National Free Flight Society

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  1. RC return to flight line
  2. Our biggest challenge
  3. NATS 2022 DATES ANNOUNCED

RC return to flight line

( we actually said Automated)

From: Dave Edmonson
I tried it with an F1A model.  With full RC control of the whole flight in a moderate wind, you are barely able to maintain field position.  What this means is that instead of DTing, if you think your model is going to return to the field under RC control, you are dreaming or smoking something improper.  Practically, a quick DT will keep the model from drifting further out.

To penetrate,  requires more weight and penetrating airfoil designs.  This becomes even worse at higher wind speeds.

I thought that I was done with freeflight, and now I have a child that loves it.  We will have to see where that leads us??

Ex freeflight rabble rouser

Dave Edmonson


Editor’s comment , what I was suggesting that you could make a new class of Free Flight that was designed to have a timer with closed loop aka an autonomous flight controller so the model would have different aerodynamic characteristics to go with that. Getting back to “home”  would probably still be challenging but could be helped by taking the model more up wind under the initial climb.  I added the get back home bit just to stir things up and make it easier to time by putting  keeping it in sight incentive.   This is all a little Sci Fi or maybe just STEM.


 

Our biggest challenge

From: Ross Jahnke
The problem few among us pay enough attention to is that we take part in an
extremely obscure sport. Newcomers by definition have already found us, we
need to be seen by outsiders. Indoors, outdoors, scale or duration, locked
up, or tricked out, doesn’t matter to someone who doesn’t know we exist.
That is the subtext of our angst about the future, which manifests itself
in arguments about the rules. And instead of gathering together to address
the issue, we retreat to our corners and cycle through arguments over the
same minutia year after year. One model or modeler at one contest does
something outstanding and the result is weeks of “sturm und stress” on the
internet.

The best thing we all could do is put down our contest models for an
afternoon, and fly something in a public park where others might see you.


NATS 2022 DATES ANNOUNCED:

The AMA Executive Council approved the following schedule today for the 2022 NATs.. open up your 2022 calendar and mark these weeks off!
Indoor NATs – Eagar AZ – May 24-28, 2022
Outdoor NATs – Muncie IN – July 25-29, 2022
We are back to Monday – Friday for the Outdoor NATs and sharing the field with Soaring.