How to survive the RC Scale Nats
by Stan Alexander [email protected]
Regular readers of this column may wonder why I, Mark Lanterman, am this month's author rather than Stan. Stan was unable to finish the column, so I was asked to fill in. By the time you read this, he should be back in the author's seat and all should be back to normal.
In his last column, Stan laid the groundwork with "How to Get Started in Scale Competition." By now, you should be well on your way to comfortably flying your competition scale airplane, as well as working with your caller on a flight routine.
I'm going to take this further with my "Survival Guide to the RC Scale Nationals." This is aimed at the newcomer to scale competition and to those who have never been to the Nats.
Event overview
The RC Scale Nats are typically held during a three-day weekend. Friday is commonly known as "Static Day," when the upper classes (Sportsman, Expert, and Designer/FAI) are judged all day. It's fun to watch, but if you aren't in those classes, there are other things you should be doing.
Registration
Whether or not you've preregistered to compete at the Nats, you first need to check in at the Nats registration area to receive your pilot's package. It contains your pilot's name badge and other goodies.
Next, check in at the RC Scale registration area. This is a separate area run by the National Association of Scale Aeromodelers (NASA), AMA's Scale SIG. This is normally located somewhere near the static judging area. Here, you will sign up for the class in which you will be competing, and provide your model name, your transmitter frequency, etc.
At the field
Find a spot to pitch your tent or pop-up at the field. This portion of the Nats is flown on Site 3 (Stage Center), and spots are quickly filled.
Put in some practice flights if you'd like. I like to bring a sport airplane that I'm comfortable with so I can put in a few flights and become accustomed to the field. You could fly your competition airplane, but be careful; I've seen more than one accident on practice day that ruined the weekend for a competitor.
Saturday — flight competition
Saturday is when the competition's flight portion begins. All the competitors are at the field early, putting together their airplanes, bringing out chairs and coolers, filling in score sheets, etc. The flight order for each of the flightlines is normally posted on large magnetic boards near the judges' stations. Be sure to check where you are in the rotation so you can prepare.
A pilots' meeting is usually held between 8 and 9 a.m. When finished, the fun starts.
Behind each flightline, the airplanes that are up next in the flight order are lined up two or three deep. Slightly before it's your time to move out to the flight queue, make sure that you've done the following.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
