F3N multi-time USA team member, Cade Ciripompa, fine tunes his model for competition practice.
By Tim Diperi
Saturday (7/5/2025) was the first day of setup for the helicopter national championships for all classes of AMA and FAI disciplines. I arrived to see the American Radio Controlled Competition Helicopter Society (ARCCHS) officers (the competition special interest group for model helicopter flying) were hard at work preparing the field site, helping contest director, Chris Goodin, get ready for the week.
By dinnertime, most competitors had arrived and had a chance to put a flight in or two. The entire USA team (scheduled to compete in Romania in August) was hoping to get a good practice. Team manager, Tom Dooley, and world team judge, Gordie Meade, have prepared all of the competitors to what is expected for a perfect flight.
Sunday (7/6/2025) is day one of competition for all classes. Classes include AMA Sportsman, Advanced, Expert; F3C, F3N and three classes of Scale competition. It’s looking to be a great week of flying!
