RC Pattern

The 2026 NSRCA Nationals ran the full range this week. It opened with rain, ran through wind, and closed on a perfect afternoon of finals. Along the way, this event decided a national champion in every class and a World Team that will carry the American flag to Korea.

The 100th AMA Nationals came down to one flightline Friday afternoon. All other classes finished early and made their way over to Site 1, where the crowd built for the F3A finals and the Team Trial that would decide who represents the United States at the next World Championships.

In F3A, eight pilots will advance to the finals: Andrew Jesky, Jason Shulman, Albert Glenn, Peter Collinson, Joseph Szczur, Juan Lopez, Chad Northeast, and Jonathan Mowrey.

Pilots got all of their rounds in today with no weather delays, and the schedule held from start to finish. With preliminary flying complete, each pilot dropped their lowest-round score. That drop matters more than it sounds.

Rain and low ceilings pushed the start of competition back more than two hours on Tuesday. Once the field opened up, the 2026 NSRCA Nationals got a full day of flying in.

Finals morning dawned cool with high overcast clouds and light winds…nearly perfect flying conditions. Flying began about 8:30 am.

Competition resumed on Thursday morning for the final round of preliminary flights. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. The low cloud ceiling experienced on Wednesday returned, along with a quartering crosswind blowing in from the north-northeast.

Nineteen Masters-class pilots gathered at 8 am on Wednesday morning for their third and fourth rounds. However, the weather gods had other ideas as the clouds were low, and the ceilings were only 400 to 500 feet at the start time. After several flights to determine whether the clouds had risen high enough to enable competition flying to begin, it was finally okay to fly without constraint.

Results from the competition rounds flown on Tuesday, August 19 can be seen on the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) website

A great week of competition was had by everyone. This was a very well-run Nats event, and the team that accomplished it should be very proud.