July 20-21, 2024: RC Soaring Quadfecta

By Mike Bergerson

A Weekend of Winches!

There be winches here! The Quadfecta, a competition consisting of four classes of sailplanes, began at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, July 20, and flew through Sunday afternoon, July 21. The weather was perfect!

Four complete rounds of each class were completed to the absolute relief and joy of our illustrious contest director (CD), Wally “ By Golly” Adasczik. His motto is “A kinder, gentler Nats,” and that's just what we had. A very low-key competition flown by friends old and new, with fun and laughs had by all.

Saturday started with a round of Nostalgia (NOS), then Rudder/Elevator/Spoiler (RES), then 2-meter (2M), and then Unlimited, finishing off the set. Rinse and repeat for a total of two rounds of each being completed by the end of the day.

Launching an Explorer in Unlimited. Tapping the winch pedal lessens the strain on the airframe.

Sunday began at 8 a.m. sharp, flying the same schedule. Everything went smoothly with very few winch malfunctions as a result of the flawless organizing … with lots of help from our friends. Did I mention that the weather was perfect? Sunny skies with great temperatures in the low 80s created some fantastic soaring conditions.

Sailaires were the abundant choice in NOS. The gathering of Sky Pigs was a great sight to see. “Pigs in Space” is the call when launching Sailaires on the winch. There was a smattering of Vikings, a Legionnaire, a Challenger, a Windfree, a Drifter, and a much campaigned Olympic 650, with many more classic sailplanes in abundance. A Grand Esprit, piloted by none other than Gordon Buckland from Florida, won the whole enchilada, earning the title of National NOS 2024 Champion. RES was an AVA fest; Super, Super Pro, and original AVAs dominated the field. Why not, they launch to the moon and float forever! Lol! There were a few Skybench Skybirds, an old Raven design, and several very nice sailplanes rounding out the class. Kent Nogy, from California, took the National RES championship with his AVA.

The Sprite was the choice of most of the 2M competitors. A baby Supra with the same performance as its parent (awesome!) was also present. Their pilots had them specked out regularly, and they zoomed in for some very entertaining landings. They do land hot! Along with the speedy moldies, there was a Sagitta 600, a Sophisticated Lady, a 2T, a Maple Leaf Image, and there was even an old Duck that did quite well and finished third, a tribute to the old design. Yes, it was all won by a blindingly bright, fluorescent orange Sprite piloted by Bobby Burson from Minnesota.

Unlimited was flown with everything from Explorers to Wayne Norrie’s “Raven.” It was interesting to watch him quick-change the Ravens RES wings for a set of anhedral ones that were equipped with ailerons.

Launches in Unlimited are a treat. Powerful, full-pedal launches for the strongest airframes with explosive zooms at the top are very entertaining for the pilots and spectators alike. Unlimited had the most entries of the classes, flying four groups per round. Normally a two-day event, Unlimited was combined with the other three classes of the “Trifecta” to create the “Quadfecta,” due to the additional days needed for the F5J US Team Selects taking place at the end of the soaring schedule,

Rowdy Lee, a Junior competitor, launching his Soprano in RES.

It was a close competition with only eight points separating first and second place. Claude Turner, from Maryland, took top honors as the National Unlimited Soaring Champion for 2024.

Wally concluded Sunday’s events with the awards ceremony, paying very close attention to the future of our sport—the juniors. Rowdy Lee and his dad, Jared, came out from Georgia to fly in the Nats. Rowdy took Top Junior honors! Award photos can be found at the end of this report, in addition to final scores.

With the winches all put away, F3RES will take over Site 5 on Monday, July 22, through Tuesday, July 23. Jon Garber from Colorado will be the CD for the two-day competition.

Blue Skies!

Note from AMA: Do you have photos from the Nats that you’d like to share? If so, email them to Clarissa Poston at clarissap@modelaircraft.org. Please include a brief description in your email, naming any individuals pictured in the photo(s), the name of the event that the photo(s) were taken during, and the name of the individual who took the photo(s). Your submission(s) might be posted on AMA’s Flickr page, which can be found at www.flickr.com/photos/modelaircraft/albums!