The first-place winners in the 2025 Nats are (L to R) Gabriel Alimov (Senior Class), Orestes Hernandez (Open Class), and Wesley Smith (Junior Class).
On Friday morning, the group was greeted with warm temperatures and light winds. So far this week, we have been very lucky in that when we were flying the weather cooperated. Today would be no different.
The Moon clan (L to R): Max (Doug's son), Steve, Doug, and Jack (Steve's son). It is a true family affair that spans the globe. Jake resides in Singapore.
Today was “Top 20 Day” in Open class and “Top 12 Day” in Advanced class.
On Wednesday, the contestants were greeted with cloudy skies, light winds and mid to upper 60s for temperatures. The winds, once the official flights started, stayed in one direction. So in the words of Sergeant Shultz from Hogan's Heroes, the day was Be-u-ti-ful!
This is the pit area between circles three and four.
Today, contestants were greeted with cool temps in the low 60's. It was cool enough that I even warmed the vent air just a bit in the car. No AC was needed this morning. On the way back to the motel, however, the car's AC was set to max, with all nozzles pointed at me!
The top five Intermediate competitors posed for a photo.
Beginner and Intermediate classes of Control Line Precision Aerobatics were flown on Sunday July 6th. There were two entrants in Beginner with seven in Intermediate. These events were flown on the grass circles. Grass is much more forgiving, than asphalt in case of an accident.
Simply put, Control Line (CL) Precision Aerobatics is an event where a builder of a model airplane is judged not only on how well they build their plane, but also how well they fly it in a prescribed flight pattern involving aerobatics.
Sunday was a very pleasant day weather wise. I arrived at the field from my home in Vincennes, Indiana, around 11:30 and found several of the guys practicing. A few even had jackets. I could tell they were from the south because they were used to extreme heat. I, being a Midwesterner on the other hand, thought this was a nice, cool Midwest morning.