Control Line Precision Aerobatics
Beautiful, large aircraft perform a prescribed stunt pattern before a panel of judges. Flights are scored by smoothness and accuracy of maneuvers, with a bonus for aircraft appearance. There are no design restrictions, but most models typically use .35-.60-size engines, with wingspans reaching more than 5 feet. Precision Aerobatics is divided into skill classes for beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert fliers. Two related events are Old-Time Stunt, using pre-1953 Stunt pattern and aircraft designs, and Classic Stunt, using aerobatics and aircraft designs that are more than 25 years old.
Nats News
By Matt Neumann
Making it in the world today takes everything you got. Getting rid of all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away and go where everyone knows you name?
By Matt Neumann
Well, Wednesday I left off with the statement that Thursday could be a very interesting day. It was!
Contestants were again greeted with cool temperatures and some wind. The temperatures were a little warmer than what we have been greeted with from the past two days, but light jackets were the norm to start out with. The temperatures increased throughout the day, along with the wind and the competition.
By Matt Neumann
Wednesday turned out to be a very interesting day. The normal chain of events is that all of the contestants are seeded into four groups. Wednesday and Thursday we each fly two flights in front of the judges. We then take the best score from Wednesday and the best score from Thursday and add them together to see who the top five are from each group. Friday, we then would combine all of the groups to form the top 20. We then fly two flights and add them together to determine the top five. Saturday we would then have the top five flyoff.
Beginner Stunt report by Mike Stinson
The Control Line Beginner Stunt at the Nats was held Sunday, June 20. I would like to thank the volunteers who made this possible. Mark Overmeir, Wes Eakin, and Eric Taylor judged while Kenny Stevens and Dale Josephson critiqued the fliers. Most importantly, Beth and James Mills ran admission and tabulation, while Ben acted as a runner. David Ebers volunteered to handle the weigh in, pictures, and pull test. This made my job easy.
By Matt Neumann
Tuesday started off way better than the previous days, weather wise. Contestants were greeted with mid-50° temperatures and only a slight wind. It was much better than previous days.
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 Matt Neumann
Saturday is top five day. The day we’ve waited for all week because today we crown the 2020 National Champion. Not only in Open class, but in Junior and Senior as well.
The morning started with sun and warmer temperature than we’ve experience all week. The sunny skies would give way to partly cloudy as the morning went on. We had a light breeze to start out with, but it got increasingly stronger as the day progressed. Overall, it was not a bad start for Stunt, but got a little bit more interesting as the morning moved on.
By Matt Neumann
While Thursday we had cool temps, strong winds and rain, Friday started out with cool temps, no rain, lots of fog, and hardly any wind.
The fog was so dense, I would guess we had about ¼ mile visibility when we arrived at the field. We had a hint of a breeze that would stay with us throughout the day. The temperatures would increase a lot throughout the morning along with the flying.
By Matt Neumann
On Thursday, the contestants were treated to cooler temps and no sun, but—and there is always one of those—the tradeoff, however, was an increased wind (lots of it) and even some rain/drizzle. This pretty much says it all weather-wise during competition. At one point, if you were stuck waiting in the mist, the wind actually seemed a little chilly. A far cry from the heat and humidity that we have seen earlier in the week.
