Mark Radcliff explaining the maneuvers of his routine to judges.
By Jessy Symmes
Muncie had the last word on Saturday. The contest was in the middle of the first round of the morning when a large storm rolled over the site and simply took the day away. The rain came down at a rate of four and a half inches per hour, flooding the field and the pits. There was nothing to do but shut it down. Flying was canceled for the day with less than five flights still left to finish, which means that round will be completed tomorrow morning before the contest can move on.
That also means there are no scores to post today. Standings remain where they were after Friday’s two rounds. For anyone following along from home who was hoping to see the leaderboard shift, you will have to wait until tomorrow when we have final numbers. Muncie has a long history of handing out weather like this, and the veterans in the pits have seen enough of it to know that you dry the airplanes off, you protect the electronics, and you show up in the morning.
If Saturday belonged to the weather, Saturday night belonged to the people. The RC Scale Nats banquet went ahead as planned, with pilots, families, and volunteers gathering over a barbecue dinner cooked by Smoking Meats BBQ. It is a tradition worth understanding if you have never been. The Nats is as much a reunion as a competition, and the banquet is where the war stories get told, where old friends catch up on projects they have been following all year, and where the newcomers get folded into the fold.
The centerpiece of the evening was the induction of four modelers into the NASA Hall of Fame. Jeff Foley and Bruce Tharpe were honored for RC Scale, while Keith Trostle and Mike Stott were honored for Control Line. It is a meaningful recognition in this community. The Hall of Fame is not about a single winning season but about the years of building, designing, competing, teaching, judging, and volunteering that hold the scale movement together. Anyone who has spent time around this event knows how much of it runs on people who give their time without being asked, and Saturday night was a chance to say so out loud.
The annual NASA raffle prizes were also given away, capping an evening that turned a washed-out day into a good one.
Sunday is a catch-up day. With less than five flights still owed from the interrupted round, the schedule moves up. The pilots’ meeting starts at 8 a.m., with flying to follow, and the contest will be pushing to make up ground and finish clean. Check back tomorrow for the final report and scores from the 2026 RC Scale Nats.
