All of the Nats RC Helicopter competitors.
By Tim DiPeri
The final day of flying began again at 8:00am. Unfortunately, the fog was way too dense to begin flying on time, but it did not take long to burn off. I was elected to test the ceiling height with one of my models and we got started about 30 minutes later.
Scale competitors started off the day with wonderful conditions and great flying. All categories (518, Sport Scale, and Team Scale) were flown by pilots with a good deal of different model helicopter representations.
Immediately following the scale competition (scale pilots flew a final round in the afternoon), Sportsman, Expert, F3C, and F3N pilots completed a seventh complete round with no issues at all. F3N had the final (freestyle) flight immediately following the F3C flight. F3N is exciting to watch, and the freestyle (with music) is one of the more entertaining portions to watch.
The day ended bittersweet; we all are going our separate ways. Good luck to the USA team members that are heading to Romania (Nob Muraki, Mike Goza, Cade Ciripompa, with team managers Tom Dooley and Brian Byrdsong). Gordie Meade will be serving as an F3C judge.
Finally, a big thank you to ARCCHS management and support as well as a great job by Chris Goodin (ED) and Darrell Sprayberry for keeping things moving smoothly.
Nats Team Scale EC-130 turbine model flown by Nick Maxwell and owned by Darrell Sprayberry.
Chris Goodin hard at work.
Gordie Meade’s beautiful sport scale model and US Nats champion for 2025.
Expert class national champion, Brian Byrdsong, walks out for the final round.