By Matthew Neumann
What a week it was at the 2025 Nats! I have to hand it to the team that ran the show. Frank Williams did a wonderful job, with John Paris running the computer equipment. A special note here: Frank was only supposed to be the assistant event director. However, John Hill, who was the event director, wound up in the hospital just before coming to Muncie. So Frank got promoted very quickly. He did a wonderful job filling in. The tabulators were right on it with the scores. We did not have to wait long to find out what we got. The runners did a great job of keeping up with getting the scores to the tabulators in a timely manner. And of course, the judges did an outstanding job judging.
The weather was, for the most part, quite good. I can't remember a Nats that was this good in quite awhile. With a contest as long as a week, we are bound to have at least one day of bad weather. In this case, we had bad weather the Sunday afternoon before the contest, when there was nothing scheduled. I am now having bad weather here in Indiana the day after flying. So the bad weather bookended the contest…just the way we like it.
The only weather issue we did have was too much fog on Tuesday morning. It was so thick, we could not see past the pilot from standing outside the circle. The pilots could see the plane, but could not see much further, so they could at least fly. I remember seeing the water droplets floating in the air against dark shirts. I have never seen that before and will always remember that. I will also remember David Fitzgerald putting up a practice flight in that fog and hearing the engine quit, then seeing his plane disappear in a fog bank. I heard it land because I could hear the wheels rolling but could not see it. Then a short time later I saw it rolling out of the fog…another memory etched in my mind.
I am glad to say we did not have many “oops” flights. I know of one were it was just pilot error by flying 5 feet too low. If he would have made it 4 feet 6 inches too low, he would have been fine. He just barely missed. Another pilot lost a plane due to an engine cutting out at a bad time. Other than that, I think everyone brought their airplanes home.
With that being said, this was a very enjoyable Nats for me. I got to see some people that I have not seen in over a decade. I got to catch up with others that I have seen on a more regular basis. To me, this is more than just friendships. These people are an extended family. It is also shown by the number of family members to come “along for the ride” as it were. We had the Moon clan, where Doug and Steve had their sons, Jake and Max, with them. Jake is from Singapore.
We had friends from Canada in Joan and Chris Cox. Chris flew quite well while Joan judged. We had a flier from Brazil here as well. The Eberenz family had quite a turnout with Angstrom flying and mom, dad, sister, and the grandparents all coming to give support. There were many other husband and wife teams there as well that I won't be able to list, because I just can't remember them all. So this is truly a family affair.
I have mixed emotions at this point. I am happy and sad at the same time. I am glad I got to see people and talk with them. For many, this is the only time of the year that I get to actually see them in person. Sure, we keep up on social media during the year, but it is just not the same. The outpouring of friendship and helping each other is second to none.
I heard later on that Joe Daly had some issues with his plane during the week. He eventually would go on to get 5th. While he was having issues, Orestes Hernandez, the eventual winner, took time out and came over to his motel room and helped him diagnose the issue the day before the top-five rounds. Top competitors helping each other out…you don't always see this.
While I am extremely happy with the great memories that I have made this past week, I am also sad that it has to end because time marches on…no matter what. Since time marches on, I know that before I know it, next year will be here and I will be in anticipation mode again for the 2026 Nats. I believe this will be the 30th year here at Muncie…a milestone. This year was my 30th Nats total, since I was at the 1993 Nats in Lawrenceville, Illinois. I look back and wonder “Where has the time gone?” Again, I look at all the friendships I have made over time and all of the great memories as well. The friendships are second to none. I am glad to be part of that.
Until next year…
