In a message dated 8/7/99 8:06:34 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED]
writes:
<< To be truthful, there wasn't much negative about the sailplane portion of
the Nats. The only real negative was that it was lonesome. Nothing but
Sailplanes. No free flight, scale, combat, etc. >>
Chuck: I agree with you about enjoying all the various kinds of model
aviation all being flown at the same venue. The last NATS of that nature was
held in Lubbock in 1994. It was great fun visiting the other modeling
formats, especially for those of us who have participated in a number of them
over the years. If only we could step back in time when the NATS were hosted
by the Navy and we had all the helpers and support we needed. Those were the
glory years of the NATS.
Now to reality. There are no major sponsors to provide the wonderful flying
sites, not to mention the support staff and helpers, that we were fortunate
enough to have in the past. I was at the 1994 AMA NATS. The good part of
that NATS is that all the flying disciplines were there at one time. I can't
speak for the other groups but I can speak for the soaring portion of the '94
NATS and in that regard here was the bad news. There were less than 40
entries in the sailplane event. There was no local group that would come
forth and run the sailplane portion of the NATS. A group of nine pilots from
the Torrey Pines Gulls (San Diego, CA) under the guidance of CD, George Joy,
took charge and ran the sailplane NATS. Our flying site was a soccer
complex. Nice grass...bad goals!
As with all things, nothing is perfect. I would, and do, gladly give up the
opportunity to see all the various flying formats while I am at the NATS for
the opportunity to participate in the Soaring NATS which had more entries in
Cross Country (not to mention the team members that did not register) than
did the '94 NATS did in Unlimited. I would, and do, gladly give up the
opportunity of having a NATS in my area once every decade to have the great
facility that we consistently have at Muncie. There is a lot to be said about
consistency. I know where to stay, where to eat, where to go and what to
expect. No surprises!
So far I have not mentioned the fantastic job that the LSF group does to
produce the Soaring NATS. They are what make all the events happen. To be
quite honest, no LSF...no Soaring NATS, or at least to the extent and quality
that we have come to expect. Cal Posthuma and his group of hard working
volunteers deserve all the praise in the world for all the work they put into
producing the best soaring contest in the nation.
No other contest, anywhere, gives the contestant the opportunity to compete
in the array of sailplane events as does the AMA/LSF NATS. Cross-country;
F3B; Scale; F3J; Hand Launch; Two Meter; Unlimited (Open); Nostalgia and RES.
And, with the exception of Cross-country, F3B and Scale, all of the events
are held with the fairest format of all...man on man. Together with the
variety of soaring events and having the opportunity to compete against 100
+/- pilots, most of whom I never get to compete against otherwise, the
AMA/LSF NATS is well worth the trip from San Diego to Muncie, year after year!
By the way, Chuck, if you had stayed for the Electric NATS you would have had
more than your fill of free-flighters. They were all over us like white on
rice! I loved it!
See you next year at the NATS!
Ron Scharck
La Jolla, CA
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