July 30, 2024: RC Precision Aerobatics (Pattern)

By Justin Wells

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! The site managers were responsible for making sure everyone was ready to fly as soon as the ceiling lifted. Wheels up at 9:30 a.m. meant that the last pilots were finished with their two rounds for the day at 7 p.m. A tiring day for many but a great start to the week!

Regardless of the late start, day one was very successful and very lowkey. Each site manager knew what to do, the judges understood the rotation, and everyone was in place when needed with minimal delays. I would say that the advanced and detailed planning paid off, and it shows.

Once the contest is underway, the pressure is on for the site directors to keep things moving. They have three ready boxes and keep the upcoming airplanes in the ready box so there are no delays. You’ll find the site director rounding up the next pilots on their flight order while the current flight is commencing. Once a pilot is up to fly, they have three minutes before their flight is disqualified. Each site director has a stopwatch and makes sure no one is holding up the line. Everything is handled by the rules defined in the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Sporting Code, and it’s very professional.

Due to the large number of pilots in both FAI (22) and Masters (27) classes, the judges rotate between the flightlines. This also requires some merging of data in the scoring system, as explained to me by co-Event Director Bob Kane. He said that Peter VanHuesden is well-versed in this and was prepared to merge everything as soon as the rounds were completed. Peter spent most of his day between sites, checking the scoring operations systems and making sure there were no errors. These behind-the-scenes volunteers keep the contest running smoothly. An error in the scoring system can shut the site down until it is fixed.

The final scores for day one are posted at the links below:

Sportsman: www.nsrca.us/documents/nationals/2024/401day1.pdf 

Intermediate: www.nsrca.us/documents/nationals/2024/402day1.pdf 

Advanced: www.nsrca.us/documents/nationals/2024/403day1.pdf 

Masters: www.nsrca.us/documents/nationals/2024/404day1.pdf 

FAI: www.nsrca.us/documents/nationals/2024/406day1.pdf 

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!