The 1995 National Aeromodeling Championships
Matthew Usher
With the 1995 National Aeromodeling Championships completed and in the record books, the Academy of Model Aeronautics closes one chapter of Nationals history and looks forward to a new one. AMA will celebrate two significant events in 1996: the Academy's 60th anniversary, and the first Nationals at the National Flying Site at Muncie, Indiana.
The academy hosted 1995 Nationals events at Tri-Cities, Washington; Lawrenceville, Illinois; and at the National Flying Site at Muncie. While the three-site Nationals was successful, it was not AMA's original intention. The entire Nationals was originally scheduled for Tri-Cities, the site of the 1989 event.
Late in the planning process, difficulties surfaced with the Free Flight, Pylon, and Pattern sites at Tri-Cities; these required last-minute compromises and restructuring to save all of the events.
In the final compromise and solution, the Tri-Cities site hosted the Control Line and Scale events, while Pattern and Pylon competition moved to Lawrenceville, and Muncie hosted the Free Flight, Soaring, Electric, and Helicopter events. Indoor competition took place in the Kibbie Dome at Moscow, Idaho.
"Given the level of difficulty, I think things went quite well," said AMA Executive Director Jerry Rouillard. "We knew this was going to be a tough way of doing things, but overall I think we were a success."
AMA Executive Vice President Dave Brown agreed. "This year taught us how difficult it is to run the Nationals at three different sites."
"We had great front-line managers," Nationals General Manager Ron Morgan added. "They really saved us." He also credits the involvement of the Special Interest Groups as one of the keys to the success of the far-flung events. "Their involvement was quite intensive," he said. "They did a nice job of stepping in and picking up the slack."
He added that the Special Interest Groups are usually better equipped to handle the idiosyncrasies involved with running a specialized event.
Competitions Director Steve Kaluf agreed. "I feel like the events the SIGs ran went extremely well," he said.
More than 800 fliers competed in this year's events, an increase over the last two years. "The weather was great, and that always helps," said District XI Vice President Ed McCollough. "All of the contestants seemed to be having a great time."
1995 Event Sites and Assignments
- Tri-Cities, Washington: Control Line and Scale
- Lawrenceville, Illinois: Pattern and Pylon
- Muncie, Indiana (National Flying Site): Free Flight, Soaring, Electric, and Helicopter
- Moscow, Idaho (Kibbie Dome): Indoor competition
Looking ahead to 1996
In 1996 AMA will celebrate its 60th anniversary with the first unified Nationals held at the National Flying Site at Muncie, Indiana.
"The on-site Nationals is something we've all been hoping and striving for for a long time," said AMA president Don Lowe.
Ed McCollough is also looking forward to next year's competition, particularly in regard to the headquarters site. "The site will be incredible," he said. "Gary Hoover, Site Coordinator, and the gang have taken a small amount of money and have made a whole lot of good things with it."
Dave Brown believes that having the event at Muncie will be a tremendous draw. "I think we have the possibility of having one of the largest Nationals ever," he said.
The National Flying Site will support all of the 1996 Nationals events, with the exception of Indoor competition, which will be held at Johnson City, Tennessee at East Tennessee State University.
The 1996 events will begin on July 7 and run through July 28. Specific event planning is in the works; Competitions Director Steve Kaluf plans to have entry forms ready to mail in January. Plan now to attend, and be a part of a new chapter in AMA history.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
