
For detailed information see the IAC Calendar.
FF models are under no control from the builder/flier after they are released for flight. Controlled flight is achieved through preset adjustments and onboard timers and or fuses that control various functions such as engine cutoff, transition from climb to glide, and recovery. Most Outdoor FF events are duration contests; the longest total flight time wins. Restrictions on fuel, engine size, rubber motor, or towline length are among the ways performance can be limited, thus making long flight times difficult to achieve. To lessen the chance of a single lucky flight winning an event, and to reduce the risk of lost models, flight times are limited to a maximum per flight that will keep the models within the boundaries of the field. Should a contestant achieve three maxes in six flight attempts, a sudden-death flyoff is held until tie scores are broken or a winner is determined. Recovery of FF models is generally achieved with some sort of dethermalizer, which is a device designed to prevent the aircraft from being carried great distances by updrafts of warm air called thermals. The device deflects major control surfaces, which stops forward flight and brings the model floating back to Earth.
Nats News
Nats Demystified: Recovering Lost Free Flight Models
Matt Ruddick comes back for another episode of Nats Demystified to talk to four-time Nats champion Bob Sifleet about how free flight modelers find stray models.
Nats Demystified: Free Flight Model Engine Shutoff Timing
On this episode of Nats Demystified, AMA's Matt Ruddick chats with four time Free Flight Nationals Champion, Bob Sifleet, about how Free Flight models' engines are timed and turned off at the appropriate time and altitude.
2019 Outdoor Free Flight Nats Recap
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.
August 12, 2019: 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.
August 9, 2019: Outdoor Free Flight
By Rick Pangell (themaxout@aol.com)
One word to describe the day: windy! Well maybe another for the last part: stormy.