Florida Jets 2003
A great show for the pilots.
by Bob Violett

Page 1 of 2

Thanks to the organizational efforts of F.T.E. and fairly good cooperation from the weather man, Florida Jets '03 was another very successful event. It has become known as an event worth traveling to and a welcomed escape from that horrible cold wet stuff up north and abroad.
If you missed the show, we hope that the following photo gallery will be enjoyable.

Nick Smith and Geoff White were part of the U.K. contingent that love to come to Florida to fly jets. Greg Murphy and Jason Somes were assisting on Nick's last Bandit flight of the event.

The best looking and most flown BobCats and Bandits at any event belong to the Kramers and Pischner gang. Here, Vern and Larry Kramer join Natalee (daughter) and Francis Pischner for a photo opt.

Alan Henry's F-4E was almost ready for flight. Still needs a few rigging details completed. David Shulman will accomplish the trim flights soon.

Serious manufacturers in the industry send a flying rep. When Kent Nogy is at a jet meet, you can count on him for JR assistance, parts and friendly advice on programming and installation techniques.

JetCat's flying reps are Jason Somes, Rob Janiger, and Matt Carroll. Bob Wilcox (Mr. JetCat USA), Horst Lenerz and Markus Zipperer (JetCat Germany) manned the trade booth to show the products and answer questions from the many enthusiasts who came to Florida Jets to investigate what turbine to buy. JetCat exhibited their latest entry into the smaller engine class - the P-70. Check back for more info soon. Jason exercised the P-120 powered BobCat in his usual style dozens of times, while Matt demonstrated what a great combination the P-160 and Phantom make.

Fabulous pilot Fabio Trento drove this Pegasus powered "Hun" with impressive piloting skills. Gastao Zanirato heads up their very enthusiastic team from Brazil. The Thunderbird scheme is artfully done with BVM Metal-Kote and color tints for the burner section.

Practice makes perfect, so Mitch Weiss was working on his Top Gun flight routine at Florida Jets '03. This camo F-100D is extremely detailed. Come see how it places at Top Gun '03.

Jon Stotz exercised his JetCat P-80 powered BobCat throughout the weekend. Jon hails from Rockford, MI and has been assisted by Tim Redelman for the first few flights.

Larry Depass flew his RAM 750 powered BobCat with the assistance of Tim Redelman.

Airbrush artwork and House of Kolor paints adorn Rod Snyder's Bandit and BobCat. Rod traveled through some nasty weather from Tennessee to enjoy flying his jets in the Florida sun.

Now this guy (Ray Blair) is serious about Phantoms and shows no favor to airshow teams of the Navy and Air Force. He likes them both! These AMT Pegasus powered Phantoms are beautifully crafted examples of both and they flew multiple times at Florida Jets '03.

Isn't this a sharp looking Super Bandit? And it really screams with JetCat P-120 power in the very competent hands of Scott Marr from Dallas, Texas.

The NASCAR theme has been strikingly applied to this Bandit by Robert Vess (center) with a lot of assistance by Anthony Wiencek and Keith Horton. Robert is the aero design engineer for the very successful Dodge Racing team. In flight, against any sky background, the flourescent orange is dominant.

Sabres/Furys at FL Jets

John Christensen's multi color striped F-86 was so properly done that it was awarded the "Best Jet pre 1960" trophy. Painted with automotive silver and detailed with ProMark badges and nomenclature, it truely is a superb model with a T-500 for thrust.

How about this gorgeous Fury in Sea Blue livery? Frank Tiano got so busy with the chores of preparing the event that he didn't quite get his model ready to fly. Thanks Frank for putting the rest of us first! Detailed with ProMark's 3D panels and markings, this T-500 powered beauty should be flying soon.

Another of Scott's squadron of BVM Jets at the event is this BVM Metal-Koted F-86. We forgot to ask him which one he likes the best.

Tony Masiello confers with Tom Dodgen (left) prior to the first time trim flight on his brand new Skyblazer Sabre. Tony went on to fly his P-80 powered F-86 multiple times at the '03 event. Tony has entered his model in the BVM/FTE Sabre building contest.

The BVM factory Sabre, Beautious Butch II featured the dash-40 extended wing (63" span), the EZ-DROP external stores release mechanism and a new Metal-Kote finish with ProMark's 3D panels and markings. Its JetCat P-80 thruster is turned down to 16lbs - about the maximum we want to see in these 17-18lb models. We keep learning about this Metal-Kote material. Some say this is our best result yet, we will pass on the latest tecniques in these pages soon. Bv flew "Butch" five times during the event, one time when the crosswind was kicking up, just to demo that its new landing gear and mounting system can handle it - didn't even touch the "skidz".

Tim Redelman flew a primered Sabre with JetCat power many times. It will appear soon with a yet-to-be seen orange and green scheme (click for Sabre paint schemes) - should be very impressive and visible.

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Dean Wichmann had an almost ready-to-fly Golden Hawks Sabre that should be seen on the northwestern circuit soon.

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Jerry Caudle's Sea Blue Fury was on display in his ProMark showroom trailer to display the many techniques for scale detailing that his products allow. Jerry spent a lot of time with several new jet jockies showing them how his techniques can improve their model's appearance. Skin detailing and markings erase the "toy look".

A view of the BVM pit area.

Charging, fueling and flying keeps us very busy in the pits and on the flightline. Serving our customers in the trade booth at the same time requires a full staff of experienced personnel. From left to right, BV with Scooter and Peanut, Darryl Brooks, Dana Rieman, Tom Dodgen and Richtofen, Michael and Patty Generali, Super Bandit pilot David Shulman and Slick Valdez.

Click here to view page 2 of Florida Jets 2003 coverage.