Mid Atlantic
Jet Fly
May 25-26, 2001
by Bob Violett

Twenty-nine pilots from the mid-Atlantic region gathered once again at the Naval Auxiliary Landing Field at Fentress, Virginia. The weather was perfect - mid 80's, with the wind aligned with the runway. One couldn't ask for a better place to fly jets.
The attendance is never high at the Tidewater R/C club event, possibly because it is held on Memorial Day weekend and because the event is low key with little or no promotion. Personally, I love going there because of the facility and the opportunity to visit with friends from the region.
In 1966, I was a member of the Tidewater club during my service in the NAVY, at the time I was a very young Ensign assigned to VA-66, flying A-4's. Even then, we used the Naval facility to fly R/C. Back then it was a reed controlled Tauri.
I also spent many nights at the Fentress facility training as an L.S.O. (Landing Signal Officer) prior to my first carrier deployment aboard the then, brand new, USS America CVA-66. Notice the number of 6's, they must have added up to luck because I'm still enjoying the hobby as a guest of the Navy.
Photo's are few - I spent most of the time on the flight line.

This VIOFAN/BVM .96 powered Bandit is a very nice sample of craftsmanship. The model is now owned by Jermaine Brown. Tom Dodgen helped with the proper setting of the low end mixture.

David Ribbe modified a very early F-16 to accept a Sophia 850 engine - a real squeeze fit. The model flew well with some very impressive high Alpha maneuvers.

Eric Baugher is very active again in R/C, this time with the jets. His signature paint scheme was first applied to a Viper about 12 years ago and now looks superb on this RAM powered Bandit.

Joe Lupton's love of the Sabre jet and his excellent craftsmanship really shine in this photo. The Minute Man is covered with Coverite Presto and detailed with markings from ProMark. Every rivet is hand embossed.

Lee Reightler had a successful first outing with his AMT powered BobCat XL. Tom Dodgen helped with the first flights to get Lee jet qualified.

The perfection of model building and painting is captured by Toni Masiello in his rendition of a P-120 powered BobCat XL. The two-tone purple, yellow and white also looks good in the air. It is very rewarding to BVM to see this much talent and time invested in our products.

We featured the all new 60" Sabre jet at the Mid-Atlantic Jet Rally with many flights on this prototype.
The model is finished with automotive silver paint with certain panels highlighted with BVM Metal-Kote. Black checkers and red letters and stars are by ProMark while the remainder of the stencils are decals that come in the kit.
The kit instructions describe the finish technique. The model flies great with a RAM 500X for power.