IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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$12.50 USA - $13.50 Canada & Mexico- $20.00 International.
Engineered to operate at
speeds in excess of
20,000 RPM!
Exclusively Available from Woody Bartelt
3706 North 33rd Street, Galesburg, MI 49053
Fax/Phone: (269) 665-9693
e-mail: [email protected]
THE BALL 60!
Send
$3.00 for
listings of
Original and
Reproduction
engines.
Planned Giving to AMA
You may make gifts to AMA of:
or with a Charitable Remainder
Trust (CRT)
• Immediate income tax deduction
• Lifetime income for you and your spouse (or other
beneficiary)
• Reduction in estate taxes
• Money for your favorite charities
Interested? Contact AMA Executive Director
Joyce Hager at (765) 287-1256, extension 200.
Cash
Securities
Insurance
Gems
Real Estate
Etc.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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Planned Giving to AMA
You may make gifts to AMA of:
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• Immediate income tax deduction
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beneficiary)
• Reduction in estate taxes
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Joyce Hager at (765) 287-1256, extension 200.
Cash
Securities
Insurance
Gems
Real Estate
Etc.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:30 am Page 27
Edition: Model Aviation - 2004/09
Page Numbers: 18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27
IF THEY CARRY on for several years,
Scale contests and events usually change and
improve. The Top Gun Invitational
Tournament started in 1989 at a regional field
in Florida. It was moved to Mesa, Arizona,
the next year, and it arrived at the polo club at
West Palm Beach, Florida, the following year
and stayed until 2001.
Now in its third year at Lakeland Linder
Regional Airport (home of the Experimental
Aircraft Association’s Sun ’n Fun), Top Gun
continues to improve for modelers, spectators,
and the city of Lakeland. The 2004 edition
was held April 27-May 2.
Several classes have been added and
canceled throughout the years. This was the
first year for ProAm Scale. This class is not
for ARFs; it allows modelers who have
entered Top Gun in the past to compete with
older competition models, aircraft they have
built or bought to fly until they can finish next
year’s competition airplanes, or models that
have surpassed the three-year competition
18 MODEL AVIATION
Lloyd Roberts built this Lockheed Vega for the Master Scale class. It flew well off of
grass with a tail skid. The flying propeller is on the aircraft.
Bob Violett’s F-100D approaches for a landing. The speed brake is out
and flaps are deployed. Note the simulated—not real, thank goodness—
discoloration of the model’s rear section from jet exhaust.
by Stan Alexander
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:20 am Page 18
September 2004 19
Left to right: Rae Underwood, Frank Tiano, and Bob Underwood
with his trophy for the Grey Eagle Award.
Close-up of David Hayes’ Thrush showing well-hidden Saito 1.50
within ring of cylinders. Air intake is to the right.
Although cockpits aren’t
judged, it’s great to see
modelers put forth the
extra effort to make their
models more realistic.
Left: Metal panels form
the canopy frame on
Brian O’Meara’s Ki-61.
Below: The pilot sits on
the Ki-61’s wing, ready
for another mission.
Terry Nitsch—Mr. Top Gun 2004—and his wife Sheila prepare
Terry’s North American F-100 for another flight.
Photos by the author
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 10:24 am Page 19
20 MODEL AVIATION
Ramon Torres Jr. flew this 80-inch-span Saudi T-34C to second in ProAm. It has a YS 140 four-stroke and scratch-built retracts.
Bob Underwood entered his Il-2M3 “Stormovik” in Master class. It spans 82 inches and has a stock K&B 100 engine.
Richard Feroldi’s 1⁄3-scale Albatros D.V spans 117 inches and weighs 35 pounds. He finished sixth in Master class.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:18 am Page 20
September 2004 21
Mitch Epstein built his 139-inch-span Boeing B-17G from Don Smith Plans for ProAm Scale. It simulates a battered bomber, with one
gear up and an engine smoking.
Eduardo and Ana Esteves flew this 1⁄3-scale Sig Spacewalker in ProAm. It was entered in Team Scale a few years ago.
Tony Masiello entered his F-4 Phantom II from a BVM kit in ProAm Scale. He has been flying RC for roughly 30 years.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:21 am Page 21
22 MODEL AVIATION
Karl Gross entered his scratch-built Westland Lysander British design in Expert. The
120-inch-span model is highly detailed and has a Saito 300.
Jeff Foley won ProAm with his veteran Tropical version of the Me 109E. It has more than
300 flights, weighs 23 pounds, and features Dave Platt retracts.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave Patrick’s Super Cub spans 141 inches and has a Moki 3.60 engine for power.
limit in Top Gun and are still doing well in
competition.
More than 36 pilots entered this event. It
looks to be a popular class that we will see on
the contest schedule for sometime.
Top Gun combines an international Scale
contest, an air show, a trade show, and parties
and dinners each evening during the week for
all who attend. The current Scale classes
include Expert, Master, Team Scale, and
ProAm. There are also “Best of” awards,
recognition for the high static score in each
class, the National Association of Scale
Aeromodelers Flight Achievement Award,
the Grey Eagle Award, and the flight awards.
Test flights were conducted on Tuesday
and Wednesday, April 27 and 28, and an
additional field was available for testing
during the rest of the week. Flight
competition was lengthened this year with the
addition of the ProAm Class; it started
Thursday and was completed Sunday
afternoon. A few days were windy, but
Saturday and Sunday were great for any
outdoor activities in central Florida.
Expert Class: One of Top Gun’s specialties
is featuring new aircraft that aren’t modeled
very often. The Brewster Buffalo that Mike
Selby built and Ray Johns piloted stood out
this year. The model started life as plans from
Jerry Bates. They were highly modified, and
now Jerry has this version available too.
The full-scale aircraft’s color scheme was
from the carrier USS Lexington in early 1941,
with pre-World War II, high-visibility colors.
Lacquer was used to paint the model Buffalo
just as the full-scale aircraft was painted. A
3W-150 twin spark engine powered the big
fighter. Retracts were center pull units—a
one-off unit built by Sierra Giant Scale.
Beautiful job!
There were new faces and familiar past
winners in the Expert Class. The most time
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:23 am Page 22
September 2004 23
The Brewster
Buffalo, with its
ungainly outline,
makes an
interesting model
with many
challenges—
especially the
landing gear and
short moments.
Builder Mike Selby
and Ray Johns
entered this one in
Team Scale.
David Hayes’ operational Rockwell Thrush crop duster lays down some scale dust. David finished third in Master class.
you can compete with the same model at Top
Gun is three years. After that, you must
repaint the aircraft or retire it to a different
division, such as the new ProAm category.
Heavy metal and jets dominated the top
10 in Expert this year. FAI team member Al
Kretz and Carol Peck brought Al’s Yellow
Aircraft Supermarine Spitfire Mk XIV. Al
powered his 88-inch-wingspan model with a
Moki 1.80 engine, and it features Yellow
Aircraft retracts. His static score of 92.750
and high flight scores of 98.000 and 92.875
were a few highlights of his performance, and
they earned him a third-place finish.
Gustavo Campana of Argentina finished
second with his turbine-powered L-159
Albatros. Four of the top-10 models in this
division were powered by turbines. You don’t
see ducted-fan models in Scale competition
anymore; that technology is almost gone in
favor of the more realistic sound and the
smell of turbine engines, which usually run
on J-4 turbine fuel.
Dick Konkle scratch-built his 1⁄3-scale Aeronca Champ and finished it in a factory paint
scheme. The cowl operates and opens as on the full-scale airplane.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:26 am Page 23
24 MODEL AVIATION
Dustin Buescher built his North American F-86 Sabre from a BVM kit. It spans 60 inches and has a JetCat P80 turbine.
David Wigley built his Q-75-powered Hawker Tempest Mk V from Vailly Aviation plans. He finished fourth in Expert.
Gustavo Campana built his RAM 1000-powered L-159 Albatros from an Aviation Design kit and used Aviation Design retracts.
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:28 am Page 24
September 2004 25
Static and Flight Awards
Award Winner Aircraft
Master High Static Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega
Expert High Static Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Team High Static Graeme Mears Super Cub
Best Civilian Aircraft Rick Boyer Pitts Special
Best Military Aircraft George Maiorana Tu-4
Best Biplane Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V
Best Pre-WW II Aircraft David Johnson Albatros D.III
Best Jet Joe Grice F-100 Super Sabre
Best ProAm Aircraft Bryce Watson F-5
Engineering Excellence Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Cockpit Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Grey Eagle Award Bob Underwood
Charlie Chambers Craftsmanship Award Dave Platt Val
Runner-up Critics’ Choice Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre
Critics’ Choice Award Mike Selby Brewster Buffalo
Best Two-Stroke Performance Brian O’Meara Ki-61 Tony
Best Four-Stroke Performance Dick Konkle Aeronca Champ
Best Gas Performance Tom Smith Me 109G-6
Best Multiengine Performance Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
Best Jet Performance David Shulman F-100D
Highest Total Flight Score Ramon Torres Sr. Beechcraft Baron
After a year’s absence, Terry Nitsch and
his wife Sheila brought a new Bob Violett
Models (BVM) North American Super Sabre
F-100. (These full-scale jets were
affectionately known as “Huns.”) It was fresh
from a win at the Toledo RC expo in the jet
class.
Terry built the F-100 from the BVM kit
during a two-year period and powered it with
an AMT 450 turbine. The model included an
opening canopy, a speed brake, retractable
landing lights, a tail skid, and more than
50,000 simulated rivets and screws. Terry
achieved his jet’s finish with a combination of
Flite-Metal, BVM Metal-Kote, Ditsler DCB
base coat, and Concept 20-21 clear-coat paint.
With a static score of 95.750 and three
flight scores exceeding 92.978, he beat
Gustavo by only 2.133 points on the last flight
of the competition to take the win.
Master Class is for modelers who are willing
to take the time to scratch-build a model
instead of constructing one from someone
else’s plans or a kit; they make their own
plans and build the model from a wealth of
information they acquire along the way.
This year three different airplane types
were peppered throughout the division. There
was also only .454 of a point difference
between first and third place, so any of the
modelers could have won.
David Hayes garnered third place flying
his Rockwell Thrush crop duster. He has been
working on this type of aircraft for several
years with different models and has the
spraying system down! If there were any
mosquitoes at the field, this aircraft could
have gotten rid of them all. The Thrush used a
Saito 1.80 single-cylinder engine and spanned
107 inches. David used a JR PCM 10 radio on
the 21-pound model.
Second place went to Ramon Torres flying
his own-design Beechcraft Baron twin. This
military version was constructed from
fiberglass and carbon. Ray makes all the
molds for his models. (Kits of the Baron and
the T-34 his son flew in Team Scale this year
are for sale.) He used YS 63 engines, RTA
(R. Torres Aerospace) retracts, and a Futaba
radio in this aircraft.
Veteran kit manufacturer and modeler
Bob Violett won with his North American F-
100F Super Sabre. The big, fabulous jet was
powered by an AMT 450 turbine, featured
BVM retracts, and was finished with BVM
Metal-Kote.
There were more BVM kits than any other
brand at this year’s Top Gun, and the F-100
(in the single- or two-seat version)
outnumbered all other models.
Team Scale combines a builder who usually
doesn’t fly and a pilot who is usually
extremely good at flying. This results in some
of the best and most detailed Scale models
you’ve ever seen. This is also an AMA class,
listed as event 522 on page 169 of the AMA
Competition Regulations. Top Gun rules
differ somewhat, but this will give you the
general idea, and it’s simple.
Bringing back their AEW (Airborne
Early Warning) Tupolev Tu-4 version of the
Russian B-29, builder George Maiorana and
pilot Dave Pinegar took third place, followed
closely by the Chinese team of builder Hui
Chi Leung and pilot Alex Lau.
George recently changed the Tu-4’s
battery system to Li-Poly and saved
approximately 3 pounds of weight, providing
additional power and endurance for the 115-
inch-span, Cold War, radar-equipped airplane.
George used MaxCim 13Y motors
swinging four-blade, handmade propellers
that he fabricated. He also constructed the
retracts and rotating radar dome. I haven’t
seen anyone make his or her own
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 25
26 MODEL AVIATION
Top Gun 2004 Results
Expert
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Terry Nitsch F-100 Super Sabre 95.750 190.606
2. Gustavo Campana L-159 95.250 188.473
3. Al Kretz Spitfire Mk XIV 92.750 186.917
4. David Wigley Hawker Tempest 93.583 185.708
5. Lee Rice F4U Corsair 93.167 185.542
6. Sean Cassidy Hellcat F6F-5 93.583 186.250
7. Jack Diaz Rafale 92.417 184.170
8. Tom Smith Me 109G 92.000 182.417
9. Rene Alvarez L-39 Albatros 92.333 181.79
10. Bill McCallie Bell P-39D 89.667 181.167
Master
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Bob Violett F-100 Super Sabre 94.667 188.870
2. Ramon Torres Beechcraft Baron 94.167 188.625
3. David Hayes Rockwell Thrush 95.583 188.416
4. Dick Konkle Aeronca 7AC 95.917 186.417
5. David Johnson Albatros D.III 95.081 186.375
6. Richard Feroldi Albatros D.V 94.167 186.167
7. Lloyd Roberts Lockheed Vega 96.667 185.750
8. David Platt Val 92.250 182.833
9. Tom Polapink Pfalz D.III 92.750 182.208
10. Hal Parenti B-25 92.083 126.041
Team Scale
Builder/pilot Model Static Total
1. Graeme Mears/Dave Patrick Super Cub 99.667 196.042
2. Joe Grice/David Shulman F-100 98.583 193.766
3. George Maiorana/Dave Pinegar AEW Tu-4 98.333 193.125
4. Eui Chi Leung/Alex Lau F-16 96.167 192.375
5. Tony Urbano/Dean DiGorgio F4U Corsair 93.083 189.875
6. Wayne Siewert/Scott Russell P-47D 96.250 189.583
7. Simon To/David Ribbe L-39 95.417 189.089
8. Brian O’Meara/Jim Hammond Ki-61 Tony 93.417 188.500
9. Mark Taylor/Paul Bageman F-100D 94.833 186.831
10. Mike Selby/Ray Johns Buffalo 94.583 185.250
ProAm
Contestant Model Static Total
1. Jeff Foley Me 109E 25.00 121.125
2. Ramon Torres Jr. Beechcraft T-34C 25.00 120.042
3. Tom Dodgen T-33 25.00 118.750
4. Dustin Buescher F-86 25.00 118.542
5. Kent Nogy F-100 25.00 118.395
6. Frank Tiano T-34 25.00 117.542
7. Gordon Dickens F-86 25.00 116.917
8 . Charlie Nelson WACO YKS 25.00 116.875
9. Nick Ziroli Sr. Skyraider 25.00 116.750
10. Cliff Tacie Fly Baby 25.00 116.375
For complete results, go to www.franktiano.com/tg2003win.htm.
propellers since Bob Wischer.
Builder Joe Grice and pilot David Shulman
were back this year with their BVM F-100D,
complete with a Flite-Metal aluminum finish.
Each piece of aluminum was attached to the
fuselage and burnished or buffed to make the
model’s finish look realistic. This team beat
George and Dave by only .641 point. A blown
flight maneuver could have overturned the
order of the top three finishers.
Builder Graeme Mears and pilot Dave
Patrick were back with their 1⁄3-scale Piper
Super Cub. This is an extremely detailed
simple airplane. By that I mean that when you
go all out and scratch-build every detail to the
proper scale, a little magic emerges. You have
to look at this model for sometime to let it all
soak in; there were even magazines included
in the cockpit.
The Super Cub spanned 141 inches and
weighed 48 pounds. Power was provided by a
Moki 3.60 twin engine, which Graeme used
before in his Tiger Moth. Not only did this
pair win the class, but they took home the
Team High Static award and the NASA Flight
Achievement Award for the most prototypical
flight performance.
Dave Patrick performed a maneuver called
the Slideslip, and it was a treat to watch. The
best way to describe it is that the model starts
at a much higher altitude for landing than
necessary, and then it crabs into the wind offcenter
and loses altitude rapidly until the pilot
is ready to touch down on the runway as the
next maneuver.
Flown by an experienced pilot, the Super
Cub is a natural for this maneuver. Dave
received an almost perfect score of 98.625 on
the fourth flight. Way to go, guys!
ProAm Class: In this category, each model
receives a static score of either 25 or 0—
nothing in between. Competitors entered
models from every era of aviation and most
aircraft types.
Tom Dodgen flew his Lockheed T-33 to a
third-place finish, and it was the highestplacing
jet. He powered the BVM model by a
JetCat engine, and it had BVM retracts. This
1950s-era US Air Force and US Navy trainer
has straight wings, simple landing gear, and
makes a great-flying model.
Second place went to 15-year-old Ramon
Torres Jr. He goes to high school and flies
gliders and a Bellanca Citabria in his spare
time, but putting flights on his dad’s
Beechcraft T-34 is another great way for him
to relax. His high flights with the model
included a 95.875 and a 96.500. After his last
flight, Ramon Jr. landed on the centerline, and
his dad jumped the safety net to retrieve the
model. You could say that he was excited for
his son, and rightfully so.
Jeff Foley is one busy guy; working on
full-scale and model components for
military and civil aviation, he has found little
time to work on his own models lately. He
was scheduled to fly a new BVM kit at Top
Gun this year, but since he didn’t finish it,
he entered his past Top Gun winner—a
Messerschmitt Me 109E—and went on to
win by just more than a point. Several
modelers want to see a kit of this big fighter,
09sig1.QXD 6/24/04 11:29 am Page 26
September 2004 27
but so far it hasn’t happened.
There will probably be some changes in the
ProAm division next year, and I’m sure there
will be for the rest of Top Gun as it continues
to evolve. For a great week of modeling,
watching some of the best Scale models in the
world compete, and one huge air show, why
not go to Lakeland next April for a great
time?
Special thanks to Frank Tiano, Jim Parker,
Rosie Curry, Sharon and Bill Holland, the
city of Lakeland, and those great people of
the Imperial RC Club.
Primary sponsors for this year’s event
were Fly RC magazine and ZAP glue. Major
sponsors were Airtronics, Futaba/O.S., Robart
Manufacturing, Frank Tiano Enterprises,
Kempinski Hotels, JR Radio, The Gunner’s
Mate, and Ocean Beauty Seafood. Associate
sponsors were Bob Violett Models and Nick
Ziroli Plans.
Supporting sponsors were Aerotech
Models, Cooper Fuels, Gerard Enterprises,
Jersey Modelers, O’Meara Ford, Puerto Rico
RC Modelers, R/C Report magazine, Saito
Engines, RC Scale International magazine,
Tamiya USA, and the Top Gun Hussies. MA
Stan Alexander
3709 Valley Ridge Dr.
Nashville TN 37211
[email protected]
Contestant Numbers:
Expert 22
Masters 12
Team Scale 14
ProAm 36
Radios Used:
Airtronics 9
Futaba 31
JR 48
Graupner 3
Hitec 0
Other 1
Engines Used:
AMT turbine 6
Brison 7
D&B 1
Enya 1
Fuji 1
GT 1
JetCat 13
Kavan 1
K&B 1
Laser 2
MaxCim 1
Moki 7
O.S. 9
Quadra 4
RAM 4
Sachs 3
SimJet 1
Saito 4
3W 6
YS 2
Zenoah 11
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a fuel pump to jug. Comes complete with
tongue,Velcro pump mount and cap that
fits standard one-gallon plastic jugs. All
that is required is a fuel pump and fuel
fittings. Keeps all fueling needs in one
place and makes going from one
gallon to the next a breeze.
Gator Tongue.......................`$5.95
Note:Take 25% discount on a Gator Tongue when purchased with a MK Fuel Pump
2100 N Old Mill Rd
Brookline, MO 65619
Min. $6.50
Shipping&Handling per order
417-725-7755
www.gatorrc.com
VISA & MasterCard Welcomed!
The original Ball engines are now quite rare. They were precision-made in every
detail, assembled by experts; started, run and checked carefully at the factory before
going into the field. We now have a beautiful reproduction Ball which is extremely
well made and faithful to the original in every detail. Each engine is assembled by an
expert and checked carefully at the factory - giving you the most accurate
reproduction engine possible. (Bore .924 in, Stroke .900 in., Disp. .604 cu. in.)
These reproductions are only available for a limited time. $429.50 less spark plug + $12.00 s&h in the USA
(priority mail w/insurance). International call or write for S&H
Reproduction Parts Catalog #8 is now current.
$12.50 USA - $13.50 Canada & Mexico- $20.00 International.
Engineered to operate at
speeds in excess of
20,000 RPM!
Exclusively Available from Woody Bartelt
3706 North 33rd Street, Galesburg, MI 49053
Fax/Phone: (269) 665-9693
e-mail: [email protected]
THE BALL 60!
Send
$3.00 for
listings of
Original and
Reproduction
engines.
Planned Giving to AMA
You may make gifts to AMA of:
or with a Charitable Remainder
Trust (CRT)
• Immediate income tax deduction
• Lifetime income for you and your spouse (or other
beneficiary)
• Reduction in estate taxes
• Money for your favorite charities
Interested? Contact AMA Executive Director
Joyce Hager at (765) 287-1256, extension 200.
Cash
Securities
Insurance
Gems
Real Estate
Etc.
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