July 24
Jenni Orebaugh photo.
NatsNews
Academy of Model Aeronautics International Aeromodeling Center, Muncie IN
website: www.modelaircraft.org; email: [email protected]
Copyright Academy of Model Aeronautics 2014
Editors: Ashley Rauen, Rachelle Haughn, Liz Helms
RC Aerobatics
T
he 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.
RC Aerobatics
Richard Bohn: Intermediate National Champion.
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:
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•
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 flight order for
Thursday’s finals.
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•
•
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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.
Joseph Szczur.
RC Aerobatics
District X Vice President Lawrence Tougas.
District VII Vice President Tim Jesky.
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
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 flying colors.
RC Aerobatics
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.