Get Involved in Competition
AMA News Safety/Technical Director’s Corner
By , Safety/Technical Director | tonys@modelaircraft.org
As seen in the April 2023 issue of Model Aviation.
Hello again! Although this column will appear in the April 2023 issue, I am writing this in early February, which is typically cold in Indiana. However, it has been a very mild winter so far … I hope I didn’t just jinx it! My local club has had several days where we flew at the field. That’s virtually unheard of here in February.
The AMA Competition department is busy working on the 2023 AMA Nats. The Indoor Free Flight event will be at the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho, and the Outdoor competitions will be at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) in Muncie, Indiana. Although the events are scheduled for mid-summer, we already have registration open! Yolanda Jones has been working hard on updating everything on the registration page, and registrations are already rolling in.
With the pandemic hopefully behind us, we are preparing for a great year and a big celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first National Model Airplane Championships (Nats).
We are preparing the IAC for your arrival by doing some improvements throughout the facility. A renewed push to celebrate competition and the competitors will be the yearlong theme here at AMA, and we hope you will plan to join us!
If you have never involved yourself in model aviation competition, this would be the year to give it a try! Chances are that there are members in your area—and maybe even in your AMA club—who are active competitors in model aviation events. I recommend that you reach out to them and ask them to tell you about what it is like to compete.
I personally enjoyed the challenge of working to improve my flying skills in RC Aerobatics (Pattern). I learned a lot about flying and setting up aircraft so that they perform the best that they can. Developing piloting skills will stay with you throughout your modeling future and will pay off in many ways. It will give you more confidence in flying maneuvers and in test-flying new aircraft.
Maybe you are one of your club’s instructors and are working to help new pilots solo. You can help them move forward with their piloting skills and set some goals for improving and becoming even more competent with every new model they fly.
Maybe just going to see a competition event is on your bucket list. Check out the AMA Event Finder at the bottom of the AMA website’s home page at www.modelaircraft.org. Plug in your state and see a listing of events near you that might be of interest.
When you go to an event, talk with the pilots and learn a little bit about what they are doing. You will usually find that they are eager to share their passion with you about this part of the hobby. Most are willing to assist you with advice for getting the right equipment and aircraft to be successful. This is how lifelong modeling friendships are born, and how they still thrive!
Even if you can’t attend in person, you will be able to follow the action via NatsNews, a daily blog, which covers the action of the day during the Nats. You can even subscribe to it and receive email notices when the latest version is released.
We plan to improve our coverage, and are encouraging the many authors of NatsNews to bring the event to life with stories about the people and models that are competing, as well as pictures and maybe even a video or two!
You can find information about the 2023 Nats at https://nats.modelaircraft.org.
I’m looking forward to seeing you at the Nats!