Focus on Competition
Technical Director Steve Kaluf skaluf@modelaircraft.org
The end of 2000 was a tough time for me, as I lost my father December 2 after a long battle with cancer.
Dad was a career Army officer who normally accomplished more by 7 a.m. than most people did all day. His modeling skills were respected by all. Building models for Bill Winter and many others, he often gave models away to those showing an interest in them, as his joy in modeling was building the models. He loved to see the models fly, but did not mind if someone else was doing the flying.
Dad affected the lives of most everyone he came in contact with—always for the better, even though they may not have realized it immediately. Last year, dad's local flying club (Florida Float Flyers) held a fly-in to showcase models he built; it appeared that most everyone in the club owned a model built by him. A picture taken at the event shows dad with about 15 models in front of him.
To say that I will miss him would be the understatement of a lifetime. However, aeromodeling will miss him too; another real modeler has left us.
I also lost two good friends late in 2000; both have been mentioned previously in Model Aviation.
- Bob Vojslavek was an AMA employee for a number of years. His last position at AMA was operations director. In more recent years, Bob was a very active volunteer and was instrumental in making the AMA Grand Event what it is today. The Radio Control car raceway at AMA has been named in honor of Bob.
- Greg Chartrand served as maintenance director for AMA for a number of years, and was employed by AMA as the building supervisor at the time of his death. He passed away while clearing snow at his mother's house just before Christmas. Greg helped with the move from Reston, VA to Muncie, making everyone's life much easier. He and I worked together to ensure that the AMA site was as good as it could be for our membership. Greg took a personal interest in this; the site was and is a showcase.
Many people will miss Bob and Greg; I will miss them because they were good friends and good people to be around.
I'm happy that 2000 is finished, and I'm looking forward to a much better 2001. Some great things are planned for this year. All have been mentioned before, but are worthy of repeating.
The 2001 National Aeromodeling Championships (Nats) is set to go. The complete schedule is included in this column. Entry forms have been mailed to all members who registered for the 1999 or 2000 Nationals. If you did not receive one, please contact us and we will get the forms in the mail right away.
The Indoor Free Flight Nats will again be held at the East Tennessee State University Mini-Dome in Johnson City, TN. All outdoor events will take place at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, IN.
There are also two World Championships taking place in the United States this year. The F3C Helicopter World Championships will be held at the International Aeromodeling Center September 6–16. Approximately 30 countries are expected to attend this event. The Free Flight World Championships will be held at Lost Hills, CA October 8–13. Again, 30 countries are expected to attend. If you have ever wanted an opportunity to see a World Championships event, 2001 is the year for you. Contact the Competitions Department for more details on these great contests or view the information posted on our Web site at www.modelaircraft.org/comp/competition.htm.
I hope you read the "Special Frequency Report" in last month's issue. We seemed to stir up quite a hornet's nest by just reporting what the Federal Communications Commission regulations are. I expect this is not the last we will hear of this.
2001 National Aeromodeling Championships Schedule of Events
Indoor Free Flight (May 30–June 3)
- Wednesday, May 30: Intermediate Stick, HL Glider, Standard Cat. Glider, Unlimited Cat. Glider, *Unltd. Rubber Speed, *RTP Speed, *Straight Line Speed, P-24 Mass Launch, *Race to Roof, *35cm
- Thursday, May 31: HL Stick, F1D Rubber, Cabin ROG, Bostonian, *FAC Peanut
- Friday, June 1: Easy B, Kit Plan Scale, F1L, E2B, MiniStick, Flying Rubber Scale, *MiniStick Mass Launch, *Science Olympiad, *Dime Scale, Pistachio
- Saturday, June 2: Manhattan, Helicopter, Ornithopter, Autogiro, Peanut Scale, *Science Olympiad, *FAC Scale, *Golden Age, *Coconut Scale, *WW II Mass Launch, *Coconut Mass Launch, *AROG, *A6
- Sunday, June 3: Limited Pennyplane, *F1M
* indicates unofficial events.
Many other unofficial NFFS events will also be flown; these are listed on the official entry form.
Outdoor Events (July 6–August 2)
RC and CL Scale (July 6–8)
- Friday, July 6: Scale static for fixed-wing-powered RC and CL
- Saturday, July 7 and Sunday, July 8: Scale flying for fixed-wing-powered RC and CL
- Events for all days: CL Precision, CL Sport Scale, F4B CL Scale, Profile Scale, Team Scale CL (unofficial event), RC Sportsman Sport Scale, RC Expert Sport Scale, RC Designer, F4C FAI Scale, RC Fun Scale/Novice, RC Fun Scale/Open, Team Scale
RC Helicopter (July 6–11)
- Friday, July 6: Processing only — no flying on site until noon
- Saturday, July 7–Tuesday, July 10: All events all day
- Wednesday, July 11: Rain date if needed
- Events for all days: Class I Helicopter, Class II Helicopter, Class III Helicopter, F3C Helicopter, RC Scale Helicopter, RC Scale Helicopter: Scale judging
- Saturday, July 7: Scale flying
- Sunday, July 8: Scale flying
RC Pylon (July 8–14)
- Sunday, July 8: Processing. All events 2 p.m.–4 p.m.
- Monday, July 9: Q-500
- Tuesday, July 10: Q-500
- Wednesday, July 11: Q-500 and Q-40
- Thursday, July 12: Q-40
- Friday, July 13: Q-40
- Saturday, July 14: Rain date
Control Line General (July 8–14)
- Sunday, July 8: NCLRA Fox Race 12:00 p.m.
- Monday, July 9: 1/2A Speed, 1/2A Profile Proto, Slow Rat Racing, Combat
- Tuesday, July 10: .21 Sport Speed, F2A Speed, Scale Racing, Combat Finals
- Wednesday, July 11: A Speed, B Speed, F2C (Team Race), 1/2A Combat, *"B" Team Race
- Thursday, July 12: Formula 40, F2D Combat, Profile Carrier, .21 Proto Speed, *Sportsman Carrier, *Quickie Rat, *NCLRA .21 Rat, *Speed Limit Combat
- Friday, July 13: D Speed, Jet Speed, Mouse I, Carrier I, Carrier II, *Mouse II, *Speed Limit Combat (if required)
- Saturday, July 14: *Skyray .35 Carrier, *1.5 Carrier, *Nostalgia Carrier
Control Line Aerobatics (July 10–14)
- Saturday, July 7–Tuesday, July 10: Practice and unofficial events
- Tuesday, July 10–Saturday, July 14: Precision Aerobatics (Open class) and Advanced Aerobatics (all classes)
- Saturday, July 14: Precision Aerobatics (Junior and Senior), Walker Cup
RC Scale Aerobatics (July 12–15)
- Thursday, July 12–Saturday, July 14: Sportsman, Advanced, Unlimited (Preliminary Rounds)
- Sunday, July 15: Sportsman, Advanced, Unlimited (Finals), and Freestyle
RC Aerobatics (July 16–20)
- Monday, July 16–Wednesday, July 18: Intermediate, Advanced, Masters/F3A Preliminaries
- Thursday, July 19: Masters/F3A Finals
- Friday, July 20: Rain date
RC Soaring (July 21–28)
- Saturday, July 21: RC Provisional Scale Soaring, F3B, XC
- Sunday, July 22: F3J Thermal Duration
- Monday, July 23: HL Thermal Soaring
- Tuesday, July 24–Wednesday, July 25: Thermal Soaring 2 Meter
- Thursday, July 26–Friday, July 27: Thermal Soaring Unlimited
- Saturday, July 28: Three Function (RES), Nostalgia
RC Electric (July 29–August 1)
- Sunday, July 29: AMA Event — A Sailplane / NEAC Event — 1/2 Sailplane
- Monday, July 30: AMA Event — B Sailplane / NEAC Event — Sport Sailplane
- Tuesday, July 31: AMA Event — A Old Timer / NEAC Event — 1/2A Texaco
- Wednesday, August 1: AMA Event — B Old Timer / NEAC Events — 1/2A Pylon and Electric Scale
Outdoor Free Flight (July 29–August 2)
- Sunday, July 29: B Gas, Payload, Moffett, F1A (A-2), Electric B
- Monday, July 30: D Gas, Mulvihill, F1C (Lg. Power), F1H (A-1), Electric A
- Tuesday, July 31: C Gas, Cargo, HH Cat. Glider, Wakefield
- Wednesday, August 1: ABCD Gas (JS), A Gas, Dawn Unlimited, HL Glider, F1G (Coupe), F1J (1/2A Power), CO2, Scale Gas Outdoor
- Thursday, August 2: 1/2A Gas, P-30, Peanut Scale, Scale Rubber
* indicates unofficial events.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
