Road to Top Gun 2015


MAN at Top Gun — Thursday Tent Tour — David Wigley

MAN at Top Gun — Thursday Tent Tour — David Wigley

We arrived at Top Gun today and headed straight to the flightline. We bumped into Past Mr. Top Gun winner David Wigley who was getting ready for Static judging. This year he again is competing with his amazing Bristol Beaufighter. The 1/5-scale British warbird has a 138 inch wingspan and is powered by two BME 102cc […]
Road to Top Gun: Brian O’Meara’s “Sleepy Jean”

Road to Top Gun: Brian O’Meara’s “Sleepy Jean”

Brian O’Meara has been practicing for his return to Pro Am Pro with his monstrous 1/3-scale P-47, and Tony Quist’s photo shows just how large this airplane is! This Thunderbolt has a 144-inch span and is powered by a ZDZ 420cc 4-cylinder engine spinning a Bold 38×13 prop. The bombs are 7 inches in diameter!
Road to Top Gun — Marco Benincasa, Hawk 100

Road to Top Gun — Marco Benincasa, Hawk 100

We’ve just heard from our good friend and editor of the Italian RC Model magazine Modellistica and he let us know that for this year’s Top Gun, he will be flying a new model, the Hawk 100 from a Skymaster kit. He no longer has his impressive F100 (he sold it) so he sent us some pics of his […]
Road to Top Gun — Pre-Event Stats

Road to Top Gun — Pre-Event Stats

Pulling together an event as big and as nuanced as Top Gun, a lot of planning comes into play. Also, there’s a lot of paperwork involved, and one of the important sheets of paper is the Pilot Registration/Bio form. Frank Tiano the mastermind of, and creator of the Top Gun Scale Invitational, just tabulated some interesting numbers […]
Road to Top Gun: Shaun Roblee — Grumman Hellcat

Road to Top Gun: Shaun Roblee — Grumman Hellcat

Shaun Roblee of Huntington Beach California, will be traveling to Top Gun this year with his impressive Grumman Hellcat. Using a fiberglass fuselage and built up wing and tail featuers, Shaun says he chose the Ziroli Hellcat because he just loves the way they fly. As for a full scale project, I wanted to do the big […]
Road to Top Gun: Fernando Caveira’s P-47 Thunderbolt

Road to Top Gun: Fernando Caveira’s P-47 Thunderbolt

Check out Brazilian competitor Fernando Caveira’s Meister P-47! He spent over 1,100 hours building this warbird, and he powers it with a Moki 180cc gas engine. Fernando is getting his model ready for the journey to Lakeland, Florida, which will take close to 3 weeks and uses a custom-made shipping crate. We can’t wait to […]
Road to Top Gun — Tom Wood — Blue Angels F-18 Hornet

Road to Top Gun — Tom Wood — Blue Angels F-18 Hornet

For this year’s Top Gun Scale Invitational, Tom Wood, a corporate pilot from Lakeland, FL  (shown with Hornet), is the builder of this impressive F-18 Hornet. Sandro Novelli from Canada will be the pilot for this entry in Team Class. Tom started with a Yellow Aircraft kit, (no longer available), and chose the classic US Navy […]
Road to Top Gun — Mike Barbee — Grumman FM-2 Wildcat — Update

Road to Top Gun — Mike Barbee — Grumman FM-2 Wildcat — Update

No stranger to scale competition or the Top Gun Scale Invitational, Mike Barbee has been very busy in his workshop in progress putting together his newest Top Gun competition machine, the Grumman FM-2 Wildcat. The stubby warbird is 30% scale, has a wingspan is 142 inches and a length of 94 inches. The landing gear is scale in function, is electric and […]
The First Top Gun Scale Invitational

The First Top Gun Scale Invitational

It was in the August 1989 issue of MAN that our readers were introduced to what was to become one of the greatest RC scale airplane competitions in the world. The brainchild of Frank Tiano, Top Gun the event has redefined the hobby and sport of scale competition. it pushed the standards of excellence for […]
Road to Top Gun — Walt Carnes — Hawker Sea Fury

Road to Top Gun — Walt Carnes — Hawker Sea Fury

Walt Carnes builder of this impressive Hawker Sea Fury, will be attending Top Gun 2015 and will again compete in Team Scale with Greg Foushi as his pilot. Currently Walt is adding Navigation and Landing Lights to his Sea Fury. Sawbones is modeled after a full scale Sea Fury and it is 22.5% scale in size. Walt […]
Road to Top Gun — Marco Benincasa — North American F-100 Super Sabre

Road to Top Gun — Marco Benincasa — North American F-100 Super Sabre

We just heard from our Top Gun buddy Marco Benincasa who told us he will be flying in the  ProAm Pro Jet class at Top Gun 2015 with his beautiful North American F-100. Marco built the F-100 from a Feibao kit and is using the new Evojet 220 turbine engine for power. The Super Sabre […]
Road to Top Gun: Rei Gonzalez’s Republic F84F Thunderstreak

Road to Top Gun: Rei Gonzalez’s Republic F84F Thunderstreak

For 2015, Rei Gonzalez is returning to Top Gun with this amazing F-84F and will be entering in Team Scale.  The builder is Phillip Noel (from Walton-On-The-Naze, UK) and Rei will be the fearless pilot! The aircraft is 1/5-scale and is not an ARF!  Built from a Michel Knol kit and the model is a fiberglass fuselage and […]
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