Bob Kane with his Proteus.
By Jessy Symmes
The field for Friday is set.
In F3A, eight pilots will advance to the finals: Andrew Jesky, Jason Shulman, Albert Glenn, Peter Collinson, Joseph Szczur, Juan Lopez, Chad Northeast, and Jonathan Mowrey. Jesky finished the semis with a perfect 2000 after winning both counting rounds. Shulman was right there at 1991.34, Glenn took third at 1947.45, and Collinson fourth at 1936.36. The gap between sixth and seventh was under a point, with Lopez at 1868.02 edging Northeast at 1867.46.
Masters finals will feature Chip Hyde, David Lockhart, Christopher Hogue, Chuck Edwards, A.D. Dailey, and Johnny Gago, Robert Green and John Wolfe. Hyde carried a perfect 4000 through the prelims. Lockhart sat second at 3955.74 and Hogue third at 3851.07.
Advanced sends Lonnie Martin, Oscar Cespedes, Joseph Lachowski, Evan Krause, and Nicolas Molina to the finals. Martin also posted a perfect 4000. Cespedes and Lachowski are separated by less than four points at 3894.63 and 3890.76.
Sportsman and Intermediate wrapped up their flying. Samuel Woodard finished on top in Sportsman at 3994.77 with Kasey Johnson right behind at 3984.42, a ten point margin after six rounds. John Schmehl was third at 3605.01. Timothy Taylor closed out Intermediate with a perfect 4000, ahead of Eric Uptagrafft at 3771.28, and Ron McGrath at 3622.93.
After flying was finished, pilots gathered for barbecue and a briefing on the finals. Numbers were drawn to set flight orders, unknown sequences were picked, and pilots worked through questions about the format. The unknowns are exactly that, sequences nobody has practiced, drawn the night before and flown the next day.
The FAI group carries the most weight into Friday. They fly three flights, two unknowns and a round of F, with a composite score carried over from the semi-finals. One of those four scores gets dropped, and what remains decides the winner. The top three finishers make the FAI World Team and will represent the United States in Korea at the next World Championships.
Flight orders are posted.
FAI: https://nsrca.us/images/stories/nationals/2026/2026_NATs_FO_F3A_Finals.pdf
Masters: https://nsrca.us/images/stories/nationals/2026/2026_NATs_FO_Masters_Finals.pdf
Advanced: https://nsrca.us/images/stories/nationals/2026/2026_NATs_FO_Advanced_Finals.pdf
All of the unknown sequences are posted at https://nsrca.us/index.php/nats/2026
