Col. Bob Thacker (USAF Retired) from San Clemente, California modified a BVM F-80 Shooting Star to emulate the original YP80A that he and Chuck Yeager flew. The enclosed photos and letter tell one of their aviation stories.
Thanks Colonel for sharing this with us.
Terry's winning "Minute Man" turbine F-80 claimed 1st place at both Top Gun and the AMA Nationals.
David Jackson of Nashville, TN flies this BVM
F-80. It's finished in Presto Coverite film and looks great in the air because
of the highly reflective finish. Note the shark's eyes and mouth on the Misawa
tanks. F-80 owners really like the way this Korean War fighter
flies.
Flown in Top Gun '99 by David Shulman, this
ducted fan F-80 built by Dave Valdez placed 5th in a field of tough
competitors. The F-80 flies well off grass or pavement and the landing gear has
been put through the test over the years.
Frankie Mirandez flew this F-80 in Top Gun
'01 and '02 and finishing in the top half of the contest each
time.
Skeet Hunt of Reno, Nevada sent us this shot of his F-80 turbine coming in for a landing at the Tucson jet rally. Skeet says, "I am having the time of my life learning this hobby and the confidence your products bring to the learning curve is greatly appreciated."
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| Ken Fiala from St. George, Utah has completed
the test flights on his brand new turbine powered F-80. Ken is using a Jet Cat
P80 for power. Here is an excerpt from an email we recently received from Ken commenting about his BVM F-80, "I think the F80 is pretty well dialed in now, today I put two more flights on it and the performance is awesome. I just wanted to say I'm very pleased with the turbine F-80 and would recommend it to anyone that's interested in a turbine performer. Thanks and regards, Ken Fiala." |
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| Ralf Ploenes flew this F-80 in the 3rd World Jet Masters held in Austria. These photo's clearly show the drop tanks being released and then setup for a perfect landing. |
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| Simon To is the proud owner of the Lockheed TV-1 (F-80) built by Jerry Caudle. This same aircraft did compete in Top Gun in West Palm Beach, FL and is now flying off the smooth runways of Hong Kong. |
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Rene Alvarez did a great job with Coverite Presto on his AcroJets F-80. Rene uses a RAM 750 turbine to power this model. Several articles have been published in RCJI and MAN and a video tape with Jerry Caudle is available on how to do it. It does take some serious practice though. |
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Rene engineered his own technique for a sliding canopy. Three styles of tip tanks are available from BVM to accomplish different F-80 variants. ProMark Graphics has scale transfer markings for the F-80 and all of BVM kits. This photo is properly staged with the old Tamiami hangar in the background. All F-80 pilots like Rene love the way it flies. D.F. and turbine versions are available. |
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Rich Fong makes a perfect roll out at the Jet World Masters qualifier in Metropolis, IL. Rich and his Hat-in-the-Ring F-80B was the first alternate for the 2nd Jet Masters that was held in Wroughton, England in August '97. |
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This is an early F-80 kit that was built by Tom Robertson and flown to second place Team Scale at Top Gun '94 by Patty Generali. The model still resides at BVM. The markings for this and all of the other F-80's shown here are by ProMark. |
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