RC Scale

Thursday was the final practice day! Pilots could be found at numerous club fields during the day, dialing in their equipment and adding final touches to their known sequences.

Approximately 100 people, RC and Control Line (CL) combined, attended the Saturday night banquet. The program for the evening began with an auction of several donated items. The items included a set of plans, a Pica T-28 kit and retracts, a bottle of bourbon, and a bottle of wine. The auction netted a total of nearly $500 to be donated to NASA’s FAI team sponsorship.

Light rain quickly began to intensify shortly before the 8 a.m. pilot meeting, and it was apparent that flying was not an option, at least for the morning..

The RC Scale Nats officially began on Thursday, July 6. While more than just a few pilots arrived on Wednesday to set up and get in some practice flying, the majority began arriving early Thursday morning. John Boyko, the event’s contest director, calls this “processing day.”

We had a great Nats at the AMA International Flying Sites last year. Mike Barbee Concrete had finished a lot of earth moving and grading, and then grass was planted to this tough ground at Site 4. The site is looking better now, but some projects are still in construction.

By Stan Alexander

It was a busy Friday with static judging and then during the afternoon, it was decided to go ahead and fly the first round of flight competition. Four flightlines were used all weekend and we were able to get in the first round that evening.

By Stan Alexander

This year’s Nats started with practice on Thursday for many of the competitors arriving early to Site 4 at the back of AMA’s property. Unfortunately, at least half of the grass runway was overrun with ruts, tire tracks, as well as footprints from careless people abusing newly sown grass. All of that will have to be reseeded and rolled again.

By Stan Alexander          

Well, the weather looks great for this week. Contestants are on their way to the Nats, hoping for a little practice before it starts. The grass on Site 4 where we will be flying is in good shape, but it could be hard from the lack of rain. I’m in hopes that the grounds crew will take care of that with the watering system.