July 24 Jenni Orebaugh photo. NatsNews Academy of Model Aeronautics International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie IN website: www.modelaircraft.org; email: natsnews@modelaircraft.org Copyright Academy of Model Aeronautics 2014 Editors: Ashley Rauen, Rachelle Haughn, Liz Helms
RC Aerobatics The only word to describe Wednesday, our third day of RC Aerobatics is rain and plenty of it. To Event Director Bob Kane s credit, all rounds were finally flown. Much credit is due to Bob s staff, the pilots, and judges. No one was even late for the evening banquet. The banquet was a great success and very well attended. After a delicious meal, awards were given out for the top finishers in Intermediate and Advanced. The top eight finalists in Masters and FAI were also announced. The flight order was set for Thursday s finals for Masters and FAI. Before any of the festivities began, however, Bill Pritchett, AMA s Director of Education made a presentation in memory of Mike Wingo to his home club in Huntsville AL. Accepting the award was another RCRC member, NSRCA s President, Jon Lowe. Very emotionally, Jon accepted this award.
Richard Bohn: Intermediate National Champion. RC Aerobatics Robert Caglia: Advanced National Champion. Our friends from California always bring laughter and joy to our annual banquets, as well as a lot of color, and 2014 was no exception. The AMA District X and NSRCA District 7 members were hard to miss even without Chris Fitzsimmons. On to the major interest of the day: the winners in Intermediate and Advanced along with the top eight finalists in Masters and FAI. The Intermediate National Champion for 2014 is Richard Bohn. Second place in Intermediate was Zachary Ketcher and placing third was Grayson Prichett. The Advanced National Champion for 2014 is Robert Caglia. Second place in Advanced was Cody Powell and in third place was Kevin Duncan. The eight finalists in Masters are: Mark Hunt Brandon Sobolewski Humberto Pomales Marcio Jorge Kurt Campbell Brenner Sharp Sean Mersh The eight finalists in FAI are: As each pilot s name was called, he came up to drawn a number from a hat which would indicate the fl ight order for Thursday s finals. Andrew Jesky Jason Shulman Brett Wickizer Chad Northeast Chip Hyde Matt Kimbro AC Glenn Matt Stringer
RC Aerobatics Let s not forget the rain during the day. Here are a few scenes of what happens at the Nats when it rains. Matt Kimbro is trying to dry off his airplane during one of the many surprise showers happening regularly during the day.
There is obviously a business component to the AMA. Just look at all the work AMA is doing to protect our ability to fly freely when many voices are trying to limit our access to the air space over our beautiful country because of the surge in UAV and FPV aerial vehicles. Many of AMA s staff and all of its officers are modelers and pilots. Two AMA district vice presidents spent their entire week participating in RC Aerobatics. Lawrence Tougas is District X s vice president. At the age of five, Lawrence began modeling with his dad who was also an avid modeler. He attempted early RC flight with single-channel escapement-drive airplanes. Lawrence s dad was a full-scale pilot and a restorer of several vintage airplanes. It only seemed natural for Lawrence to get a degree in aeronautical engineering and have a career with United, specializing in 747s and 777s. Lawrence also has a major interest in Free Flight and Control Line flying. Site directors spend long days in the sun, and today, in the rain, keeping pilots in the air and judges in the chairs. Who showed up at Site 1 after 8:30 Tuesday evening was none other than District VII s AMA vice president. You might know Tim Jesky as Andrew Jesky s father, or you might have met him in one of his many roles at the Weak Signals Toledo R/C Expo. You certainly know him from all he does as Site 1 s director. Why was he back at Site 1 after spending a long day working on that same site? To fly his Radian sailplane, of course. The sun was setting, but Tim was still getting lift for his sailplane. We all know Tim as AMA s District VII vice president. Thanks to Lawrence, Tim, and all of AMA s staff who work so hard for our freedom to fly. District VII Vice President Tim Jesky. RC Aerobatics District X Vice President Lawrence Tougas. Joseph Szczur. Finally and most important, we have selected the first team member to represent the USA in the 2015 World Championships in Switzerland. Joseph Szczur will return for his second time as a USA Junior team member, having represented us in South Africa in the 2013 World Championship. Congratulations to Joseph for such a major accomplishment. Earlier in this year at the F3P Team Trial Joseph was also selected as the F3P Junior team member. Jim Quinn
RC Aerobatics On days two and three, all airplanes were checked for weight (5,000 grams) and size (2 meters). Joe Lachowski just landed and his plane was brought in for the check. Joe s plane passed with fl ying colors. Jenni Orebaugh photo. Jenni Orebaugh photo. Jenni Orebaugh photo.
The Nats is proudly sponsored by Don t Worry. We ll Cook Tonight. Great Italian, made Fresh and Affordable. 1101 McGalliard Rd, Muncie, IN 47303 The Harry A. Koch Co. Insurance & Financial Consultants Member of First Insurance Group, LLC
Jenni Orebaugh photo.