Nats News

Day one of flying at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center started off with a low ceiling that delayed the start of the competition until about 9:30 a.m.; everyone waited patiently, as this is a normal occurrence at Pattern contests. The pilots were excited to get started!

It's a beautiful morning at Site 5 of the AMA International Aeromodeling Center! It's warm, a big change from the cold, damp mornings of the past two days. The wing tape actually sticks! This makes for nice, buoyant morning air.

6:30 a.m.—it’s chilly and damp, not the greatest conditions for setting up your sailplanes (I hate it when the tape won't stick), especially when you haven't had enough coffee, yet the pits begin to fill up with pilots and airplanes getting ready for the 8 a.m. start.

“Working time will begin in five minutes.” That's the automated call at 8 a.m. from the scoring program … and so begins three days of hardcore competition by some of the best F5J pilots in the country. It's amazing how much carbon you can gather in one place!