 
TOP GUN 2014
by Bob Violett
Two days of rain and five days of crosswinds added to the usual challenges of the
World's most prestigious scale competition. In
its 26 years of blessed weather conditions, perhaps we
were overdue. The strong, and practiced, and
tenacious pilots and teams, survived. The Pro-Am classes
started flying on Wednesday and thus completed 3 rounds
while the more serious Masters, Expert, Team Scale, and
Unlimited classes were decided on one "make or break"
round of flying plus their static scores.
Because the weather guessers kept changing their predictions of the rain
stoppage, the "Top Gun" administration kept adjusting
the plan to complete the event. The rain denied a
day and a half of scale judging and competition flying. Only because of
the caliber and experience of the administrative crew,
did "Top Gun" conclude with a fair and just awarding of
the coveted "Top Gun" trophies.
Because "Top
Gun" has grown in its preeminence and popularity, and thus
attracts several hundred people to Lakeland, Florida,
Mr. Tiano has the support of the Lakeland Airport
Authorities. Improvements to the field drainage,
runway run-offs, and possibly an additional North /
South runway, will make Top Gun 2015 even better.
Thank
you Frank Tiano.
As you
will see in the following photo gallery, the BVM
competitors did well. |
Photo Gallery
click on images to
enlarge
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Greg
Arnette recently rejoined the hobby as a turbine jet
modeler. He really enjoyed competing in the Pro Am
Jet Class with this BVM F-16 with KingTech K-140G power.
Greg likes this model so much, he now has a second one
in the extra HiViz Edwards Air Force Chase Plane scheme.
See
www.bvmjets.com/F-16 |
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| Peter
Goldsmith enjoys the challenges of R/C Jets. He
placed 3rd in the Expert division with this powered
Skymaster F-104 and 3rd in Pro-Jet with a Skymaster
Couger. |
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Greg
Wright flew the BVM Sabre in Golden Hawks Livery in the
"Sportsman" class. Greg handled the
JetCat P-120 powered
F-86 well in the challenging conditions. |
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| Andy
Andrews also chose a BVM 80" Sabre for his Top Gun
"Sportsman" class effort. Assisting is Jim McEwan
who also did well in
this class with a BVM Rafale B01. |
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Here
Jim is getting his BVM Rafale ready for flight.
Jim describes the Rafale BO-1 as "Truly an awesome
ride!" |
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| Steve
Burnett entered his first jet competition with this
JetCentral Cheetah powered BVM Blue Angel Phantom. As Steve
can attest, the Phantom handles the crosswind better
than most other subjects. |
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Forth
place in the "Expert" class was accomplished by Scott
Miller from Rochester, New York flying his extremely
detailed early BVM MiG-15. Beaufighter pilot,
Dave Wigley assists. |
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| Bob
Violett's all electric A-10 Warthog placed 7th in the
Pro-Jet category. This 89" model is propelled by
twin EVF ~3~ 12S "9er" powerplants. It
is fast and
quiet. Bob's A-10 also won
the "Best Electric Performance" award. |
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Jet
puppy "Peanut" sought refuge from the cool and wet
Friday afternoon unseasonable frontal invasion of
Central Florida. |
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| Jason
Bauer, an Orlando jet jockey, flew this BVM F-16 to 4th
place in the "Sportsman" category. This KingTech
K-140G powered Falcon sports a brilliant Texas ANG
scheme. |
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Team
Scale 3rd place winners were Mike Grady and Dustin
Buescher with this BVM MiG-15 on EVF 12S "9er" power.
Mike researched this "Early Parade" paint scheme and was
the first to apply it to a BVM model. The model is
extremely detailed as it must be for this level of scale
competition. As with all of the serious events,
the weather interruption allowed only one flight on Sunday
to determine the winners.
This Hi-Viz scheme is now available on BVM MiG-15 ARF. |
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| This all
electric, EVF 12S "9er" powered F-80C allowed Bob to win
3rd place in this Masters Class. This all
composite BVM kit has some of the new "Jet-Metal"
Authentic Aluminum Paint applied to enhance several panels.
Static score was 95. See
BVMJets.com/JetMetal for more
information on the kit and paint. |
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Dustin's
Skymaster F-104G Star Fighter with KingTech K-180G power
won the "Best Jet Performance" award and 5th place in
the Pro-Jet class. The F-104 is a challenging
project but with the BVM Success Pack and good thumbs,
it does work well and is a real crowd pleaser.
See
BVMJets.com/F-104 |
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| Rod
Snyder from Piney Flats, Tennessee campaigned these two
BVM F-100 D's to a 3rd place in Unlimited and 5th place
in Expert classes. Rod has been perfecting these
Hun's and his flying skills for several years.
Rod gives lots of credit to the caller
/ helper skills of Chad Miller.
The Best Scale Cockpit trophy was
awarded to Rod's F-100D (left) at the Awards Banquet
Saturday evening. |
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Second place "Expert" was
accomplished by Scott and Betsy Harris with this
fabulous BVM 80" Sabre Jet that handled the crosswind
well. All of the options and a tough landing gear system
are important features for a competitive model. |
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Masters Class winner, and Mr. "Top
Gun" for 2014 was David Ribbe with his 90" MiG-15.
This 5 year project was a sole effort from C.A.D. design,
to molds, to flying prototype. Every part of the
model was created in David's Illinois
home workshop. It is a perfect subject for
competition. The model was slightly damaged on a
test flight Tuesday (practice day) and then repaired at
the BVM factory by David and Qui Que Somenzini.
Notice to all BVM / Skymaster Top Gun
Pilots. The weather
interfered with the usual photo coverage. If you
can help us with pictures of you and your model, we would
like to
add them to this page. |
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| Pro
Jet Class |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Final |
| 1 |
PJ04 |
Diaz Sr., Jack |
Cougar |
25.000 |
92.125 |
94.125 |
95.250 |
119.688 |
| 3 |
PJ08 |
Goldsmith, Peter |
Cougar F9F |
25.000 |
28.625 |
94.250 |
94.000 |
119.125 |
| 4 |
PJ03 |
Diaz, Gerardo |
F-100 |
25.000 |
91.625 |
92.750 |
95.250 |
119.000 |
| 5 |
PJ02 |
Buescher, Dustin |
F-104 |
25.000 |
92.625 |
94.125 |
93.875 |
119.000 |
| 7 |
PJ13 |
Violett, Bob |
A-10 Warthog |
25.000 |
83.500 |
92.250 |
93.625 |
117.938 |
| 12 |
PJ14 |
Wood, Tommy |
MiG-15 |
25.000 |
89.250 |
86.000 |
0.000 |
112.625 |
| 13 |
PJ07 |
Foushi, Greg |
A-10 |
25.000 |
84.375 |
84.250 |
0.000 |
109.313 |
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| Am
Jet |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
Round 2 |
Round 3 |
Final |
| 4 |
S07 |
Bauer, Jason |
F-16 |
25.000 |
92.125 |
93.250 |
89.250 |
117.688 |
| 5 |
S18 |
Gonzalez, RJ |
MiG-15 |
25.000 |
94.375 |
90.625 |
88.125 |
117.500 |
| 12 |
S27 |
McEwen, Jim |
Rafale B01 |
25.000 |
87.750 |
93.375 |
75.375 |
115.563 |
| 21 |
S20 |
Hou, Barry |
F-16 |
25.000 |
90.000 |
87.875 |
0.000 |
113.938 |
| 25 |
S03 |
Andrews, Andy |
F-86 |
25.000 |
92.375 |
81.375 |
81.875 |
112.125 |
| 27 |
S43 |
Wright, Greg |
F-86 |
25.000 |
82.625 |
90.625 |
0.000 |
111.625 |
| 28 |
S11 |
Burnett, Steve |
F-4 Phantom |
25.000 |
89.375 |
83.000 |
0.000 |
111.188 |
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Expert Class |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
|
Final |
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| 2 |
E10 |
Harris, Scott |
F-86 |
96.083 |
93.000 |
|
189.083 |
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| 3 |
E08 |
Goldsmith, Peter |
F-104 |
96.333 |
92.750 |
|
189.083 |
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| 4 |
E12 |
Miller, Scott |
MiG-15 BIS |
95.667 |
93.000 |
|
188.667 |
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| 5 |
E16 |
Snyder, Rod |
R-100D |
97.750 |
90.125 |
|
187.875 |
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Unlimited Class |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
|
Final |
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| 3 |
U09 |
Aerosports, Team
Snyder & Snyder, Rod |
F-100D |
95.583 |
92.375 |
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187.958 |
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Masters Scale |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
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Final |
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| 3 |
M07 |
Violett, Bob |
F-86 (LOCKHEED) |
95.000 |
92.000 |
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187.000 |
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Team Scale |
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| Rank |
Number |
Contestant |
Model |
Static |
Round 1 |
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Final |
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| 3 |
T02 |
Grady, Mike &
Buescher, Dustin |
MiG-15 BIS |
92.750 |
96.000 |
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188.750 |
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Copyright 2014 BVM, Inc.
Use of graphics or photos without written permission from
BVM is
strictly prohibited. |
