Jets Over DeLand
By Wally Zober
Overview
Have you ever run a contest or major fly-in without glitches, without pilots or workers copping attitudes, or without complaints about flying time? If so, you must have missed the 8th annual Jets Over DeLand, held January 23–26, 1997, at Sydney Taylor Field, DeLand, Florida. Contest Director Al Tuttle and the Golden Hawks crew did a herculean job organizing and running this fly-in. There were three beautiful flying days during the four-day weekend.
Participation
- Thursday: 18 registered pilots.
- Friday: 58 registered pilots.
- Saturday: 68 registered pilots, 105 airplanes.
- Contestants came from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, England, and Scotland.
Scale jet models dominated the meet — 84 scale jets in total; the remainder were assorted sport-type jets. Competition sales appeared heavy.
Notable Pilots and Models
John Burdin
John campaigned a super-flying Yellow Aircraft F-16 powered by an O.S. .91 engine and a Dynamax fan. Equipment and setup:
- Fuel: Power Master.
- Radio: Futaba 9 ZAP PCM.
- Retracts: Spring-Air.
- Finish: Royal Dutch Air Force Demonstration Team color scheme.
- Details: The model is three years old with more than 175 flights.
Peter Laing and Chuck Baker — Time-Share Partnership
Peter Laing (Lafayette, GA) and Chuck Baker (Indianapolis, IN) are partners on a Mid-West Jester. They purchased the model RTF for $250. Peter uses it in winter; Chuck flies it in summer — a neat time-sharing idea.
William F. Manning Jr.
Brought two F-15s, an F-16 Falcon Interceptor, an F-86, and an A-4.
Ralph DiBiase
Brought three beautiful jet models: a MiG-29, a MiG-15, and an A-4 Skyhawk. They were painted with Benjamin Moore water-based house paint and clear-coated with polyurethane, producing a porcelain-like finish. Ralph said spraying models is a very easy task.
Dave Nicholson
Flew the ever-faithful Byron MiG-15, a model that must have at least 500 flights — noted for durability and reliability throughout the meet.
Manufacturers and Vendors
Top makers represented (in approximate order of presence/sales):
- Bob Violett Models
- Yellow Aircraft
- Byron
- Bob Parkinson
- Century Jet
- Philip Avonds
- Top Gun Models
- ITP
- DCU
- JPM
- JHM
- Usher
- J.D. Models
- Jet Models
- Combat Models
- Sterner Models
- Airchamps
- Flight Tech
- Mid-West
Special Awards and Winners
Presented Sunday afternoon
- Best Military: Lynn Elston — outstanding F-15 Eagle (Jet Hangar Hobbies kit). Lynn’s F-15 carries full ordnance: eight missiles and two bombs.
- Best Turbine: Rei Gonzalez — Airchamps F-15 Eagle. During a flight the model emitted flames when an oil line came off, causing the turbine to seize and raw fuel to ignite briefly. Rei shut the turbine down immediately; the fire lasted only two to three seconds and the model landed in a routine dead-stick. No fuselage char was found.
- Best Sport Model: Don Imrie (Glasgow, Scotland) — Philip Avonds F-15 Eagle.
- Power: O.S. .91 with Ramtec fan and a PMP tuned pipe.
- Retracts: Spring-Air.
- Radio: JR PCM-10.
- Servos: Seven total; only three used for primary flying (two servos for differential elevator acting as ailerons and elevator; one for throttle). Remaining servos control inflight mixture, retracts, brakes, and steerable nosewheel.
- Finish: Two-part auto acrylic enamel.
- Notes: Designer Philip Avonds markets this as an entry-level jet trainer — rock-solid in the air.
- Best Original Design: Eddie Weeks — three unique jets with molded Styrofoam-and-glass fuselages (two-ounce glass cloth outside, one-ounce inside). Two jets used JPX-260 turbines; the third had twin O.S. .91s with Dynamax fans. Dry weights were 15–17 pounds. All flown with Futaba radios, nine servos, Spring-Air retracts, and BVM wheels/brakes. Average of 50 flights per model, most off grass.
- Best in Scale, First Place: Mike Burke — ITP F-4E Phantom (Australian kit).
- Size: 110 inches long.
- Power: Two BVM .91 ducted-fan engines.
- Construction: Glass-and-foam, finished with K&B epoxy.
- Servos: 14. Radio: Futaba nine-channel.
- Best in Scale, Second Place: Lewis Patton — CJM F-4.
- Notes: One beautifully crafted, authentic F-4 was lost on a high-speed low pass due to catastrophic wing failure. The failure may have been caused by a hairline crack in the main wing spar from a hard landing at a Scale Masters Qualifier two weeks earlier. Lewis continued flying at the meet with the sister ship.
- Best in Scale, Third Place: Paul Tirone — Byron T-20 Tiger Shark.
- Also won Most Spectacular Flight. During takeoff the model rotated to about a 30° climb, then suddenly dove toward the ground as though something broke. Paul pulled out of the dive a few inches above the runway.
Records, Speeds, and Other Awards
- Fastest Ducted Fan: Paul Hopkins — BVM F-16, 167.7 mph.
- Fastest Turbine: David Escobar — BVM T-33, 151.2 mph.
- Most Spectacular Crash: Lewis Patton — F-4.
- Longest Distance Traveled: Don Imrie — Scotland.
- Estimated Speeds (two runs each where listed):
- John Burdin: 138 / 136.2 mph.
- David Carter: 135 / 137.5 mph.
- Jeffrey Stephenson: 95 / 90.3 mph.
- Spot Landing:
- Lee Dickens: 1.5 feet.
- Rob Abamo: 5.0 feet.
- John Burdin: 20.0 feet.
- Prettiest Airplane: Craig Wilson — BVM Viper.
- Ugliest Airplane: Jeffrey Stephenson — Green Hangar Fan Jet Trainer.
- Most Congenial Pilot: Lewis Patton.
- Most Flights: Jeffrey Stephenson.
Dedication
Sunday's flying was dedicated to the memory of Airman First Class Brian W. McVeigh, an active R/C modeler killed in the Khobar Towers bombing in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. At noon a framed picture and a letter from Capt. Craig Dye were presented to Brian’s mother and stepfather. Contestant Lynn Elston, who built and flew an F-15 very similar to the full-scale F-15 Brian worked on in Saudi Arabia, was present for the dedication.
Final Notes
Byron MiG-15s were repeatedly noted for durability and reliability throughout the meet. The event showcased a broad range of scale fidelity, engineering solutions, and pilot skill — from inexpensive time-shared models to large, highly detailed scale reproductions and turbine-powered demonstrations.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
