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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.

It was a calm and quiet morning. The birds were chirping and leaves rustled outside of Casa Muncie. I lay in bed (cot) for a few minutes before I realized it wasn’t raining! That means the F5J soaring competition will start on time and everyone will be joyous and happy! There might even be singing… probably not.

The Outdoor Free Flight Nationals are taking Muncie, Indiana by storm this week, July 21-25. Flyable weather is expected this week; rain showers are anticipated on Monday and Friday, while warm, cloudy skies will mark the remainder of the week.

Cloudy and overcast skies with threatening thunderstorms later in the day didn't deter a single pilot from cruising the skies over Muncie…searching, hoping to embrace and become one with that ever elusive rising air. Spotty lift for the first few rounds opened up into nice conditions until…

Saturday morning (7/19/25) begins the first day of the two-day Altitude Limited Electric Soaring (ALES) contest at the AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. CD Norman Poti will manage the festivities.

Day three of the Cross Country (XC) portion of the 2025 Soaring Nats began just as the first two did…rain! It went away around 11AM. We began our day setting up the winch and starting festivities under heavily overcast skies. The ceiling was somewhere around 1500 feet and the air was buoyant with some really good lift in spots.

The day began much like yesterday, waiting for the ominous weather to pass us by, and it did! Launching the Pike Perfect on the winch is a nice stress-free experience, straight up and smooth.