Road to Top Gun
Francisco R. Mirandesy > Focke Wulf 190
Francisco (Frankie) Mirandes from Puerto Rico will be flying a Focke Wulf 190 in Pro-Am. The Fw 190
is built from a Meister Scale kit and is powered with a Moki 150cc radial engine. The Butcher Bird is
equipped with Century Jet retracts and weighs in at 39 pounds. Frankie’s 16 year-old son, Ricardo
Mirandes, will also be competing with a Douglas Skyraider built from Nick Ziroli Plans by Ramón
Medina. It is powered with a 3W 70 engine, has Scale Sierra retracts, and weighs 32 pounds. This will
be his second appearance at the scale invitational. Last year, Ricardo finished sixth in Pro-Am Sport
class with a T- 34 and this year he is coming back for redemption.
Frankie will also be flying a Provost TM 5 jet the Unlimited Class, built from a highly modified
Jetwelt kit from Germany. Based on a full-size jet from San Juan, Puerto Rico and owned by his
friend Dondi Pesquera, the model is highly modified and powered by a JetCat 160 turbine producing
46 pounds of thrust. Frankie and Tony Vega are the Provost builders and all planes are flying with JR
radio gear.
Shipping these aircraft all the way from Puerto Rico is an adventure in itself and Frankie says the
Fw 190 is being used as a test bed to break in two Moki 150 radial engines for a larger project he is
working on now. The model is a 142-inch Douglas A- 26 Invader which will be ready for Top Gun 2013!
Greg Foushi > A- 10 Thunderbolt II
Based in Orlando, FL, Greg is the current 2011 Top Gun “Sportsman” Champion and for 2012 he
will be competing in the Pro-Am Pro division. His new Skymaster A- 10 Thunderbolt II weighs 55
pounds and has a 110-inch wingspan. It is powered by twin JetCat P- 80 (with Kerosene starts) each
putting out 22 pounds of thrust. The A- 10 has a scale fully detailed cockpit, a working light system,
functional canopy, bomb-dropping capabilities and functional decelerons (split clamshell ailerons).
Its radio system is powered with a Duralite Spectrum Royal PowerBox and four Li-Mn battery packs.
Greg won the “Best Twin Engine Aircraft” award at Monster Planes 2011.
