AMA SCALE NATS AND FAI TEAM SELECTION
By Stan Alexander | onawing/602@att.net
THE 2023 NATS was 100 years in the making, and several Scale events took place during the contest. Registration was held on Thursday for the RC Scale AMA classes, as well as the FAI F4H (RC Stand-Off Scale) and F4B (Control Line [CL] Scale) team selections. A new form of Fun Scale, with two divisions for high-performance and low-performance aircraft, was not only adopted but also put into practice.
As it has been for the past several years, RC Scale was held on Site 4 of the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana, which features a large, grass runway. The new pavilions were not finished, but we hope these will be ready for next year. Static judging for all of the AMA RC and CL Scale classes was held behind the camping area in a large tent. The tent also served as aircraft storage at night so that no one had to take their airplanes apart each evening.
Mike Barbee brought the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA) raffle prize: a P-47 Thunderbolt by Texas RC Planes. It is ready to fly, with hardware from Sullivan Products and a JR radio system. These raffles are used to benefit Scale contests and the FAI team members each year. NASA has a number of great sponsors that donate airplanes and equipment each year to support Scale competitions across the country.
The P-47, along with a Legend Hobby T-28, JR radio system, and other prizes, were raffled off during the NASA Scale Classic, held at the IAC in Muncie in September. When you registered, you received a goodie box from AMA that included a commemorative stein, a shirt, and lots of other goodies.
Static judging for the Nats started on Friday, as did the flying competition. Event Director John Boyko did a great job assembling a team of good judges for the event and other support personnel, including the go-to scoring team of Ryan Smith and Jan Marenberg.
With the weather forecast of storms on Saturday morning, we flew two rounds on Friday, one round on Saturday, and finished the contest on Sunday morning. Similar to a world championship competition, the F4H models flew one at a time at the beginning of the round. The winners of each class are listed in the NatsNews blogs, which are available to read on AMA’s website, along with all of the statistics.
Kaleb Spencer flew his electric-powered Spitfire to a 10th-place finish in Fun Scale Expert, Division II. This class was for high-performance models and aircraft with more than one mechanical option. Dan Landis flew his Viper jet to another first-place finish (two years in a row). The wide-track landing gear on this model looks great.
Second place went to Will Berninger, who flew his P-47 Thunderbolt, with his sweet wife, Marian, helping out calling and in the pits. Third place went to Jeremy Arvin, who flew a P-51 Mustang that was nearly identical to his dad, Dale’s, version, which finished down in the pack with mechanical issues. This was the largest class in the event, with 15 entries.
We had several sponsors there who either competed or helped out, including Dave Houk and his wife, who represented Aircraft Documentation Services. JR PROPO was well represented during the week, with several modelers using the company’s equipment and helping others with their gear. Jerry Nugent flew a Hawker Typhoon in Fun Scale Expert, Division II,
and had the Sullivan Products tent there all week. It’s always great to see NASA’s sponsors participating in events.
For the FAI F4H team selection, Ben Andrus brought his Grumman Ag Cat, which was well documented in a Greek color scheme. Other than one nose-over in the grass, he put in some great flights
to earn second place. Jack Buckley finished first with his new 1/4-scale Fairchild that is in the same color scheme as his 1/3-scale model. Mike Barbee finished third with his Aeronca L-3 to round out the team. Do you notice anything about these three airplanes? All are non-aerobatic types.
This team was selected for the 2024 FAI F4 World Championships for RC Scale Model Aircraft, which will be held in Romania in the same location as it was in 2016. The 2026 dates are being finalized for the British Model Flying Association to hold the event in England. Graham Kennedy is working on those details.
I’ll have more on this event in upcoming columns. I do urge you to check out the NatsNews blogs by Gerry Garing for RC Scale, and Fred Cronenwett for CL Scale.
Fair skies and tailwinds.
SOURCES:
AMA Nats
https://nats.modelaircraft.org
NatsNews
https://nats.modelaircraft.org/nats-news
Texas RC Planes
(409) 750-3366
www.texasrcplanes.com
Legend Hobby
(833) 927-2473
www.legendhobby.com
JR PROPO/Dee Force Aviation
www.deeforce.net
Sullivan Products
(410) 732-3500
www.sullivanproducts.com
Aircraft Documentation Services
(330) 335-0050
www.airdoc.biz
