{"id":9313,"date":"2022-07-18T13:03:20","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T17:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/volareproducts.com\/blog\/?p=9313"},"modified":"2022-07-18T13:03:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-18T17:03:20","slug":"the-fac-nats-mk-xxii-2022-a-personal-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/volareproducts.com\/new2024\/the-fac-nats-mk-xxii-2022-a-personal-report\/","title":{"rendered":"The FAC Nats mk XXII – 2022 – a Personal Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, I am “freshly” returned from the FAC Nats in Geneseo, NY.\u00a0 It was so great to be there, since the last time all of us Rubber Scale crazies were there was in 2019 and the last Nats (an every-two-year thing) was in 2018.\u00a0 For those of you that have been living in a cave for the last 4 years, these yearly events (non-Nats and Nats) were cancelled because of the COVID pandemic.\u00a0 For half a minute, this year’s event was threatened as we could not get the use of SUNY-Geneseo for our lodging and banquet requirements.\u00a0 So the Nats this year had a bit of the flavor on a non-Nats, with lower attendance and on-field ceremonies.<\/p>\n

BUT!\u00a0 We were there and we did some spectacular flying in the best weather we have had in many, many years.\u00a0 On to my personal report.\u00a0 Oh… sit down, have a cup of coffee (or whatever), this is bound to be a long read (just imagine how long it took me to write it!)<\/p>\n

Travel There<\/strong><\/p>\n

Coming out of the McCook meet in Muncie (June), Winn Moore proposed that he and I ride together.\u00a0 This would save us both some money on gas, since prices are relatively high.\u00a0 There were a few downsides to this idea that we had to overcome:<\/p>\n

1:<\/strong> I would travel from Battle Creek (SW Michigan) to Oxford, MI (northeast of Pontiac – which is well north of Detroit) to pick up Winn.\u00a0 He said it makes no sense for him to go west (to my place) when we were to travel east (to Geneseo), and I said it makes no sense for me to travel north when I need to go south to the turnpike, but he won out (this time).\u00a0 I drove the 2.5 hours to his place on Monday afternoon so we could pack Monday evening and be on our way early Tuesday morning (I stayed at his house Monday night).<\/p>\n

2:<\/strong> We both needed to take our chase scooters (we both have a Honda Ruckus – highly recommended) and we only suspected that we could get them both in my 5’x8′ trailer WITH my sales goods.\u00a0 Yes, they would both fit lengthwise and width-wise, but I had installed a shelf on the side of the trailer that holds all of my piece-parts for sale.\u00a0 The vertical height of this shelf off the floor just might interfere with the bikes.\u00a0 Also, I usually store my rubber and kits for sale under this shelf, next to my bike – this space would now hopefully (and problematically) be taken up by Winn’s bike – if it fit under the shelf!\u00a0 Oh, and I only had two randomly-placed tie-downs on the floor to the trailer.\u00a0 But I bought more to install upon arrival.<\/p>\n

We did that first thing Monday evening after arrival.\u00a0 We remove the two existing and installed the now-six tie-downs in logical places so we could strap two bikes in trailer.\u00a0 We strapped mine in, facing forward, on the non-shelf side of the trailer.\u00a0 Then we BACKED Winn’s into the trailer so the handlebars would not clash and strapped his down.\u00a0 At first the handlebars would not\u00a0 fit under the shelf, but cinching the bike down to near-full compression of the suspension allows then to fit.<\/p>\n

We then loaded the trailer with tables and canopies and got to the business of fitting all of Winn’s model boxes and tool boxes into my car.<\/p>\n

3:<\/strong>\u00a0 Usually, I fill up my vehicle (was an Expedition, but now is a Navigator) with all of my flying planes so that I can fly whatever I want.\u00a0 But knowing that this wouldn’t work for TWO modelers, I had to pare down my models to the bare minimum.\u00a0 The first thing I did coming out of the contest in Muncie at the end of June was to print a Nats schedule and mark what events I wanted to fly and which models I wanted to use.\u00a0 I pared down my collection so that I was taking only one model per event (except I took two Peanuts – they’re small and fit into the boxes).\u00a0 This gave me 18 models.\u00a0 This might sound like a lot, but I usually take about twice that many to any given contest.<\/p>\n

The next challenge was to fit them into the minimum space.\u00a0 I used one large cardboard Amazon box and one of my foam boxes.\u00a0 The cardboard box is deep, so I could make that a two-level box, if I made supports and a shelf for the second layer.\u00a0 So I had three layers of space in two boxes for 18 models.\u00a0 I carefully packed each layer, successfully getting all 18 models (including four models of over 30″ span) in these three layers.\u00a0 I took pictures of each layer so that I could replicate it for the return trip.<\/p>\n

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18 models in three layers (two boxes) ready for Geneseo.\u00a0 Only four of them did not log a flight.<\/p><\/div>\n

By doing this, I was able to pack up half of the back of my vehicle with my models, tool box, two large containers of rubber, one container of short kits and a could small sundry boxes.\u00a0 Winn’s models would have to fit into the other half of the truck – or in the vertical open area above the bikes in the trailer.<\/p>\n

Making this long story a little shorter – all of his five or six boxes fit inside the truck and we didn’t have to experiment with packing the above the bikes in the trailer.\u00a0 Here’s a tip – the interior of a late-model Expedition or Navigator is huge; larger than you think.<\/p>\n

Not wanting to go through Canada (I was carrying a lot of sales goods, no need to be stopped at the border and risk delays), we drove two-plus hours south to get to Ohio so we could turn east and drive around the southern shore of Lake Erie to just south of Buffalo where we took a two-lane state highway the final hour or so through bucolic western New York, arriving in Geneseo 8 hours or so after we left Oxford.\u00a0 Of course, we chatted about all variety of things, but mostly about model airplanes and the upcoming contest.\u00a0 For those not “in the know”, the FAC Nats are the epitome of our contests every two years.\u00a0 This is the BIG ONE for us – the most important and significant event in the FAC.\u00a0 We were excited and happy to be going back and we had high hopes of winning everything (and selling all my product!)<\/p>\n

We left at 7am and arrived at the flying field at 3:30pm.\u00a0 We would meet up with Clete Schenkel, Mike Smith and Pat Murray as they arrived later in the evening.\u00a0 We would be staying in the Pat Murray Bed & Breakfast (his large RV) for the week.\u00a0 The benefits to this are that we are usually first on the field in the morning and last off the field at night.\u00a0 This leaves plenty of time to get ready early and test fly late.<\/p>\n

Day Zero<\/strong><\/p>\n

The “first” day (Wednesday) is a non-flying day.\u00a0 We got up early with no particular rush.\u00a0 In the late morning, we helped set up the judging area in the main hangar, directing the tent rental setup, and setting up all my sales goods (hoping to sell one MILLION Dollars – haha!)<\/p>\n

We got all of our models out and had them checked for compliance and\/or judged for Scale.\u00a0\u00a0 There were many beautiful models presented from around the country – two countries, as Canada was represented, too.\u00a0 You can see some of them on the FAC-GHQ Facebook feed, as I posted snapshots of everything that was on display. John Koptonak also posted many photos of the displayed models on the FAC-GHQ Facebook page.<\/p>\n

We wrapped up in late afternoon, packing all up and clearing the hangar.\u00a0 Then many went to the flying field for test flying and leisure time.\u00a0 There was the threat of rain in the evening (after three separate brief showers during the day), but it eventually calmed and cleared.<\/p>\n

Flying<\/strong><\/p>\n

I had a light schedule for Day One (Thursday) – Old Time Stick was the only mandatory Day One event for me.\u00a0 Friday and Saturday were absolutely full.\u00a0 And, by tradition, the Nats Scale events require 3 official flights (averaged) to be flown.\u00a0 So, ALL events were three flight events, plus testing.\u00a0 It was going to be a challenge to get everything in – and weather would play a part.\u00a0 All the Scale events were multi-day events.\u00a0 Some were two-day and some were three-day, so the modeler can pick what day they want to fly.\u00a0 If it was too windy on Day One, you can defer to Day Two.\u00a0 Or like me, if Day Two and Three are too busy, you can fly on Day One.\u00a0 So, I chose to fly my complicated and time consuming Jumbo Focke-Wulf 189 on Day One – After I flew Old Time Stick.<\/p>\n

I think I flew two or three Test flights on my OT Stick Holy Ike and then went official.\u00a0 I put up three maxes and was sitting pretty in first place.\u00a0 By the time I got around to the Jumbo and doing additional testing, the breeze was starting to turn into a wind and I wouldn’t risk another flight in the wind.\u00a0 I logged one official flight on the FW-189 at 47 seconds.\u00a0 I was in first in that for most of the day, too – because no one else was foolish enough to fly Jumbo on Day One of Three.\u00a0 Here is a test flight from the previous evening.\u00a0 You can see it has wonderful potential, but still needs trimmed and then pack in more duration.<\/p>\n