the Flying Aces Club

HOLY COW, SKYSTERS!  Did you realize that Guillows is celebrating 100 years in business this year, 2026?  Can you believe it?  I bet every one of us has built at least ONE Guillows kit!  Well, you know what?  The Flying Aces Club is going to help them celebrate by featuring Guillows models at the 2026 FAC Nats!  Our FAC-GHQ staff has been busy hammering out the details and we finally have a great set of ways to participate.  Check these out:

Guillow’s JETSTREAM Event – you can fly your UNMODIFIED JetStream (light sanding and your choice of rubber permitted) any of the three days of the contest.  Fly as often as you like and submit your high scores.  The highest single flight time earns a Kanone!

On the last day (Saturday), there will be a Guillow’s Scale Flying Horde event!  Get those Scale Gumband Guillows out on the field and we’ll all launch them together in one final Mass Launch of the Nats!

There are some distinctions to be made:  there are Guillows “Classic” (pre-plastic, old-style structure) and Guillows “Modern” (plastic parts, modern formers, etc.) – you can read all about the specific rules in the following files that are straight from GHQ.  But here’s the basic skinny:

1. Guillows Classic – These are your early kit plans with typical “dime-scale-like” structures.  Build these per plan with the normal FAC mods available and fly them in whatever category they fit in , such as: Dime, Two Bit, WWI, etc.  These will NOT have special awards since you don’t need to do anything different than you normally do.
2. Guillows Modern – These are the kits we all know and “love” – those heavy weights with all the plastic.  Guess what?  Build them all like Guillows intended!  Use the kit wood, use the kit plastic (including the cowling!) and fly them in whatever event they fit in.  Now there’s some special rules that GHQ has created to make thing fair and interesting, so check out the rule files below.  Maybe you won’t win the event, but don’t give up hope!  The Highest Scoring All-Stock Guillows Scale Job in each event will earn its own Kanone!

The 2026 Nats will bring in an event they’ve been flying at WestFAC for years:  CARRIER LAUNCH!  Of course a carrier launch requires an ROG.  These carrier events are not restricted to Guillows, but your new Guillows built-to-plan models can surely participate here, too (if the original plane was designed for carrier use – see the rule sheet)!

Lastly (there’s more?), there will be a Guillows Best in Show Award for you to shoot for!  And, with any luck, Guillows might send some factory people down to help us celebrate their 100 years!

Now here’s the nitty-gritty details:  see these rule sheets that are hot off the presses for all the specifics.  Don’t try to mess with the intent – you know what they mean.  Follow the rules, following your own honor code and we’ll all have a Guillows hoot!

OOPS!  I forgot!  You say you can’t attend the Nats?  Well, we didn’t forget about you, bunky!  There a Guillows Scale POSTAL contest, too!  And it is open to anyone* anywhere – even international flyers!

* – attending the Nats disqualifies you from the Postal contest.

RULE SHEETS (print ’em off so you can refer to them anytime!):

• Guillows Fever – basic rules – get the PDF file HERE
• Guillows Nats FAQ – GHQ details to help you build and fly all legal-like – grab the file HERE
• Carrier Event Info – includes how to plug in acceptable landing gear – grab the file HERE
• Guillows Scale Postal Rules – get the file HERE