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Nats News

July 26, 2020: RC Combat

By William Drumm III

We started out the second day with GNAT Combat. GNAT airplanes are easy to build and are quite rugged because they are built out of coroplast and are all of the same design. They use a .15 engine that is legal for SSC and use the same 8 x 3 propeller without an rpm limit. Electrics are also able to compete and be competitive.

Unfortunately, there were only three pilots left to compete. Bob Loescher was unable to compete with his bandaged right hand from the incident Friday.

July 25, 2020: RC Combat

By William Drumm III

RC Combat started out with Slow Survivable Combat (SSC). SSC is the most popular class RC Combat has to offer. Only having a .15 engine and an rpm limit reduces the speed and the severity of the crashes that are bound to happen. With the current COVID-19 situation, only four pilots made the trek to Muncie, Indiana, to compete this year.

July 25, 2020: RC Soaring F3Res

By Ryan Woebkenberg

Friday is the F3Res portion of the 2020 RC Soaring Nats. Only 8 pilots were present, but we think COVID-19 hurt turnout. F3Res is an event for wood two-meter wingspan rudder/elevator/spoiler (RES) control. Launches are made via identical, specific high starts. Tasks are 6 minutes with a generous landing tape.

See all 2020 RC Soaring Nats coverage HERE.

July 19, 2020: CL Precision Aerobatics (Stunt)

By Matt Neumann

Saturday is top five day. The day we’ve waited for all week because today we crown the 2020 National Champion. Not only in Open class, but in Junior and Senior as well.

The morning started with sun and warmer temperature than we’ve experience all week. The sunny skies would give way to partly cloudy as the morning went on. We had a light breeze to start out with, but it got increasingly stronger as the day progressed. Overall, it was not a bad start for Stunt, but got a little bit more interesting as the morning moved on.

July 18, 2020: CL Precision Aerobatics (Stunt)

By Matt Neumann

While Thursday we had cool temps, strong winds and rain, Friday started out with cool temps, no rain, lots of fog, and hardly any wind.

The fog was so dense, I would guess we had about ¼ mile visibility when we arrived at the field.  We had a hint of a breeze that would stay with us throughout the day. The temperatures would increase a lot throughout the morning along with the flying.

July 17, 2020: CL Precision Aerobatics (Stunt)

By Matt Neumann

On Thursday, the contestants were treated to cooler temps and no sun, but—and there is always one of those—the tradeoff, however, was an increased wind (lots of it) and even some rain/drizzle. This pretty much says it all weather-wise during competition. At one point, if you were stuck waiting in the mist, the wind actually seemed a little chilly.  A far cry from the heat and humidity that we have seen earlier in the week.

July 17, 2020: RC Pylon

By Gary Freeman

Thursday we started 422. This is the fastest of all the classes flown at the Nats. The airplanes are capable of speeds up to 200 mph. A couple new designs are here this year, one being the Miss Foxy Lady from CMAD models. It is a very nice-looking plane and a top contender.

We got nine heats done and then the skies opened up for a few hours. We started again around 2:30 p.m. and finished after 7 p.m. Needless to say it, was a very long day.

The rest of the Kane family stopped by, including AMA scholarship recipient Nicole Kane.

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