AMA CL SCALE NATS 2025
By Fred Cronenwett | cls cale7@gmail.com
IT WAS A BUSY Control Line (CL) Scale Nats this year! It spanned more than five days to cover the FAI F4 World Championships for Scale Model Aircraft F4B Team Trials and the regular Nats competition. In 2023, the F4B Team Trials was held at the same time as the AMA Scale Nats events were flown, but that proved to be too much of a challenge to have both going on at the same time. This year, the F4B Team Trials ran separately from the AMA static and flight judging.
The AMA Nats static judging was held on Friday, July 11, at Site 6, where we fly the CL airplanes. This meant that we didn’t have to assemble the models twice that day and it allowed pilots to easily switch from static judging to getting the models ready to fly with a lot less hassle.
We were able to fly one round on Friday afternoon, but Saturday was a bust because of the storm front that moved through the area. Rounds Two, Three, and Four were flown on Sunday.
In 1/2A Scale, Keith Trostle flew his North American AJ-2 Savage that he recently finished. He earned the High Static Award for that class. You are not alone if you didn’t know that it was a post-war bomber built by North American. The AJ-2 Savage first flew in 1948, and then flew through the 1950s. During this time period, the aircraft designs were rapidly changing.
With a total of five entries in 1/2A Scale, Keith not only had the high static points but also put in the two best flight scores of all of the flights that were flown. He took home the 1/2A National Champion award.
There was a 2.5-point difference between second and fourth places in 1/2A Scale. Dave Betz came in second, and Paul Smith was in third place with a P-40 Warhawk. Christopher Degroff came in fourth place with his F4F Wildcat. Dave Whitney had a Formula 1 racer that did not put in an official flight and placed in fifth.
In Sport Scale, the leaderboard changed during the day. At one point after Round Three, I was beating Mike McHenry with my RV-4, but that soon changed. Mike flew Round Four and improved his flight score. I took second place with the RV-4, and Orin Humphries placed third with his Stearman. Ed Mason had technical difficulties with his Lockheed Constellation and only flew in Round One to a fourth place.
Team Scale is where the builder and another pilot fly as a team. For several years now, Allen Goff and Mike have won Team Scale flying the Extra 300 that was built by Allen. This year, however, Ed Mason and Joe Gilbert teamed up with Ed’s large Lockheed Constellation that is powered by four glow engines. With an eight-point lead from just the static score, Ed and Joe won first place this year. The flight scores were within a half point of each other. The static score was the key to determining who placed first and who placed second.
Fun Scale only has 10 static points and 100 possible flight points, so it really comes down to how well you can fly the airplane. Pete Mazur has flown a foam
F8F Bearcat ARF for several years, and he knows how to fly it very well. Keith had a Focke-Wulf Ta 152 ARF with retractable gear. I flew a Phoenix Models ARF of the Douglas SBD Dauntless. With five entries, three of the models had retractable landing gear. Ed flew a B-17 that he built, and Joe flew a Douglas DC-6 that was built by Ed. I finished in first place for Fun Scale. Pete took second place, and Keith was in third place.
Fun Scale is the only AMA event where you are allowed to fly an ARF or a model that someone else has built, so if you see an RC Scale model at a swap meet that can be converted to CL, that is a good way to pick a model to fly in CL Fun Scale at a local contest or at the Nats.
Documentation is not very complicated. Find a three-view and a picture that matches the model, but look at how the ARF is designed because with some of the RC designs, it is not easy to install a pushrod through the aft part of the fuselage. Some of them are designed for an RC servo to be installed in the tail.
Authentic Scale was also offered and had three entries. Mike flew his Piper L-4 Grasshopper. He also flew it in the 2025 F4B World Championships. Ed flew a Constellation, and Paul flew a Consolidated PB-2A. If you have noticed, Ed flew a lot of Lockheed Constellations—he had three of them at the Nats this year.
After the static points were revealed in Authentic Scale, Ed had the high static score, but Mike had the best flight scores. In the end, Mike beat Ed to a first-place finish by a half point. Paul took third place. It is not uncommon for the final scores to be that close in these events. You just don’t know whether it’s going to be the static or the flight score that makes the final difference.
F4B Team Trials
The F4B Team Trials started on Thursday, July 10, with the static judging. Flights took place after the AMA Nats portion was completed on Sunday. F4B only flies three rounds, and the top three pilots earn a spot on the F4B team to compete at the 2026 F4B World Championships that will be held in the U.K.
The F4B rules also allow for one woman team member and one Junior team member. Peter Bauer, Kathy Bauer, Mike, Orin, and Pete flew in the F4B Team Trials this year.
Peter and Mike’s overall scores easily won them first and second places. Pete was a half point behind Orin. Congratulations to Peter, Mike, Orin, and Kathy. They will represent the US at the F4 World Championships!
If you are interested in trying out for the 2028 F4B World Championships team, the Team Trials will be held in 2027. F4B is similar to the AMA Sport Scale event because it’s judged from 3 meters (similar to 15 feet for AMA competition), but there are some other key differences that you need to be aware of, so read the rules. The model you fly at the Team Trials does have to be the same model that you would fly at the World Championships if you become a team member.
NASA CL Scale Hall of Fame
Mike was also inducted into the National Association of Scale Aeromodellers (NASA) CL Scale Hall of Fame this year, so congratulations for joining the other names on the list!
Land softly! ️
SOURCES:
AMA CL Scale Nats 2025
https://nats.modelaircraft.org/discipline/control-line-scale
FAI Aeromodelling Commission (CIAM)
Sporting Code—Section 4: Aeromodelling
www.fai.org/page/ciam-code
