July 23, 2024: Outdoor FF

By Skilly DeLoach

The Bernard Mulvihill Trophy originated in 1923 and is the oldest continuously awarded aviation trophy in the US. Regardless of age, the trophy goes to the high time-scorer in the AMA Outdoor Free Flight (FF) Nats Mulvihill event. Mulvihill rules are simple: rubber power only and a maximum wing area of 300 sq. in. Modern Mulvihills are ultra-high performance, capable of 6-plus minute flights, and they may sometimes land off of the fields that they are flown on. Today, the race for the trophy began. Twenty-five Adults, three Seniors, and five Juniors were entered in Mulvihill, elevating the competition. The weather was very flyable, and numerous thermals were swirling throughout the afternoon.

The 2024 Mulvihill National Champion is Greg Simon, a second-generation FFer who has been a flyer for over 50 years. He excelled in the Mulvihill event, with a score of 2,458 points. He was 838 seconds ahead of the second-place flyer, last year’s Mulvihill winner, Hope Finn, who had 1,620 points. Greg made it to the 8-minute max, dropping the 9-minute, with a 3:58 flight. Greg’s score of 40:58 was less than seven minutes shy of the National Record of 47:48.

The rest of the day was jam-packed, filled with incredible flying. The Menanno brothers continued dominating in the Gas events. Guy Menanno won C Gas with 1,350 points, and his brother, Neal, took the silver with 1,220. Old-Time (OT) Catapult was highly contested, but thermal flights were hard to come by. The author ended up taking the win with 235 points, Rocco Ferrario came in second with 197 points, and Don DeLoach earned 193 points for the bronze. Award photos can be found at the end of this article.

Coming up tomorrow will be several popular events: F1B, Catapult Glider, B Gas, and E-36. In addition, Day 1 of three Flying Aces Club events will commence, and tomorrow night, the annual National Free Flight Society Banquet will be held, where Model of the Year will be awarded and FF Hall of Fame inductions will be made.

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!