SUMMER JET EVENTS
By Jim Hiller | jetmodeler@earthlink.net
WHAT A WONDERFUL SUMMER SEASON with plenty of jet flying this has been! I went to a few jet meets to visit and fly with friends from across the country—really, from all around the world. I am writing this in mid-summer, so I do have a couple more months of the flying season left to put some hours in on my new Elite Aerosports Picaro. It’s such a pleasure to fly this thick, symmetrical-wing jet.
The first special event to mention was a full week’s getaway of flying at Jets Over the Heartland in Winamac, Indiana, which was hosted by the Winamac Aeromodelers and organized by Tim Reddelman. He keeps the friendly warmth alive at this get-together. Everyone gathers for lunch and dinner every day, so we never leave the field—we have to be careful not to eat too much because the food is awesome! The meals are quite an undertaking because 40 to 50 pilots, plus their crews, attend this event. A big thanks to those who volunteered to make this happen.
Flying was all day, and early in the week, many flights were made with only one or two airplanes in the air at a time. There was some pretty impressive flying by some of the best pilots east of the Mississippi. There were even a couple of pilots from west of the Mississippi, as well as Canada. The quality of the sport and scale models was awesome, the flying was impressive, and with the general laidback feeling, everyone was there to enjoy the atmosphere of just spending a week together enjoying our hobby, making this a special event in modeling. If you love jet flying with new friends, attend this event if you can.
Moving on to Jets Over Kentucky, held in Campbellsville, Kentucky, what can I say about this gathering—or should I say, major event? With somewhere north of 175 registered pilots, hundreds of jet models were all at the Taylor County Airport at one time. There was plenty of primitive camping space for all. Lewis Patton has put on this event for years, growing it into the largest RC jet event in the country, with some amazing support from the jet modeling business community.
RC jet suppliers not only attend this mega event but also give back with sizable sponsorship donations to make it happen. The list of sponsors is a who’s who of the jet modeling business community. Thanks to all who helped this event happen.
The large tents span approximately 1,000 feet in length, and they were filled with both vendors and pilots. You will most likely find an example of your favorite RC jet aircraft at this event. The flightline was busy all day long, and some pretty impressive airplanes were put to the test. Many of the latest releases were brought out by the vendors to fly—and fly hard—to demonstrate the products’ performance.
Some highlights include the new CARF-Models Diablo, the smaller version of the company’s popular 200-newton turbine-powered Mephisto. The Diablo retains that wonderful 3D-capable performance, only in a friendlier-size package. The Diablo is available with a thrust-vectoring nozzle tailpipe, and is also a very good-flying sport jet for aerobatics and those times when you want to enjoy flying your airplane through big and smooth aerobatics.
Another favorite of mine, the classic King Cat, has been rereleased by BVM Jets with new updates, keeping this sport jet alive. The landing gear geometry has been revised with trailing link landing gear to improve the landing setup, and a removable canopy and nose cone have been added for easy access—no tools are required for removal. The King Cat is for 120- to 180-newton turbines and has wonderful slow-and high-speed flight handling with an incredible speed range, while retaining gentle landing characteristics for novice pilots. It’s great for grass-field flying. If you have never flown a King Cat, you’re missing out on a very versatile and sweet flying experience. I love seeing this classic sport jet updated and available.
Tailslide Aviation attended with the new Pilot-RC 2.2-meter Matrix, a composite sport jet for 100- to 180-newton turbines. That’s quite a spread in power, but be warned that the larger turbines are for use with a 3D nozzle, so use caution with larger powerplants. The Matrix really does not need all of that power for non-3D flying; it is not a large model at less than 88 inches in length with slightly less than a 79-inch wingspan.
There’s not enough space to mention all of the new airplanes, but I would be remiss not to mention Pacific RC Jets bringing the Bandit Models Outlaw to Jets Over Kentucky and regularly putting it through its paces. This is another large, good-looking sport jet in the 210- to 260-newton turbine range. It has sandwich-composite construction for a lightweight and rigid structure.
Off the sport jet subject, I have to mention Henry Castellanos’ special Skymaster XXL F-14. What a monster of a jet! It was well presented and flown by Henry, who was deservedly awarded the Jets Over Kentucky 2023 Grand Champion award in honor and memory of Juan Ruiz from JetCentral.
Henry went through extra effort to keep the XXL F-14 within the weight limits of the Large Turbine Model Airplane 2 program guidelines, so it is a legitimate model aircraft.
SOURCES:
Jet Pilots Organization (JPO)
www.jetpilots.org
Jets Over the Heartland
www.winamacaeromodelers.com/events/jets-over-the-heartland-flyer
Jets Over Kentucky
www.jokjets.com
Pilot-RC
jeane@pilot-rc.com
https://pilot-rc.com
Elite Aerosports
(954) 444-8809
www.eliteaerosports.com
CARF-Models
info@carf-models.com
www.carf-models.com
BVM Jets
(407) 327-6333
www.bvmjets.com
Tailslide Aviation
(386) 507-2024
www.tailslideaviation.com
Pacific RC Jets
(626) 808-6122
www.pacificrcjets.com
Boomerang RC Jets
(765) 744-3118
www.boomerangrjets.com
