FLORIDA JETS
AND LARGE
SPORT JETS
By Jim Hiller | jetmodeler@earthlink.net
FLORIDA JETS, held March 17-20, 2021, at Paradise Field in Lakeland, Florida, was the first big event of the year to kick off jet modeling. Even after the passing of the contest director and promoter, Frank Tiano, the contest went on in tribute to him. It was a wonderful sendoff to a man who shared his modeling enthusiasm by organizing, promoting, and running some of the most popular RC events. Frank was best known for Florida Jets and the Top Gun Scale Invitational. He will be missed.
I left my skis at home in the North and traveled to Florida with Dwayne Woods and his son, Dwayne Woods II. We made our first stop in Americus, Georgia, and dusted off our flying skills with three days of extensive, aggressive jet flying at Hodges Field. Thanks to Mac Hodges for his wonderful Southern hospitality. We all had a great time.
This leads to my interest in what is new with large sport jets this year. Dwayne Woods II brought his new Elite Aerosports Rogue. While at Mac’s place, I got some stick time on this quality sport jet.
The Rogue is a traditional jet in the style of the Northrop F-20 Tigershark and looks like a jet. This large model has a fuselage length of 122 inches and a 98-inch wingspan. The weight is controlled well, and without smoke, it empties out at approximately 45 pounds—big is beautiful. The Rogue is powered by a 250-newton Jet Central Mammoth turbine that pushes it with authority.
Flying Dwayne’s Rogue was fun. It is set up for extreme aerobatics, so it is lively, allowing Dwayne to push it hard and definitely proving that it has a strong airframe. My flight was more sedate. The Rogue is a precise, smooth-flying jet at speed, with a fully symmetrical airfoil for performing inverted aerobatics at their best, yet it has wonderful slow-flight characteristics and a relatively benign stall. Slow wheelie landings can be executed with confidence.
Knife-edge flight is where the Rogue suffers compared with the modern “fish-style” jets that have large fuselage side areas. Because of the model’s light weight, it can still hold altitude in knife-edge flight at moderate speeds, and low, knife-edge passes with the Rogue are sweet.
I mentioned in my last column that Dwayne developed and uploaded the Rogue for the RealFlight 9.5 simulator. His real model flies just like his simulator model, right down to its snap-roll recovery.
We left Georgia for Florida Jets and the fun began. The array of large sport jets that are on the market was on display, and there was lots of hard flying every day.
Upon arrival, we stopped by the Elite Aerosports tent. Pablo Fernandez gave me the lowdown on the new Picaro sport jet, a slightly smaller version of the Rogue at a length of 108 inches and a wingspan of 88.5 inches. The weight control keeps it down to approximately 42 pounds empty, which is not bad.
The Picaro was downsized from the Rogue, but the wing area was increased by 15% to retain the excellent, slow-flight characteristics of the Rogue. Pablo proved that it works well.
Moving down the line, young Zavi Machinchy had a blast with his new CARF-Models Rebel Max, a large sport jet with a fuselage length of 130 inches and a wingspan of 118 inches. It is lightweight for its size at less than 50 pounds.
The Rebel Max is a continuation of the highly successful Rebel line of aircraft, with the Max replacing the Rebel Pro as the largest version of the Rebel series. Think of it as similar to a 50% Extra—large, lightweight, and nice. The Max is designed for 220- to 260-newton turbines. This jet excels in a smooth, slow-flying style.
The CARF-Models Bolt is another large sport jet, at a length of 110 inches with a 94-inch wingspan, yet it weighs only 36 to 40 pounds empty, continuing this trend of lightweight jets. The recommended turbine power is 220 to 260 newtons. This airplane is meant to move with authority and to be flown accordingly. The Bolt looks good and is another model that is styled to look like a jet.
The next stop was Bob Violett Models (BVM Jets). BVM dates back to when jets were powered by ducted fans before we had turbines. The variety of aircraft in its
product line reflects the years of experience in the jet industry.
The large sport jet market was well covered, starting with the Ultra Bandit, a standard in jet modeling. It lands so sweetly with its well-designed wing aerodynamics, yet it goes so fast. It’s one of the fastest sport jets on the market. The nice, large Renegade was also on display. Rob Lynch had fun putting it through its paces.
New to BVM this year was the Tomahawk line of jets. The new Integral sport jet is 100 inches long, with a wingspan of 98 inches. The weight is kept under control at less than 50 pounds. This is a uniquely styled jet with swept-back wingtips, stabilizer tips, and fin tips. The recommended turbine power for this jet is 180 to 220 newtons. The Integral was flown by Rob, who proved how well it flew in less-than-ideal wind conditions.
I am going to break the large sport jet review with a quick comment about a scale jet of note that was at Florida Jets this year. Near and dear to my heart is the BVM F-15. To me, the F-15 is the warbird of the fighter fleet—no air shows are required to prove the fighter’s worth. Rob offered me a chance to fly his F-15 and I jumped at it. I love flying
F-15s, especially when the weight is controlled so that it flies like an F-15 should fly. And this one does.
The BVM F-15 is a nice size at a length of 96 inches, a 65-inch wingspan, and a weight of 34 pounds. The landing gear is well built and rugged in appearance and sprung just right to allow the narrow-geared F-15 to be safely taxied, even in a strong crosswind. This particular airplane flies on a 160-newton turbine through a well-executed bifurcated tailpipe. It’s the right power for a model of this size and weight. BVM will have more information about it later this year.
The flight on the F-15 proved that it was a true F-15. I pulled hard on the elevator and it cut a hard turn with no surprises. The 160 turbine powered it around with authority. It rolled just as it should, and knife-edge flight held on as one would expect from a scale jet.
Slow flight should always be an F-15’s strong point, and the BVM model doesn’t disappoint, replicating the positive characteristics with no surprises. The landing feels so good when an airplane performs as it should. Fly the final approach nose high and use the throttle to control the rate
of descent, and it’s a pleasure. The well-set-up landing gear made for no surprises on the landing rollout under braking, even with the crosswind conditions. It’s a scale jet that is fun to fly.
If you like large sport jets, check out some of these cool airplanes. The selection of quality jets that is available is amazing. Take your time though, because each has its own personality in appearance and flying style and excels from fast, aggressive flight to smooth, slow flight.
SOURCES:
Jet Pilot Organization (JPO)
www.jetpilots.org
Frank Tiano Enterprises/Florida Jets
www.franktiano.com/florida-jets
Elite Aerosports
(954) 444-8089
www.eliteaerosports.com
CARF-Models
info@carf-models.com
www.carf-models.com
BVM Jets
(407)327-6333
www.bvmjets.com
