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Radio Control Helicopter

American Radio Control Competition Helicopter Society
08/04/2024 to 08/07/2024
Flying Site: 
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For detailed information see the IAC Calendar.

RC helicopters use a powerplant to turn a gear train, driving the main rotor system and tail rotors.  They are capable of maneuvers that full-scale helicopter pilots only dream about.  Each class has an established set of maneuvers that pilots must accomplish, and judges grade each maneuver.  Class I includes primarily hovering-type maneuvers; Class II adds some forward flight, including a loop and stall turn; Class III adds even more aerobatic maneuvers and includes a power-off autorotation landing; and F3C adds a number of aerobatic maneuvers to test pilots and machines. The flight ends in a power-off autorotation landing that must be on a small spot for maximum points. (Not many miss it.) Helicopters also have a Scale competition.

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RC Helicopter

Nats News

August 5, 2021: RC Helicopter

Closing report by Mike Unger

Well, the final rounds of the 2021 Heli Nats went off without a hitch on Wednesday morning.  Sportsman started off the day with the first flight at 8:04 a.m., followed by Advanced, Masters, and F3C. The weather was perfect, with temps cold enough in the morning for me to break out my hoodie for a couple of hours. Final flights were completed about 11:30 and we started the awards ceremony at noon.

August 3, 2021: RC Helicopter

By Mike Unger

Day 2 of the Heli Nats was one of the best days weather wise we have had in years at the Nats.  Temps in the mid-70s, low humidity, nearly clear skies, and low wind. 

We started at 8:02 a.m. with the first flight of the Sportsman class and ended about 6:15 p.m. with the fourth round of the F3C class. 

Day 2 also brought in the Scale helicopters, with one round of static judging and two rounds of flights. The Scale pilots put on quite a show with some very impressive craftmanship and impressive flying.

2020 Outdoor Nats in Photos

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!

August 5, 2020: RC Helicopter

black and yellow rc helicopter on the ground

By Mike Unger Tuesday: Day 2 and the final day of the Heli Nats is now in the books. We arrived at the field to low cloud cover and cooler temps than expected, so we delayed the start of the final rounds of competition a few hours. This gave everyone time to charge batteries, tweak helicopter settings, and mentally prepare for the final three competition flights of the 2020 Nats. Once the clouds burned off, we started with F3C flying the F schedule. The F schedule is not only another set of maneuvers to learn, but it is also more difficult than the P schedule.

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