Some of you may have already seen a similar post from me on facebook, but I know many on this forum are not on facebook. My family and I attended the Beginner NATs event a few weekends ago and had a blast. My 11 year old son has improved by leaps and bounds since his first Beginners NATs 2 years ago. My 8 year old daughter was motivated to do her first solo flights in advance of the NATs and kept her flights airborn despite the horrible NATs winds. Finally, after taking a back seat to my son's development as a stunter, I also competed in the event and was the only one of the three to put a plane in the ground :-) Regardless, the event was an amazing memory for me and my family and the perfect way to spend Father's Day.
The real point of my post is to thank Mike Stinson for directing the event (and donating) and all the others that were directly their judging, scoring, pull testing, offering crtique, etc. You all were kindhearted and your efforts were greatly appreciated. I also want to thank those that donated to the prize table. Specifically, George Waters, Alan Buck, Roland Trevino, Gary Shaffer, Dick Imhoff, and Dale Josephson. In the pictures below, you will find that your planes were selected by me and my children to amass a little fleet that we can crash... I mean train with. Another thanks is in order for fellow Beginner participant Keith McCreary. He gave up his first pick at the prizes to my daughter. We thanked you in the moment, but my daughter insisted we scour the parking lot after the event to see if we could find you and thank you again for your generosity. One final great big thank you to the Control Line flying family. Early on we found the CL family welcoming, encouraging, supportive, and fun to shoot and fly the breeze with. This year's NATs experience is full of some warm and fuzzy feelings. You all rock! -Brendan