Inside: NatsNews Daily coverage of the 2010 National Aeromodeling Championships August 17, 2010 Helicopter results Nick Kolias Hughes 500D. Michael Ramsey photo. Michael was impressed by the quality of Nick s flying skills at this, his first Scale Nats. Academy of Model Aeronautics International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie IN; Web site: www.modelaircraft.org; e- mail: nats@modelaircraft.org; Copyright Academy of Model Aeronautics 2010 Editors: Liz Helms, Ashley Rauen, and Jennifer Orebaugh Staff Contributors: Michael Ramsey and Jay Smith A special thank-you to members of AMA s Flight Support Team. Our community partners recognize that AMA onsite events bring thousands of visitors during the flying season who spend dollars in our community. Their generous donations help AMA continue to host the many competition events held annually, and in turn, AMA promotes and encourages our members to look for and support members of the Flight Support Team.
Helicopter Thanks for letting us have the weekend off! Right after the Radio Control Helicopter Aerobatics pilot winners were announced at 3 p.m. on Thursday, we all pulled up the tents and found what little room was left at the IRCHA site to park our lawn furniture. The Nats really wasn t over at that point as Scale Helicopter still had two more days of flying. Down at Scale Alley of the IRCHA site is where every Scale wing nut from around the country hung around and cheered on the nine brilliant folks flying museum Scale models in front of three picky people with clipboards. At 8 a.m. every morning is when the official Scale flying happened, and on Saturday the numbers pointed to three skilled individuals and their machines, but really all nine deserved equal praise. Over the other 10 hours of daylight after the official flying, these Scale pilots also flew the same ships for fun. In case you were wondering, that s how the flight scores were so high. The winners in Aerobatic Helicopter netted us a 2011 F3C Team that will be managed by Tim DiPeri. Curtis Youngblood will fly the captain s chair, and at his side will be Nick I think my flying sucks Maxwell, and Wayne I m an electric fan forever Mann. Photos by Michael Ramsey and Tim DiPeri. Speaking of electric, the winners of the Scale Helicopter event were juiced up also. It seems that no one in Scale wants to deal with finding an outlet for a slimy muffler either. The fact is that electric not only makes setup simpler, more power, if needed, is easy to get. It will be interesting to see where the FAI goes on the ruling of flybarless systems for aerobatic competition. The so-called advantage didn t seem to change the judges score awards. However in Scale, the appearance points for authentic mechanics (all flybarless) did make a huge impact. The way we saw the Scale models fly this year was dramatically improved. The machines actually showed agility, where before they scared judges off the flightline in many cases. The best continue to flock to Muncie to prove their medal. The organization of event talent is unmatched despite the sometimes challenging conditions. World class is the best phrase to describe what it is to participate in the AMA Nats. We hope that the NatsNews has helped you to see one of the advantages being an AMA member is all about. See you here next year! Michael Ramsey The F3C 2011 Team includes Curtis Youngblood, Wayne Mann, and Nick Maxwell, managed by Tim DiPeri. 2
F3C winners. Class I winners with CD Craig Bradley (L). Class II winners. Class III winners. Scale Helicopter winners. 3
Scores and Standings Please note: All scores are unofficial until tabulated by Nats Headquarters. Charles Anderson and Dave Milner flybarless. 4
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Bob Harris s Hiller H-23 Raven. Joel Rosenweig and his Sikorsky S-64 Skycrane. Darrell Sprayberry s Long Ranger 6
Having the Nats during the IRCHA Jamboree was something I was skeptical of at first, but now that it s happened, it s seems like such an obviously good idea, I can t think why I never thought of it in the first place. This was the first year and the first time for some years the outcome had not been predetermined. When Len Mount shows up with a model, the contest has been for second place. Because he was not here this year, we had a real competition on our hands, and a lot of the nine entries are world-class-quality models, which would have given Len a run for his money anyway. The first round of static judging saw Butch Wellmaker s outstanding S-76 take the lead with Darrell Sprayberry s giant 1 /4-scale Jetranger close behind and Bob Harris in third. Several other entries were in close contention so no foregone conclusion there. Thursday s first round of flying sorted the men from the boys and first-round nerves showed through. A nice, clean round by Nick Kolias with his gorgeous 500 turbine put him in first place in the first flight round, but overall, because he had no cockpit in his helicopter and no documentation for it, his static score had been very low. Darrell and Bob both had nervous flights and it showed in their scores placing them third and fourth respectively, but once again Butch s calm approach to the whole proceedings led to a smooth if uninspiring flight putting him in second place in the flight schedule. Because this was his first Nats, he was unsure of what was required of him. Now that he has seen what others are doing, I am sure his schedule will improve and the artistic impression points will improve, making him harder to catch up with. Peter Wales Boyce Wellmaker s SV-76. Eric Babineaux s Hughes 500D.
Richard Schultz s HH-52A Seaguard. Emile Sheriff s OH-58D Kiowa.