August 2007 127
The jet scene at the Toledo R/C Expo in Ohio
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Radio Control Jets Jim Hiller
Above: Dennis Crooks is back into jets
with his latest scale Yellow Aircraft F-14
TomCat with all the options.
Left: The Kerr father-and-son team
brought their fresh Bobcat XLs to Toledo
to humble us with their painting skills.
Below: Kerry Sterner’s scale de Havilland
Vampire is a very impressive way to
showcase his SimJet turbine line.
ANOTHER TOLEDO EXPO has come
and gone, and again the jet products were
on display in force. We had turbines,
electric fans of all sizes, ARFs, and kits on
display to meet all needs. The best part
was the incredible jet models on the
display tables showing off the quality
building skills of the modelers.
The Kerrs had their new BobCat XLs
out there for all to see, and they took home
some well-deserved honors. The paint
work on these models was near perfection;
the Kerrs are master builders and painters.
Jerry Kerr Jr.’s BobCat XL took a wellearned
third place in the Best Finish
Category—an open class for all airplanes
on display.
Additional scale jets on display included
Lewis Patton’s new Century Jets F-18
Hornet, powered with an Artes turbine.
Lewis plans to use this new model for Scale
competition. Good luck with it!
I have to mention Eric Baugher’s
detailed F-4 Phantom. I’m sure it will be a
trophy winner in the future.
Best Jet Plane went to Graeme Mears for
his finely detailed Bob Violett Models
(BVM) F-86 Sabre. In second place was
Dennis Crooks’ latest rendition of the
Yellow Aircraft F-14, complete with the
swing-wing option. Nice job, Dennis!
Third place went to the sport jet of
Jerry Kerr Jr., beating out quite a few
wonderful Top Gun-caliber scale jets.
That’s recognizing quality in a sport jet.
New products for jet modeling were
everywhere. There was even an RTF electric
08sig4.QXD 6/22/07 2:24 PM Page 127
ducted-fan jet at the Hobby Lobby booth,
complete with radios installed.
Hobby Lobby also showed a delta-wing
Mirage and a twin-ducted-fan Su-27
Flanker. These are park flyer-size models of
simple foam construction. I have seen the
videos of these aircraft flying. They work
well and look good in the air. Hobby
Lobby’s Web site is www.hobby-lobby.com.
Turbine manufacturers showed up, with
AMT USA staffing a booth and reminding
us that the company may be under new
ownership but its commitment to supporting
our hobby is unwavering.
AMT USA has expanded its reach into
the RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle)
markets. Its Web site, www.usamt.com,
reflects the additional direction the company
is pursuing, but not at the cost of leaving our
hobby business. AMT USA is one of the
longest-running model-turbine
manufacturers, and its turbines have earned a
solid reputation for reliability and durability.
Jet Central—formerly Artes Turbines—
came in force to Toledo as the company
continues to roll out its new name. Eric
Clapp came from Florida and owner and
developer Felipe Nieto came from Mexico to
talk turbines with modelers.
Felipe is extremely proud of the
durability and reliability of the Jet Central
turbine line and is backing it up with a
limited lifetime warranty, exclusive of crash
damage. I have an older Eagle, and Felipe
discussed the improvements incorporated
into the new turbine to improve its
durability.
My vintage Eagle has had one overhaul
already because of extensive flight time.
Felipe strongly suggested I upgrade my
turbine combustion chamber at the next
scheduled 25-hour-inspection visit to the
shop. It sounds like this upgrade will be a
good investment since I fly this turbine
hard and often.
The Jet Central line of turbines was on
display at Toledo. It is one of the most
comprehensive lines available, but the
company is not done yet. Turbines of larger
and smaller sizes are in development stages
with no immediate production plans.
These experimental engines are in
addition to some new products Jet Central is
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in the final stages of developing. Be patient.
Jet Central will not release new products
until the staff is confident they meet the
company’s commitment to a lifetime
warranty. Additional information on the full
line of Jet Central turbines is available at
www.jetartes.com.
While on the turbine path, nearby was
Kerry Sterner and the SimJet line. He picked
up the distribution and repair services of the
SimJet line in North America roughly a year
ago, and he has really stepped up.
I know a few modelers in northeast Ohio
who have sent turbines to Kerry for repairs
and all have had good experiences. One
would expect nothing less, with his longstanding,
solid reputation in this hobby.
The SimJet line of turbines covers the
complete line of performance, and the
company has developed a dependable name.
Kerry has his own Web site at www.ussim
jetllc.com to keep you up to date on all the
products in the SimJet line.
You couldn’t miss the SimJet booth. Kerry
had his 1/4-scale de Havilland Vampire
suspended above it in grand style. This 41-
pound model is powered by the SimJet Nexus
36-pound-thrust turbine that offers great
performance on a straight-wing jet.
The wingspan of this aircraft is 120 inches,
and it has almost 20 square feet of wing.
That’s a truly light wing loading for such a
large model.
Also seen at Toledo was the Wren turbine
line distributed in the United States by Jet
Hangar Hobbies. Larry Wolfe proudly
displayed the Wren 44 and Wren 54 along
with the upcoming excitement of the new
Wren 200XL boasting 35 pounds of thrust.
This company continues to grow.
The Wren is one of the few turbines
available in ready-to-run and kit forms—a
neat option for the modeler who is interested
in how his or her turbine is made and works.
The kit-building process is only an assembly
process, with no machining or drilling
necessary. Assembling your own turbine is
educational. It requires only a few evenings
and it’s fun!
Jet Hangar Hobbies’ Web site, at
www.jethangar.com, is also the home of a
great line of ducted-fan models, all available
for conversion to the Wren turbines. Last year
the company rolled out the ARF A-7, and this
year it had three on display, each with a
different scale color scheme.
The A-7 is no hangar queen. Larry flies his
models and develops products around it.
The A-7 is now available with a nicelooking
scale nose gear and a stout main gear
system for retracting into the fuselage. You
don’t have to use a standard retract unit
angled off at a weird, weak direction. Larry’s
solution is simple and strong. It should hold
up well with continued hard use.
What else was new on the table at Jet
Hangar Hobbies? The Electric-Turbax fan
system is now a proven power package in
customer hands.
This is an electric version of the
successful Turbax ducted-fan unit. It puts
out the power to push the entire line of
ducted-fan Jet Hangar Hobbies aircraft with
even more authority than the original fuel
system.
My favorite item on the Jet Hangar
Hobbies table was the prototype for the new
F-86 Sabre ARF. It is based on the
company’s hugely successful and greatflying
F-86. The Sabre is 1/9 scale, making a
nice compact package at 50.5 inches in
overall length with a 50.5-inch wingspan.
You have to look closely at this new
version of the F-86 to appreciate the
improvements to the design. On the
stabilizer mounting system the horizontal
stabilizers are removable, yet upon
installation the elevator linkage will align
and connect with no linkages to hook up—a
well-engineered piece.
The power-package options, as for the
A-7, will be the Turbax fuel ducted fan, the
E-Turbax electric fan, or a Wren 44. Any
of these will make the F-86 a great-flying
model.
Almost the only place one can see
Yellow Aircraft jets is at the Toledo Expo.
The company is not abandoning jets; it just
doesn’t show them off very often.
Yellow Aircraft is introducing an F-22
Raptor that looks big and mean. It should be
a great scale model. A new, large sport jet of
twin-boom design was also on display.
These new models are in addition to the
already large line of jets available from the
company. Information about its complete
line is available at www.yellowaircraft.com.
BVM set up a booth again this year, and
its new, excitin