RC Soaring

The bungees were singing when 29 pilots showed up at Site 5 of AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center for two days of F3RES competition at the AMA Soaring Nats.

What has a 2-meter wingspan, is 99% wood, and gets shot into the sky on a big rubber band? If you said a glockenspiel, you might be correct, as I have no idea what the specs are … of course, it's an F3RES sailplane!

There be winches here! The Quadfecta, a competition consisting of four classes of sailplanes, began at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, July 20, and flew through Sunday afternoon, July 21. The weather was perfect!

Charles Thomas, Contest Director Wally Adasczik, and Bob Burson setting up the winch lines Friday afternoon for the weekend’s Quadfecta competition.

By Mike Bergerson

The weather gods have granted mercy! What a beautiful day to fly gliders. There were quite a few flights made from the winch, and just as many were electric flights.

We now have day two of the 2024 AMA Cross Country (XC) Soaring Nats firmly in the books. There were Explorers, Maxas, a couple of purpose-built XC Catalinas, and even an old House of Balsa “2T” Crunchie. Rick Bothell, of “Hands Free Retriever” fame, was out flying his 2T, AVA, and others as the day progressed.

Everybody is on their weather app the day before Cross Country (XC) Soaring is scheduled to start. “It’s gonna be great” … “Nah, the weather’s gonna be lousy” … well, it’s the weather—you take what you can get! That’s what we did, and we made the best of it with tons of fun flying and swapping stories!

Welcome to the AMA League of Silent Flight (LSF) Nats! I arrived a few days early to pitch my tent, get acclimated, and fly my sailplanes in the notorious Muncie skies!

This year, the League of Silent Flight (LSF) hosted Cross Country (XC) at Monroe Central High School in Parker City, Indiana.

This past weekend, the AMA Nats offered the “Trifecta” of RC Soaring at the International Aeromodeling Center.