Have to say, I was pretty skeptical about watching a production from the 70's and was expecting it to be cheesy at best; I couldn't have been more wrong and in the end watched the entire 32 minutes. Fascinating to see the entirety of the FF sport and an incredibly well written documentary. It's really quite inspiring, from the micro light 30 minute flyers to the development of carbon fiber props for the FAI comp planes, I have a much greater appreciation for the sport of Free Flight.

What nostalgia. Man, the fun we had.

Boy, that brought some magic memories back to me. Due to age and health I have since given up model flying, but in my peak heyday I was New Zealand national free flight champion and national champion of champions - 1980 to '83 inclusive. Although flying in all disciplines (r/c, c/l and f/f) my greatest love was free flight from FAI events to peanut scale.

This type of film is why I enjoy KZfaq.How difficult would this have been to find a few years ago?

Very enjoyable... from a time when we had hope and faith in the future..... wow, bit heavy 😎🚁💨💨💨💨💨💨

Still fun to build and fly, I remember back in school 7th/8th grade we had a modern tech and shop class in which we built our own computers and studied it, learned wood working skills by making tables or wooden bridges and flew rockets and free flight planes/gliders. Now these days some schools don't even bother with these classes anymore or even have a class, it's a shame due to more and more of next generation don't even have these skills from a modern tech and shop class at an early age. These classes is what got me interested in computers, model rockets and rc hobby plus everything else that was talked about and studied with hands on projects.

Watched a couple of these events many years ago. Once in Madera,Ca. and the other at Taft. These guys and gals had more fun than I have ever seen at any "competition". There were guys way past middle age with wild grins, like little kids, running around chasing (and diving from their) planes. It was awesome.

It was interesting watching the postures of people as they watched their creation fly, so intense, as if transmitting their will to the model.

The best part of this is the earnestness and serious acceptance of this hobby as sport. It helps that the great John Facenda narrated, the same man that used to narrate the NFL films of the same era.

I purchased most of the AMA videos on VHS, now I can watch almost anywhere with new devices. Very well done, all the videos.

I love history in general but this was very interesting and educational. Thank you

Amazing video! I'm a huge fan of F/F models and reached a good skill level in building and flying several classes: OHLG, Peanut, Rubber Scale. Also built and flew a few C/L planes with engines ranging from .049 to .35, and an R/C glider (Midwest Essence). My flying experience with C/L was a bit traumatic as I discovered I have some kind of kinetic disturbance that makes me feel dizzy with the circular motion... Had to give up on this stuff. My R/C flying experience was short as well - and a bit frustrating, as I had no time for training and didn't go very far. My best flying experience ever was an OOS flight with a self-designed OHLG, 20" wingspan, all-balsa model. After 4 minutes riding a thermal it disappeared into the clouds. I'll never forget that special moment, I felt happy as a child (I was already 38). So sad to see the new generations throwing their youth into the garbage, planted on their chairs day after day playing all sorts of stupid games *sigh*!

I don't think that there's many kids out there these days that get the same magical excitement that me and my brother had back in the day with this fascinating and creative hobby probably due to this plastic all done for you or simulated at the touch of a button world youngsters live in today.

Best 32 minutes I spent this afternoon... Thank you for sharing.

Hi Guys Thanks for these videos, I have been flying and a member of AMA since the 1970s , And enjoy watching them over and over.

Thank you for AMA. Wonderful film. I think all modellers in the World must to see it.

Man, I learned soooo much about flight in general, from this video. Thank you to all that were involved who arent passed on tho the next world.

Great video, may I suggest the AMA consider doing new versions of these?

Excellent video watched the entire thing thank you!

One of AMA's best videos ever...

Enjoyed it. Thank you.

I'd bet that the Narrator is John Fascenda, (sp?), who did a huge amount of N F L Films. Great Video.

This is gold!

It's a good video. Love the music.

I love these types of video

Very Nice !

Such peace and innocence

John Facenda reminds me of my childhood!

Most of these planes are very well designed and built

I never thought of using bubbles to get a sense of air conditions! I'm a slightly successful lifetime modeller and very much of this looks familiar to me. I remember borrowing a cigarette when I left my dethermalizer fuse home. It worked, though it burned faster. :-) Some really talented people and nice planes here!

Now we have power sail planes, I can fly for well over an hr on one battery. Fly up real fast, glide back down, doing that so many times without stopping. Amazing how far we've come lol

I'm here for the music score

Nice

I love this,it looks like the early Seventies! I wish they had actual sound and not the annoying music!

I built and launched a totally invisible one 65 years ago and it is still flying today. It takes imagination to see......

I remember going to a competition in Taft about 50 years ago. It wa so much fun to watch as a kid. Are they still doing it in Taft.

3:31 to this day, he’s still searching for his glider...

How far we've come...or have we, sometimes I feel like we've lost touch with the simple art of true miniature aircraft flying? I'd say the biggest advance in modern RC are the electronics, radio and servos we use nowadays but the aircraft have barely changed in all this time. How joyful a time it must have been without the Chinese ARF's that have flooded the market in our time.

Nice:-)

It's a shame that the owner of the Taft flying site no longer allows modeling activities.

Wonderful What Year Was this Produced

Times have changed. All of the model airfields that I have visited in the last few years are full of grumpy old greybeards flying their multi-thousand dollar toys, whose sole occupation is to chase any aspiring new members away.

Дякую за спогади...

Wing fold at 15:57

I feel like this is something Hunter S. Thompson wouldve enjoyed writing about...

at 4:30 I really like the soundtrack, does anyone know what it is? shazam has nothing.

Takes me back to my dads cellar. He thought me allot.

youtube's new ad placement is annoying,ads are placed mid- sentence or even mid-word! I found the video music too loud compared to the narration.

I would love to know the name and author of the poem if anyone knows it?

Is this the same announcer as the old NFL films. Roger Staubach steps onto the feild like a greek god......

Great film, though it was confined to the US. Since then, other countries have taken the technological lead in free flight technology, especially Ukraine.

We couldn't take it! The music is too horrible and disruptive! Why oh why did they include it?