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 all branches of the RC design and the competition has continued to evolve to the highest level. Here’s some facts from that first article written by then MAN editor Rich Uravitch.
The first Mr. Top Gun—Bob Fiorenze, 1989
Bob Fiorenze built his magnificent McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet starting with a pre-production Yellow Aircraft kit, and it took about six months worth of 14-hours-a-day effort to complete. It’s just over 8-feet long with a 6-foot wingspan, weighs 27 pounds and was powered by a pair of Dynamax fans driven by two O.S. .77 ducted-fan engines. The fuselage is made of molded fiberglass and Bob used a material called Fascal to cover over all the balsa surfaces. Automotive finishing materials were used for the paint job, including acrylic lacquer color coats. One of the model’s impressive features was the use of electric wheel brakes. The most difficult part of the model’s construction for Bob was the retractable landing gear system which included 10 sequencing gear doors. One channel is used for gear operation; the doors are opened by springs and closed with pull cables. Three servos are used for the door sequencing alone. Though this type of attention to detail is common place today, for its day, this achievement was most noteworthy. Bob also won the 1988 U.S. Scale Masters Championships with his impressive Hornet.
Here’s how the rest of the competition stacked up for the first Top Gun Scale Invitational.
Place Pilot Airplane Score
1 Bob Fiorenze F/A-18 Hornet 183.26
2 Neil Snodgrass Midwing Special 175.15
3 Skip Mast C-130 174.84
4 Cliff Tacie Savoia-Marchetti SM8 1174.69
5 Chuck Fuller Ryan PT-22 174.66
6 Dick Hansen JN4D Jenny 173.67
7 Charlie Nelson Waco VKS-7F 172.84
8 Bob Frey P-47D Thunderbolt 172.64
9 Bob Violett F-86F Sabre Jet 172.55
10 Jeff Foley A6M32 Zero 171.31
11 Shailesh Patel F6F Hellcat 170.20
12 Dave Platt A6M2 Zero 170.02
13 Bill McCallie FW-190D-9 169.03
14 Don Srull &n
bsp; Eindekker E-III 167.58
15 Bob Heitkamp JU-87G-2 Stuka 167.24
16 Diego Lopez F6F Hellcat 167.12
17 Bob Underwood Petlyakov PE-2 165.62
18 Shane Cramer P-47D Thunderbolt 165.23
19 Jack Buckley CAP-1 OB 164.19
20 Bob Hanft Neuport28C-l 163.21
21 Ted White P-47D Thunderbolt 162.87
22 Steve Sauger Aeronca Sedan 162.71
23 Mel Santmeyers Beech Staggerwing G-17 162.45
24 Brian O’Meara Mooney Porsche M20K 161.19
25 Wayne Siewert Spitfire MK XIV 161.19
26 Tom Czikk P-40C Tomahawk159.25
27 Dan Parsons deHavilland Hornet 158.17
28 Charlie Chambers P-5ID Mustang 157.27
29 Bill Carper P-47D Thunderbolt 157.22
30 Chuck Collier Beech Staggerwing 155.23
31 John Guenther Spitfire MK-IX 153.34
32 Tom Street B-17G Flying Fortress 152.59
33 Mike Kulczyk F-105D Thunderchief 109.32
34 Jeff Troy Bleriot XI-2
93.15
35 Art Johnson B-26 Marauder 93.10
36 George Rose P-6E Hawk 88.73
37 Gerry Fingler Hawker Sea Fury MK II 88.68
38 Frank Tiano P-39L Airacobra 84.84
39 Mario Yederlinic Hurricane MK IIC 83.06
Critics Choice Mike Kulczyk
Pilots Choice
(Military) Bob Violett
(Civilian) Steve Sauger
High Flight Score Bob Fiorenze
High Static Score Dave Platt
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Where was the 1st Top Gun held at??