As I write this month's "Loop" words, it's the Monday after the Nats. The glory has been delivered to the contestants who most deserve it, and the International Aeromodeling Center is now calm—but only for the moment. Another huge event—the International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association's IRCHA Jamboree—is just days away, and those volunteers have been here for almost a week already.

     They've been having their own fun with DSS (digital spread spectrum) radio-equipped helicopters, even though the Nats blanketed the field. In about two days it will be a helicopter party with hundreds (maybe thousands) of fans again filling the AMA facility till Sunday and the bell rings to go back to the grind.

     Speaking of the Nats, we're happy to bring you a full feature on the Indoor portion of your 2008 event. For the last four years, John Kagan has been setting a precedent for other NatsNews authors to follow.

     Yeah, he's set the payment curve, and since his witty words and photo-rich contributions graced the copy paper, other authors have stepped up to our plate and offered a smorgasbord of high-quality, entertaining, and down-to-earth coverage of other events at the world's largest and longest aeromodeling event. We're really proud of what the NatsNews has become.

     Back to John. He's one of the Contest Directors of the Indoor Nats, as well as a competitor—he might even be an official too (that would be just like him). Being a competitor is enough to do, but John and his friends have so much fun with their airplanes that they can't help but want to share it.

     You know those friends who always carry around a camera? They take pictures at what seem to be the oddest moments, but later those photos are looked at again, and the feeling of gratitude for such forethought can't be helped. John is one of those friends, and it's easy to see that he appreciates his community of aeromodelers and anyone else who shares the joy of flight.

     Remembering those who have helped out at the Nats reminds me to appreciate others who have joined to lend a hand. You may have seen his name added to the masthead last month. On June 30 when he started, I was almost brought to tears that our assistant editor had finally arrived.

     We looked for well over a year for the right person to come along. When we met Jay Smith back in April, my first thought was that some "Employment Fairy" waved a wand and had him specially made for us.

     No, his background isn't in publishing, but his love of things that take flight is proud and riddled with talented insight. You might have gotten to know Jay already on RCGroups. "Doctor Who," as he's named, has been helping out and sharing advice on electric RC flight for the last several years.

     In fact, Jay shared a story that his interest in RC was invigorated seven years ago because of a cable program on the DIY network that Du-Bro produced about electric flight. So I guess I owe a bit of thanks to those folks also for invigorating the future of our hobby/sport and helping us out, which, in turn, will benefit you.

     The popularity of electric propulsion is sweeping the country, not just in aeromodeling but with everything we touch these days. Going electric is the "green" thing to do.

     Personally, I fly electric for all of the positives: it's clean, quiet, and powerful. The only negative, which is really more a fact of life, is the high cost of the equipment—namely the batteries. Every pack I buy is an investment. All RC modelers should have in mind that the batteries are the lifeblood of their models. If the batteries don't work, we can't fly.

     Mario Silvagni came to me with his article proposal, which at first seemed elitist because few people fly F3A competition. They, among other high-end special interests, know how to punish batteries. But it got me to thinking how important it is to treat our batteries with respect—Li-Poly batteries especially.

     What Mario's practical tests proved was that punishment does weaken the performance of the cells. Duh! Run an engine lean or with less oil and see how much it likes running wide open.

     "Li-Poly for F3A" reminds us to take care of your batteries. Please don't look at the feature as a head-to-head battery review; that's not its purpose.

     Select batteries wisely for a specific application; run them conservatively and they will serve you well. Treat them poorly and the return will be checkbook punishment. I think I'll choose the conservative route. MA