Florida Jets
The nacelle area on Greg Foushi’s A- 10 is outstanding and it’s
understandable why he will be competing with it at Top Gun.
They ain’t just sport jets!
Jet fly-ins, like any other fun-centered RC event, would seem to be for sport fliers
to get together with their sport jets and fly. You know, not too much in real scale,
but not just “beaters” either, rather a mix of decent sport models. Well, I’m here
to tell you that none of the models that I saw were anywhere near the “beater”
category. Top-drawer equipment, proper assembly techniques, excellent finishes
and near-perfect fit of components seemed to be the rules of engagement for
this jet crowd. I was amazed at the amount of detail. Jack Diaz had his well-known, Top Gun-seasoned F- 86 airborne throughout the event with either him
or his son handling the flying chores. Greg
Foushi had his A- 10, which will also be at this
year’s Top Gun, impressively cruising around
the field also. Granted, some come out of the
mold with all the detail molded in but many
don’t! It still takes a great deal of time and
effort to complete these jets, and then take
the model out and “sport” fly it. Hats off to
both these guys!
The stabilizer/vertical fin area of Jack Diaz’s BVM F- 86 Sabre. Hard to
believe he sport flies this model!
a jet! I also liked the look of the new Mod-ellbau Scorpion. This airplane looked slick
but sinister. Maybe it was the paint or the
twin tail configuration, but it was really
outstanding. It seemed to fly quite well also
with Henry Castellanos driving it around.
Call me old school, but when it comes
to model jet favorites, I prefer the “
classic” period like Korean War, 1950s types.
Beyond the MiG-15s, Sabres and Panthers,
you just don’t see many of them modeled.
A shame too, because they were colorful;
unit pride showed through with unique
markings. All of this has given way to
today’s crop of jets wearing suits of varying
shades of gray. Exception to this colorful
rule was Jim Hiller’s D.H. Vampire which
ended up being my personal favorite of the
meet. Built from the Der Jet kit, its overall silver finish was understated but it was
nonetheless impressive when airborne. It
had scale-looking speed, throttle management through the maneuvers and was very
smooth! Its 93-inch span (1⁄5-scale) made it
Jack Diaz’s F- 86 Sabre jet is a well-seasoned and
consistent flyer. (Photo by David Hart)
just the right size too.
I also really liked the job that Greg Foushi
did on his Skymaster A- 10. Greg chose the
green/gray “European I” camo scheme and
it really looked good. This scheme, unfortunately, also fell victim to Air Force policy
which changed the green to those boring
shades of gray I mentioned. Doesn’t the Air
Force have any appreciation for the needs
of modelers?
Socializing
Friday’s schedule concluded with an on-site
mixer which included free burgers, wings
and beverages for all participants. It pro-
vided a great opportunity to swap ideas,
techniques, “war stories” and play catch-up
with those you hadn’t seen last year. Hugs,
among the best I’ve ever had, were available
from the beverage server Katie, for a mere
$2. The final day of flying, Saturday, was
followed by the traditional Awards Dinner,
and the now-famous Frank Tiano auction.
Some guys got bargains on new merchan-
dise that you wouldn’t believe! How about
the newest JetCat 120 for $2,900? Or a Park-
zone Stryker F-27Q for $45? It was a great
evening and a do-not-miss if you plan to
attend next year. And plan you should; this
is a fun, no-pressure get together with lots
of activity and participation at every level.
If you’re a newcomer to RC jets, you’ll pick
up a lot of valuable information, actually
get to see the people and products you’ve
read about in action and have a really great
time! See you there!
