July 30, 2021: Outdoor Free Flight

Wrap-up report by Rick Pangell

Rain, rain, go away, and stay away ...

Leaving the motel in Muncie Thursday morning, the rain was coming down hard. As we got closer to the field, the clouds were high and there was no rain. It had passed over. 

Getting out the towels and wiping down the tables and chairs was in order. It looked pretty dismal for Free Flight, but the clouds lifted and provided some good flying weather. Attendance was down on this last day and I suspect the weather had much to do with it, as well as the event schedule was lighter than the previous four days.

This was F1S day and the flying in rounds had been canceled. Pilots had to fly their flights and then a flyoff would take place if needed. 

For some, this was an opportunity to fly in some great thermal activity. There seemed to be a buoyant boundary layer and  if you could get above it, your model just bounced on it for your max.  The Malkhasyans, Taron and Sevak  dominated with 7 maxes plus 26 sec and 6 maxes, plus 90 respectively. Jack Murphy, National cup champ had 6 maxes and  60 sec for third.

F1S.

Taron Malkahasyan in F1S.

F1S Senior Hailey Mattson.

Not to be unchallenged with putting up flights, the gas pilots went all in. Flying was hampered with the late start and the difficulty of later day flying. 1/2A Gas had Neal Menanno with 3 maxes, Forrest Menanno 9 seconds behind, and Joe Mollendorf  20 seconds back from first. 

1/2A Gas winners.

CD Gas was no different. Ronnie Thompson put in 5 maxes for 600 seconds and a first, with Dan Berry second with 480 seconds, and Scott Lapraik with three maxes.

CD Classic Gas.

Dan Berry with his CD Gas model.

Electrically speaking, ABC E NOS only had two fliers, with Jim Jennings and Jack Murphy flying for first and second.

ABC E NOS Gas.

Jack Murphy, NFFS National Cup Electric Champion 2019 and 2020.

Nats Electric Champion.

Even the small gas events were flying too. 1/4A NOS Gas had Roger Erridge, Bane Bradley, and Bobby Hanford at 1-2-3. It’s fun watching a 1/4A Lucky Lindy take off. 

1/4A NOS Gas.

Denny Dock with his 1/4A NOS Gas aircraft.

Dick Kacmarsky, 1/4A Gas.

1/2A NOS Gas was no different only Bobby Hanford, Roger Erridge and Dick Kacmarsky doing 1-2-3.

Early 1/2A NOS Gas.

P-30 was the most contested event with four Juniors, one Senior, and 15 hopeful adults flying.  Junior Scores of 348 by Caleb Finn, 345 by Skilly DeLoach, and 181 for Wes Reuter were right in there with the adult flying. 

Junior P-30 competitors.

Top adult flyer Don DeLoach had 510 seconds, Frank Perkins at 348, and George Dalecki at 344 was third. 

P-30 top three.

Caleb and Skilly were in the running for adult placings! Hailey Mattson went unchallenged in Senior. 

Skilly DeLoach.

Senior P-30 Champion Hailey Mattson.

Speaking of chases … Josh Finn’s P-30 went off the field, over a hill, and into corn. The motor run was 4 minutes. No damage!

Josh Finn's P-30 in the corn.

Classic Towline had 5 fliers, with Chuck Powell in first, Tim Batiuk in second, and Jan Langelius in third. 

Classic Towline.

Chuck Powell kept the ball rolling, winning the Hi-Start Glider special event over Rick Pangell by 10 seconds.

Hi-Start Glider.

Somewhere in the day PeeWee 30 was flown, although I did not see where, but it is a fun event.  Only two fliers competed, Dick Kacmarsky and Josh Finn, with scores of 591 and 480 respectively.

PeeWee 30.

FAC flying … again the weather dampened some events but there was still plenty of flying.

Mike Welshans has been running these events for as long as I have been the NatsNews reporter and we have to give him kudos for that.

World War I Mass Launch

1. Wally Farrell
2. Pat Murray
3. FS Gilbert

WW I Mass Launch winners, Pat Murphy and Wally Farrell.

Modern Civilian Scale

1. Pat Murray

2. Don DeLoach

3. Wally Farrell

Modern Civilian Scale.

Rubber Scale

1. Wally Farrell
2. Pat Murray
3. George Bredehoft

Rubber Scale.

Peanut Scale

1. Wally Farrell
2. Mike Smith
3. George Bredehoft

Jet CAT

1. George Dalecki
2. Randall Krystosek
3. George Bredehoft

Jet Catapult.

Rubber Scale

1. Wally Farrell
2. Pat Murray
3. George Bredehoft

Rubber Scale.

Simplified Power Scale

1. Clete Shenkle
2. Wally Farrell

Simplified Power Scale.

FAC NATs Champion:

Wally Farrell

FAC Hi-Point Champion, Wally Farrell.

Again…. a full listing of the AMA and NFFS results can be found online here at: <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vQvK5AG4nak53UDqXsc-1yYwALglL6jGa5KE6qemd4m9v4Xqp5HYrJp9DFx2qhrqZ2tYgnGQnaYuM7r/pubhtml?gid=379879557&single=true>

Cut and paste this into your browser for a full look.

This has been fun doing this NatsNews for you!  I hope you enjoyed it too.

That’s a wrap for the 2021 Outdoor Free Flight Nats ...

Thermals! Rick Pangell

Harry Grogan receives the 2021 NFFS Model of the Year, a special award for his NFFS article series on the electric.

John McGrath of Laser Cut Planes.

Nats Gas Champion.

Nats Glider Champion.

Old-Time Rubber Stick.

Roger Erridge.

Ronnie Thompson in CD Gas.

Scott Lapraik, CD Gas.

Senior Nats Champion Hailey Mattson.

The Finn family of fliers.