Nats 2025

Perhaps the threat of thunderstorms this morning thinned the herd a bit, but they missed out on two completed rounds in each of the Quadfecta classes. There were some great flights made in epic fashion.

The threat of rain and thunderstorms didn't deter any of the pilots registered for the Quadfecta. The winches were strung and the pilots meeting commenced at 8:30.

Muncie experienced a cool south-west breeze today, as we passed the halfway mark of the Outdoor Free Flight NATS. The first event of the day began at the crack of dawn, before the official contest.

How much fun is F3L? The pilots couldn’t say how much they loved the past two days enough. My buddy from Massachusetts thanked me for talking him into flying the contest. Newbies at the contest were just beaming, and the pros say this is their favorite contest.

The 2025 AMA F3K Nats was finally on a weekend, after being held during the week for many years. The lineup this year reminded people of the Team Selects in Florida a few months ago.

South winds came breezing through Muncie today, marking the halfway point of the Outdoor Free Flight Nats. From as early as ten o'clock in the morning, the sun beamed down, brewing what would later be some of the strongest thermals we’ve seen this week.

It is just a beautiful day to fly 2-meter (2M) wooden sailplanes! The sun is out, there’s a light breeze of about 6 mph, and you have 30 pilots divided into seven teams shooting little wooden RES sailplanes into the sky on FAI regulation highstarts.

Very light breezes out of the east greeted competitors on day two of the 2025 AMA Outdoor Free Flight Nats. Easterly drift meant we could keep the same flight as Monday…yay! Every little bit of energy saved on moving flight lines can be used on actual flying.

I am sitting and writing this synopsis, enjoying a beautiful sunset from Site 5 overlooking the AMA headquarters building at the conclusion of day 2 of the 2025 AMA/LSF F5J Nationals.

Day one of the 2025 FF Nats kicked off at the International Aeromodeling Center on Monday, July 21 with several premier events, and some after-hours unofficial flying.