A Brief History of Free Flight

Free Flight Sport By Don DeLoach | [email protected] As seen in the August 2024 issue of Model Aviation. THE FIRST STABLE, powered flight of a heavier-than-air flying machine did not take place in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903. It took place a full 32 years earlier, when Alphonse Pénaud, a young, inventive Frenchman, flew his diminutive rubber-powered Free Flight (FF) Planophore an impressive 131 feet in 11 seconds. The stunned crowd at the Tuileries Gardens in Paris witnessed this surreal feat on August 18, 1871. Alphonse’s revolutionary flights would greatly influence the dreams of two young men—the Wright brothers—from Dayton, Ohio, who went on to earn their own place in history in December 1903. Shortly after the Wright brothers’ success at Kitty Hawk, aviation captured the public’s imagination. It was high technology, and model aircraft competitions soon became commonplace among fans of aviation. At first, the competitions were held in schoolyards and public spaces within cities because even the best models could barely fly a handful of seconds and a few dozen feet. By 1915, the first National Aeromodeling Championships were held, and by 1923, the first national competition that is still held to this day—the Mulvihill Trophy—was awarded at the National Air Races in St. Louis.

So many memories are made at FF meets. Here’s a group of gleeful Nats fliers.

The Nats

The newly formed AMA took over the planning and management of the Nats, as it’s now fondly known, in 1936. The summer of 2024 will begin the second century of the modern Nats, and FF is still on the schedule. The Nats is open entry—any current AMA member is welcome to register and fly, and it’s free for spectators. I can’t stress enough how enriching the Nats can be for a first-time attendee. Even if you only spectate, you find yourself surrounded by centuries of combined experience in the various model categories. Chances are that your nearest FF club is friendly and welcoming. Look it up and attend its next meet! A great first event for new FF competitors is Jet Catapult Scale. The models are simple profile, sheet wood incarnations of jet aircraft. They are simple to build and don’t require large flying fields or long chases. In FF, there are 10 total days dedicated to contesting more than 100 Indoor and Outdoor classes. It is simply nirvana for FF! Everything from large, screaming glow models to 1/4-gram Indoor Rubber Duration events are contested, with competitors in attendance from most US states and several foreign countries. Last year, there were FFers who made the trip from England, Germany, Australia, Croatia, Romania, New Zealand, Canada, France, Slovenia, and Italy. Four former Nats record holders in Outdoor Hand-Launch Gliders (L-R): Lee Hines, Mike McKeever, Jim Lueken, and Bill Blanchard. FF competition fosters friendships. The Outdoor FF Nats has moved around a lot since the 1930s, but since 1995, it has been held every year at the International Aeromodeling Center in Muncie, Indiana. On the Indoor side, a variety of sites have been used in nearly every state. From 1990 until 2012, most Indoor Nats were held at the 116-foot Mini Dome at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, Tennessee. The most recent Indoor Nats site, the 146-foot Kibbie Dome at the University of Idaho, was first used for the Natsin June 2023. This magnificent building was also host to the 1996 Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) F1D World Championships for Indoor Model Aircraft, and it will again host the Nats in 2024 and the world championships in 2026.

Your First Contest

FF, at its highest level, is surely about pushing the performance envelope and winning. Just as a local 5K road race is not about winning for 95% of the runners, at the local and regional level, most FF competitors are just there for the camaraderie and the shared knowledge. Maybe you only enjoy sport flying and prefer not to compete. There are several fliers like that in my club, but they still show up to our local meets because that’s where the knowledge and fellowship are. We (like most clubs) also have the best flying sites, and our club members have virtually unlimited access to these sites. Visit the National Free Flight Society (NFFS) website, listed in "Sources," and find a nearby club. Chances are that they have regular monthly flying meets where you can bring your models, receive advice, and make new friends. These new friends will aid you greatly on your path to success in FF. Bring a stopwatch, binoculars, a comfortable chair, and sunscreen. Plan to stay two hours or more to time flights, ask questions, and, most of all, look at successful models. Carefully examining good-flying models from all angles can save you years of time on your journey to becoming an accomplished flier. You will eventually find yourself interested in seeing how well you can really do with your models. This is the thrill of FF competition! Before you know it, you might see your name etched on the immortal Nats Mulvihill Trophy.