Major US RC Plane Events: Fly-Ins, Nats and Swap Meets

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Most RC pilots never travel beyond their home field, yet the hobby has a handful of events large enough to change how a person sees it. Triple Tree Aerodrome in South Carolina draws more than 1,000 pilots for Joe Nall Week, the AMA Nationals in Muncie reached their 100th running in 2026, and a Georgia swap meet sold out 1,045 tables in 2025. This guide covers those events and the smaller ones around them. It rests on organizer pages, AMA publications and Model Aviation articles, not on our own attendance, and it leaves out ticket and entry prices because those change every year.

One note on timing. This page was prepared in October 2026, so the 2026 editions of nearly every event below have already happened. Each section therefore says what the 2026 edition was and gives the next date only where an organizer or the AMA has published one. Where no date was found, the section says so. For anything you plan to travel to, confirm the date with the organizer first.

The main events at a glance

How to find an event near you

The AMA event calendar at modelaircraft.org lists sanctioned events with their dates, class, contact person and location. It can be filtered by event type, state, district (1 through 11) and category, with categories that include RC Scale, Warbird, Fun Fly and Control Line. When the page was read it showed 298 listings. The AMA says it sanctions more than 2,000 model competitions a year, so the calendar is the best single place to look for something within driving distance, from a small club fun-fly to a national event. For clubs close to home, the club guide covers how to find and judge one.

Organizer pages are the second source. Triple Tree publishes future Joe Nall dates years ahead, Model Aviation reports Ace of Aces dates, and SUN 'n FUN lists its own schedule. Third-party listings are the weakest source. The Perry meet, for example, shows up on older lists with March dates, while the AMA gave February 27 and 28 for 2026.

Joe Nall Week

Joe Nall Week is the largest open giant-scale fly-in in the country. It is held at Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina, on a site Model Aviation describes as slightly more than 400 acres. The 2026 edition ran May 8 to 15. AMA's wrap-up reported more than 1,000 pilots and more than 15,000 spectators. Triple Tree itself says more than 50,000 guests visit the aerodrome each year across all its events.

Where the name comes from. Pat Hartness named the event for his friend Joe Nall, an instrument-rated pilot who was appointed to the National Transportation Safety Board in 1986 and died in 1989. The event was renamed the Joe Nall Fly-In in 1990 and later became Joe Nall Week. Hartness and his wife Mary Lou donated the property to the Triple Tree Aerodrome non-profit in 2012.

What the week looks like. Per Triple Tree, flying is open 24 hours a day. Control Line flying starts on the first weekend and the Electric Line opens on Wednesday between 5 and 6 pm. Flight demonstrations run Wednesday through Friday, with the Main Line at noon, Control Line at 1 pm, the Electric Line at 3 pm and the 3-D Line at 4 pm. Manufacturer demos run Wednesday and Thursday from noon to 1 pm, with each act limited to 6 minutes. The week closes on the second Friday with a "Crowd Favorite" showcase and the Joe Nall Award, Bob Smith Award and Scott Capps Award.

Off the flight line, the 2026 program included seminars at the Robert Shaw Learning Center on soldering, scale aerobatics, gas engine setup, pilot skills and radio programming, plus a 3-D Throwdown for pilots 16 and under. About 40 vendors were listed, among them Horizon Hobby, Futaba, Extreme Flight, Flex Innovations and CARF. A 40-foot B-36 built as a Big Build Project stood at the Restoration Center.

Rules to know before going. AMA membership is required for every pilot. Spectators buy day passes at the gate, and Triple Tree states that spectators must be current members of an aviation organization. Campers must register as pilots, because a day pass does not cover overnight camping. The page does not list size limits for each flying line and sends pilots to its Flight Lines tab, so a pilot bringing a small model should check there rather than assume. The next edition is the 45th, listed for May 7 to 14, 2027, with later years posted as May 12 to 19, 2028 and May 11 to 18, 2029.

The giant-scale guide covers the airframes that fill the main line.

Ace of Aces: the successor to Top Gun

The scale world's biggest change in 2026 was the arrival of the Ace of Aces RC Scale Invitational at Triple Tree. It ran April 8 to 12, 2026, and Model Aviation says the next one is scheduled for April 7 to 11. The competition was created by Curtis Switzer and Marvin Alvarez, with Switzer as contest director, and Model Aviation describes it as carrying on the spirit of the Top Gun Invitational Scale competition that Frank Tiano created. The last Top Gun Invitational was held in 2023.

Model Aviation's report describes six classes: Pro Prop and Pro Jet, Expert, Unlimited, EDF, Team Scale and Helicopter. The judging differs by class:

• Pro Prop and Pro Jet. Judged on flying alone. Pilots must prove the full-scale aircraft existed and then fly a 10-maneuver routine.
• Expert. Static judging of craftsmanship, color, markings, outline and realism, plus flying. The competitor must build the model from a kit or from scratch.
• Unlimited. The same standards, but professionally built models are allowed.

Five maneuvers are mandatory in flight (takeoff, fast flyby, slow flyby, landing and overall realism), and pilots choose five more. Each pilot has a spotter. Dan Landis took the overall Ace of Aces award and Pro Jet with an F-86 Sabre. The report does not say how many entries there were, and it describes no invitation requirement despite the event's name, so check the organizer for entry rules before assuming either way.

For a spectator, the draw is the static line and the quality of the scale flying. The warbird guide covers the kinds of models seen there, and the giant-scale guide covers the larger ones.

The AMA Nats and National Fun Fly

The AMA National Aeromodeling Championships are the formal competition side of the hobby. Outdoor events are held at the International Aeromodeling Center (IAC) at 5161 E. Memorial Dr. in Muncie, Indiana, described as a 1000 acre site with eight asphalt and nine grass circles for Control Line. In 2026 the indoor events were held separately at the UWM Sports Complex in Pontiac, Michigan. AMA Air called the 2026 event the 100th running of Nats.

The 2026 schedule on the official page ran by discipline:

The event pages read for this guide do not give 2027 dates, entry rules by discipline or spectator details, so those are worth confirming at nats.modelaircraft.org. Camping at the IAC is booked through Campspot.

The National Fun Fly is the relaxed counterpart. In 2026 it ran June 25 to 28 at the same site and combined a fun fly, a swap meet and a membership meeting, with separate online registration for pilots and for the swap shop. The AMA said it would include vendors, a swap shop and a raffle. No 2027 date was found.

Swap meets and trade shows

Flying is only part of the hobby's calendar. Two indoor events dominate buying and selling, and the swap meet guide covers how to buy used gear safely.

Perry Swap Meet (Southeastern Model Show). Run by the Georgia Aircraft Modelers Association at the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry, it happens on the last weekend in February, per the AMA. The AMA's report on the 2025 show said all 1,045 tables in three buildings were sold out, there were more than 200 vendors, and more than 2,000 non-selling patrons came through the gates, some from as far as South America, Turkey, Italy and Japan. The 2026 show was scheduled for February 27 and 28. Attendees interviewed for Model Aviation advised arriving when doors open, bringing a written list, wearing comfortable shoes and labeling prices on anything being sold.

Toledo R/C Swap Meet & Expo. Held at the Glass City Center in Toledo, Ohio, the venue previously hosted The Toledo Show, which ended in 2019. The AMA Foundation's report on the 2025 edition (April 4 and 5) described swap tables for planes, helicopters, cars, boats and trains, manufacturers showing new products, RC car racing, indoor 3D flying demonstrations, a pilot giveaway and a Saturday afternoon auction, with a portion of proceeds going to the foundation. The 2026 edition was listed for April 10 and 11. No 2027 date was found.

A swap meet is the place to pick up an extra transmitter or receiver, and the radio guide explains what to check on compatibility before buying.

Warbird fly-ins

Warbirds and Classics Over the Midwest is held at Wellnitz Field in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. NBC 26 called the 2026 edition the event's 20th year and reported weekend flying hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., with pilots arriving from across the country and from Canada. No attendance numbers or entry rules were stated in the report, so check with the organizers. A Colorado fly-in often listed alongside it, Warbirds Over the Rockies, had no 2026 edition that could be confirmed and is left out here.

Jet events

Florida Jets is a jet show at Paradise Field, on the southern end of Lakeland Linder Airport. The listing read for this guide describes it as a radio control jet aircraft show with vendors, where every ticket is a pit pass, and the promoter is Frank Tiano, who directs entrants to franktiano.com/floridajets. The dates on that listing were from 2023, and no 2026 date was found. A 2014 Model Aviation report counted 120 registered pilots and more than 200 turbine aircraft at a four-day event it described as a low-pressure fly-in.

For anyone planning to fly a turbine, the AMA's Gas Turbine Program document 510-A requires an AMA turbine waiver for any operation of a turbine fixed-wing aircraft, and says qualification flights may not be done during an event. Ready-to-fly weight with fuel must not exceed 55 pounds and a B/C-rated fire extinguisher must be present for all engine starts. The turbine guide and the jet guide explain the models and engines.

A full-scale show with RC content: SUN 'n FUN

SUN 'n FUN Aerospace Expo at Lakeland Linder International Airport ran April 14 to 19 in 2026, and its 2027 dates are listed as April 6 to 11. RC aircraft appear in the evening Sunset Aerial Circus at Paradise City, held on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at 7 PM (April 14, 16 and 17 in 2026). SUN 'n FUN describes the program as including "RC airplanes performing unbelievable aerial feats" alongside STOL aircraft, powered paragliders and drones. It is a manned-aviation convention first, so it suits someone who wants both rather than an RC-only event.

Retired shows that older lists still mention

Two names turn up on out-of-date lists. The WRAM Show was produced for 48 years by the WRAM club, and in October 2016 the AMA announced that the club had no plans for a 2017 show. The AMA set up AMA Expo East for February 24 to 26, 2017, at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey. AMA Expo West was held in Pomona, California, on November 1 to 3, 2019, and the AMA Executive Council voted to end the show; the AMA said it would look at district events from 2020. Neither show should be on a current calendar.

Planning a trip

A few practical points follow from the sources above:

• Membership first. Joe Nall requires AMA membership for every pilot, and the Nats and sanctioned events run on AMA rules. Check the membership and any waiver, such as the turbine waiver, long before travel.
• Check the model against the venue. Triple Tree sends pilots to its Flight Lines tab for line-by-line rules. Look at those before packing a model.
• Pack for days outdoors. Most of these events are outside, and Joe Nall flying is open around the clock. A pop-up canopy, a folding chair and compact binoculars are the usual extras for a spectator, and a transmitter hard case protects a radio on the trip.
• Book early where camping is limited. Triple Tree lists premium camping reservation dates months ahead, and the IAC books camping through Campspot.

Which event to start with

• First time at a big fly-in. Joe Nall Week, for the range of disciplines and the spectator access.
• Scale craftsmanship. Ace of Aces, to see the judging system and the static line.
• Competition. The Nats, using the discipline table above to pick the week.
• Buying and selling gear. Perry in late February or Toledo in spring.
• Warbirds. Fond du Lac in the summer.
• Jets. Florida Jets, after confirming the date, and reading the turbine waiver rules first.

Frequently asked questions