Outdoor Free Flight

By Rick Pangell

Mulvihill … Mulvihill flew all three age groups of Adult, Senior, and Junior for a wonderful showing.  Junior Caleb Finn flew for 439 for first with Skilly DeLoach, Beckham Reuter, and Wes Reuter following suit.  Senior Hailey Mattson topped William Reuter for first.

By Rick Pangell

Being the first Outdoor Free Flight Nats in two years, there was a wonderful anticipation in the air.  Being there on Saturday, July 24, bode ominous for the prospect.  Saturday was our practice day but we could not have any open flying until 1 p.m., and eventually 2 p.m.  Plus, it was windy.

Attending the planning meeting on that Saturday, our CD, Ed Carroll, went down the open item list and all the blanks were filled. We were ready to go.

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. 

The following message is from Dave Lindley, president of the National Free Flight Society (NFFS):

It is with great regret, that AMA and NFFS today announce that the current COVID-19 pandemic has forced the cancellation of the Outdoor Free Flight Nats scheduled for July 27-31, 2020, in Muncie, Indiana. We do not anticipate that there will be a rescheduling of this event in 2020. Anyone that had already registered WILL be refunded 100% by AMA automatically.

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.

The 2019 Outdoor Free Flight Nats were held August 5-9 at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. See all the highlights of this year’s event and final results with our NatsNews 2019 Outdoor Free Flight edition.

NatsNews: Outdoor Free Flight

By Rick Pangell (themaxout@aol.com)

Sitting in the motel “breakfast room,” with my eyes hardly open, a voice came out of the hallway … “Did you guys go to the Dawn Unlimited event?” Apparently, I did not, so there are no photos of that happening.

Gerald Brown put in an early morning flight of just over 6 minutes, with Robert Marier just 30 seconds behind. Dan Berry and Chuck Powell were respectively 3rd and 4th. It was Chuck Powell who found me in the breakfast room and asked.