Jets over the Heartland '99
9-11 July 99
by the Winimac Aeromodelers
Indiana in the summertime, 800ft of smooth asphalt amidst an open green field, a blue sky with some puffy white clouds and all the help you need for that first turbine flight, offered Steve Gabrys all of the advantage for a perfect test hop on his new MiG-15.
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First flights in primer finish get you airborne more quickly. The model gets checked for mechanical function and flight trim and you enjoy the finishing and scale detailing process more, knowing that your efforts won't be wasted. Steve's MiG will be finished in the green and grey camo Polish scheme as shown on the back page of the BVM MiG brochure. Look for it at Superman 99 |
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| The turbine start-up area featured steel jet blast deflectors behind the models. The windsock signals a crosswind on Saturday but the wide runway made it manageable for most of the 37 entries. Friday and Sunday it was right down the runway. Ralf Braun's BVM T-33 is in foreground. |
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A variety of fan and turbine models filled the pit area. |
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| Linda and Ralf Braun observe the happenings at the 5th annual event. Braun Industries donated the land, runway, and clubhouse facilities to the club. It is absolutely one of the top ten model fields in the USA today. |
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Caleb Bisset kept the BVM demo models charged, fueled and ready to launch all weekend. We flew 2 Bandits and the Rafale a total of 8 flights on Friday and again on Saturday. An engineering student at Le Tourneau University in Texas, Caleb works at BVM during the summer as a C.A.D. designer. He'll be flying his own Maverick Pro next season. |
| If you live in range of Winimac model field, Tim Redelman can help you with your BVM jet - he has graciously helped a lot of new jet guys earn their wings. Besides being a great pilot, Tim is also a great modeler as you can see. This Bandit has over 200 flights, first with JPX power and now with the RAM 750. BVM is very lucky to have reps like Tim guide our customers to success. |
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Early Sunday morning (July 11) Caleb and B.V. drove from Winimac to Muncie, Indiana to watch the last day of scale competition at the National Model Airplane Contest; better known as the "AMA NATS".
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Terry Nitsch won the expert division with the only jet entered in the event - a BVM F-80C in the "Minute Men" scheme. Terry has also won Top Gun and the Scale Masters with his F-80. He will campaign the new BVM Rafale B O1 next season. |
| Terry and Sheila celebrated their 17th anniversary - the 1st place win will make a nice remembrance. |
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