2015 AMA Nats
by Fred Cronenwett
clscale7@gmail.com
The Nats this year again saw an increase in entries, although not everyone who preregistered flew. With six events requiring a range of complexity and skills, there was something for everyone. Authentic Scale replaced F4B and 1/2A Scale is now an official AMA event.
During static judging on Friday, July 17, a brief thunderstorm came through, so we quickly moved the models beneath the large tent. Static judging is nice because you can talk with the other pilots and relax. Even with the new rules and updated score sheets, everyone got through the processing and static judging without any problems.
The weather was hot on Saturday, but the rain stayed away to allow pilots to make their flights. In the morning, models were assembled and checked for early flying because we knew it was going to be hot and many airplanes were slated to fly.
Static scores are not revealed until a pilot completes a flight, after which he or she finds out the standings. Because there are two days of flying, a pilot can make four official flights. The best two flight scores are averaged and then added to the static score to determine the overall score. We had one crash, one person who needed first aid, and a variety of technical problems that prevented some modelers from getting in their flights.
The 1/2A Scale event had a wide range of static and flight scores. Frank Beatty’s 1/2A-powered version of his Arrow Active Mk II earned the high static award with 77 points. Frank also had the highest flight score and placed first. Allen Goff was second with his Brewster F2A Buffalo, and Chris Brownhill took third with his multiengine Handley Page Hampden bomber.
Fun Scale does not have a Builder of the Model rule and allows ARFs to be flown. Burt Brokaw returned with his P-51 Mustang that has retractable landing gear and put in flights that scored 97 or higher. In all, three competing models had retractable landing gear.
Fun Scale is won by the flight scores, because the 10 possible static points typically don’t give anyone an edge. Chris Brownhill flew his Gloster Gladiator to a second-place finish with some high-scoring flights, but couldn’t
surpass Burt and his P-51.
Chris earned the high static score in Profile Scale with his North American NA-64 Yale, but couldn’t overcome the higher flight scores by Charlie Bauer’s de Havilland D.H.88 and my B-29 Superfortress.
The final placement in Profile Scale was not known until I put in a third flight on Sunday with the B-29 to raise my flight score to take first place.
Charlie’s D.H.88 took second place, and Chris’ Gloster Gladiator placed third.
Sport Scale had four models that scored 95 static points or higher, so that meant the flying points would determine who was going to win. Two new models included John Brodak’s Cosmic Wind and Ed Mason’s Lockheed Constellation.
Three models had technical problems that kept them from getting two good flight scores. Ed’s Constellation put in some smooth flights to earn first place. Frank Beatty flew his Hawker Fury to a second-place finish.
Team Scale was close. The team of Allen Goff and Mike McHenry entered an Extra 300 that earned the high static score of 91.5 points. The team of Ed Mason and Joe Gilbert scored 89.5 in static competition with their B-17 Flying Fortress.
Flight scores were again going to play a role. After two flights on Saturday, the Mason/Gilbert team was in the lead by nine points. On Sunday, Mike flew the Extra 300 one more to time to improve the flight score to 91 points. That changed the Goff/McHenry team’s average flight score enough to edge into first place by .38 points. Four teams were entered in Team Scale.
Ed Mason’s Lockheed Constellation placed first in Sport Scale.
Chris Brownhill’s Gloster Gladiator placed third. Charlie Bauer’s D.H.88 took second place.
This Extra 300 was entered by Allen Goff and Mike McHenry in Team Scale.
During static judging on Friday, the models were lined up and ready to be judged.
Authentic Scale is the event where the models are judged up close and the cockpit is judged. The pilots show documentation for the color scheme and markings, as well as the cockpit. You need up to 12 pages available for the documentation package.
Static judging for Authentic Scale took more than a half hour for each model because of the level of detail that the judges look at. Grant Heistand returned with his 1/3-scale Spacewalker to take the a commanding lead for the first-place award.
Dave Platt returned with his OV-1D Mohawk, which earned the high static score of 98.5 points, but I’m sad to note that the model crashed on Sunday. Other pilots in Authentic Scale also had technical problems or were unable to complete two flights.
Get Ready for 2016
The winter weather means that most of us spend time in the shop working on new models or making changes to existing aircraft. One thing I do during the winter months is inspect my models and figure out if anything needs to be fixed or updated.
I can add details to improve my static score. A Scale model is never really done because you can include additional details or fix problems at any time.
I also check my field equipment and tools to see what needs attention. Inspect your flying lines and handles to see if they are in good shape.
I always welcome contest reports, upcoming contest flyers, and pictures of projects you are building and flying. Land softly!
SOURCES:
National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA)
www.nasascale.org
