RC Pattern

Finals morning dawned cool with high overcast clouds and light winds…nearly perfect flying conditions. Flying began about 8:30 am.

Competition resumed on Thursday morning for the final round of preliminary flights. Mother Nature, however, had other plans. The low cloud ceiling experienced on Wednesday returned, along with a quartering crosswind blowing in from the north-northeast.

Nineteen Masters-class pilots gathered at 8 am on Wednesday morning for their third and fourth rounds. However, the weather gods had other ideas as the clouds were low, and the ceilings were only 400 to 500 feet at the start time. After several flights to determine whether the clouds had risen high enough to enable competition flying to begin, it was finally okay to fly without constraint.

Results from the competition rounds flown on Tuesday, August 19 can be seen on the National Society of Radio Controlled Aerobatics (NSRCA) website

A great week of competition was had by everyone. This was a very well-run Nats event, and the team that accomplished it should be very proud.

The final day of the 2024 AMA RC Precision Aerobatics (Pattern) competition didn’t disappoint. It was a well-run event with great staff supporting it. All of the finals rounds were mapped out, and all classes got their flights in between the low cloud cover and pop-up showers. It made for a long day, but everyone managed to get their flights in

Day one of flying at AMA’s International Aeromodeling Center started off with a low ceiling that delayed the start of the competition until about 9:30 a.m.; everyone waited patiently, as this is a normal occurrence at Pattern contests. The pilots were excited to get started!

Monday hosts the official pilot check-in and the processing of all of the aircraft used in the 2024 AMA RC Precision Aerobatics (Pattern) Nats. Starting at 9 a.m., pilots have until 3 p.m. to check in and have their aircraft and batteries weighed and stickered.

As we ramp up to the 2024 AMA RC Precision Aerobatics (Pattern) Nats, it’s a great time to look ahead at the week of events, including some changes that are new to this year’s Nats.

The 2022 RC Aerobatics Nats took place August 1-5 at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana.