this year's event. Please feel free to like, share, download, and print a few!

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.