Model Airplane News and ZAP present Top Gun 2002

Model Airplane News, Aug 2002 by Sharp, Debra, Yarrish, Gerry

For Top Gun participants, 2002 will henceforth be known as the year of change-impressive changes in both location and in the lineup of talented modelers invited to take part in this prestigious competition. The biggest change was the events relocation from the West Palm Beach polo grounds to the Lakeland Linder regional airport in Lakeland, FL. The home of the famous Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Sun 'n Fun aviation extravaganza, Lakeland Linder Airport is a perfect setting for Top Gun scale. Though very well groomed. the grass field at the polo grounds had become inadequate and was no match for the beautiful, 3,000-foot paved runway the airport offers. Actually, the models operated from the taxiway that paralleled runway 9. The grass section next to the taxiway was also used for the vintage taildragger models. The ends of the operational area were totally unrestricted, and there wasn't a house, condo, or palm tree to be seen; a Top Gun pilot's dream come true!

Two more important changes in the Top Gun theme were the addition of the Helicopter and World Class flying classes. As promised last year, Top Gun helicopters had their own area, and this entire segment was a complete show in itself with its own judges and flightline.

The newest fixed-wing addition to Top Gun is World Class. Based on the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) scale modeling rules, this competition has completely different judging criteria for static and flight scoring than the rest of the fixed-wing classes.

EVENT SCHEDULE

Top Gun 2002 started on Tuesday, April 23, with field setup and familiarization flights for all contestants. Registration began on Wednesday, as did static judging for all the classes including Helicopter, World Class. Expert and Designer. On Thursday. Expert and Designer static judging continued, and practice flying began. Rounds one and two of the Helicopter competition also got under way. To speed static judging, there were two judging stations this year-one for Expert and the other for both Team and World Class.

Registration ended at noon on Friday, and round three for helicopters began. Static judging also finished up for Team, Expert and Designer classes. On Saturday, rounds one and two for fixed-wing aircraft (all classes) were flown, as was round four for helicopters. Sunday had rounds three and four for fixed-wing aircraft flown, and the event ended with the final awards presentation at 4:30 p.m. The special achievement awards had been handed out at Saturday night's dinner and awards presentation held at the Four Points Sheraton hotel.

Hosted by the hard-working members of the Imperial Radio Control Club, this year's event went very smoothly indeed. Four flightlines handled the fixed-wing flyers, and separate frequencies were designated for both helicopter and fixed-wing radios. On the flightline, there were no runway or landing conflicts at all; not a single glitch or hiccup! This is a great achievement for a first-time host club. Jim Urick was the club liaison for the event, and the expert way the club handled things made the event run smoothly!

Lloyd Tillman, assistant airport director, was also very helpful in getting things to happen. Lloyd and his assistant, Shelly, had fences removed, buildings relocated and, in general, helped make the entire event a tremendous success.. The City of Lakeland's Chamber of Commerce also helped greatly and deserves a note of thanks for providing contacts to get whatever Frank and the Top Gun event needed. Next year, Top Gun will again operate from this wonderful new site. We hear that Frank has some further surprises in store for us, so make sure that you make it down to Lakeland in 2003. With so much of it new and improved, the Top Gun event remains the "must-see" modeling destination! See you there!