By: Chris Wolfe
In case you couldn’t tell, I love RC jets. I suppose that comes from a combination of a secret desire I have always had to have been a military fighter pilot (my eyes went bad in Jr High, so ended that dream which led my trajectory towards engineering) and growing up watching my dad fly RC jets most every weekend. He was one of the early pioneers of RC jets helping to make common place ducted fan and later turbine powered scale jets. In fact, he was one of the first 10 to even hold a turbine waiver in the US. So I suppose it’s a family passion that runs multiple generations, haha!
When it comes to events, the Arizona Jet Rally is probably mine and my Dad’s favorite event of the year. My dad has not missed this event in it’s entire 27 year run thus far! Always held on the weekending before Thanksgiving and hosted at Superstition Air Park in Mesa, AZ by the Arizona Model Aviators , the event is a great time. The club is an awesome and hospitable group of folks and the field features a beautiful manicured runway nestled amidst the Superstition mountains providing a picturesque desert landscape that is just incredible. Being in the fall, the AZ sky is about the purest blue imaginable and provides sunsets of blue and red that are absolutely unreal! It gives you a new appreciation for the state flag and what inspired it.
At the event, I was flying the new Freewing F-14 Tomcat production prototype (kit review coming in my next article) along with my A-7 Corsair 90mm EDF (pics in gallery ) and logged a ton of flights. My dad logged a number of flights on a Freewing T-45 (his F9F Cougar wasn’t quite ready). Also, our dear friend Ted and his wife from England came to visit and worked out his stay to coincide with this event so he could join us! That made this trip all the more delightful and enjoyable. In the day leading up to the event, he and my dad put together a Phase III F-16 foam jet so he could have something to fly. Of course, every time he visits he brings a transmitter with him just as any proper RC’er should do when staying with another RC’er!
What’s so great about this event is that it’s all about flying. There’s not an insane number of pilots and so there’s not usually a wait for the flight line. So folks can rack up flight after flight however they choose. The weather on Friday was about as perfect as perfect can get….seriously, perfect! That day alone I logged over a dozen flights between my two airplanes! Unfortunately the winds picked up on Saturday and so there was less flying to be had as a whole. One thing to note, there was a resurgence this year of some of the more high-end heavy metal RC jets (vids featured below). They were all way too nice and were scale which I always appreciate. My favorite of the event was probably the large 1/5 scale F-84F Thunderstreak (featured below). Finished completely in aluminum tape (I’m guessing Flite Metal brand) with rivets etc. it was absolutely gorgeous.
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The RC Geek Blog is your place to learn about all aspects of the RC hobby. Learn to build, design, drive or fly that RC project you’ve always wanted to build, but have been intimidated to try. This blog is here to help you on your journey and provide tips and tricks as you go! My hope is to inspire builders both experienced and new! So, welcome, please look around, it’s an exciting beginning! I’m currently documenting my latest competition scale RC jet build, a Mark Frankel F4D Skyray, along with some other fun tips and videos. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on this front page, click on any of the categories to the right and it will show just posts related to those categories. Please feel free to add comments and/or contact me directly if you have questions, I’m here to help! And don’t forget to check out my YouTube Channel, I post new videos every week!
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