Author Topic: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA  (Read 6446 times)

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Offline Uhhuh35

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Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« on: August 03, 2008, 07:09:59 PM »
Well I've been flying model airplanes for almost 40 years and have never seen the turbine jet side of the hobby in person. So my son and I went saturday to a jet rally in Marietta to check out the action.

Beautiful Grumman F9F Panther.






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Offline rich_t

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #1 on: August 03, 2008, 07:12:12 PM »
Pretty cool
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #2 on: August 03, 2008, 07:13:46 PM »
Although this BVM (Bob Violett Models) Ultra Bandit isn't modeled after a real jet, this gives you an idea as to it's size. The general idea is that the bigger the model, the better it flies.

Model jet engines are started with Propane then switch to Kerosene for the flight.
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #3 on: August 03, 2008, 07:20:43 PM »
Nice F-86.

A Rafale jet from the same manufacturer.

The turbine unit goes here!

Here's a link to the BVM site if you want more info:
http://www.bvmjets.com/Pages/kits/rafalehs.htm
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #4 on: August 03, 2008, 07:25:31 PM »
Tiger camo F-16 and another Rafale jet.






Spectators were kept away from the flight line so I got far fewer pics than I wanted. I guess I could solve that problem by being a pilot in next years event! Anybody wanna' loan me about $5,000 for a complete kit?  :-)
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #5 on: August 03, 2008, 07:29:49 PM »
As with anything mechanically complicated, malfunctions do happen.





But the models were ok and the only thing hurt was the pilots pride!
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #6 on: August 03, 2008, 07:35:41 PM »
How do they keep from losing them from radio control distance?  Satellite or something?
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #7 on: August 03, 2008, 07:37:29 PM »
I tried to capture a few of the planes in action but I couldn't keep up with em!





The model jets sound similar to the full size ones. Imagine hearing a small electric motor doing 100,000 rpm with the sound of air "wooshing" on top of it. Only the explosive sound of JP-4 is missing.
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #8 on: August 03, 2008, 07:44:48 PM »
How do they keep from losing them from radio control distance?  Satellite or something?
The pilot holds a transmitter that sends radio signals to a receiver in the plane. The receiver then sends those signals to small servos that actuate the control surfaces, engine, landing gear and whatever else he has set up to control. Modern R/C radio equipment has a range of a mile or more. But at that distance you can't see the plane so most pilots stay within about an 1/8th mile max.
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #9 on: August 03, 2008, 07:52:01 PM »
How do they keep from losing them from radio control distance?  Satellite or something?
The pilot holds a transmitter that sends radio signals to a receiver in the plane. The receiver then sends those signals to small servos that actuate the control surfaces, engine, landing gear and whatever else he has set up to control. Modern R/C radio equipment has a range of a mile or more. But at that distance you can't see the plane so most pilots stay within about an 1/8th mile max.
I know how radio controls work -- I think I saw on TV something about a problem with RC jets going out of controller range because they are so fast...
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #10 on: August 03, 2008, 07:52:45 PM »
There were a few electric jets in attendance. This F-16 is about 3 feet long and flew really well for a smaller model. No "wooshing" sound though just a screaming electric motor!  :-)


I honestly don't know how I got this nice pic of an L-39 Delfin landing, just lucky I guess. Most landings this day were not as smooth as this one looks. Most were all over the runway on takeoff and many bounced pretty high from the hard landings. One ended up in that cornfield behind the runway snapping off it's nose cone.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2008, 07:56:20 PM by Uhhuh35 »
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #11 on: August 03, 2008, 08:03:19 PM »
The nicest model of the event was this F-4 Phantom. Made the best, most realistic flights too.





This one had an added scale detail: Scale Sound! Anyone who was around F-4's when they were in the service knew the unique sound it made when it was in the landing pattern. Besides the loud roar of it's engines, the F-4 made a "howling" sound as the pilot jockeyed the throttle. This model made that same sound! Must be the unique shape of the air inlets. Amazing.
« Last Edit: August 03, 2008, 08:08:37 PM by Uhhuh35 »
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Offline rich_t

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #12 on: August 03, 2008, 08:07:30 PM »
I wonder how many servos are in that F4.
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #13 on: August 03, 2008, 08:07:53 PM »
I know how radio controls work -- I think I saw on TV something about a problem with RC jets going out of controller range because they are so fast...
Well speed really isn't a factor as radio signals travel much faster than the plane. The problem is that the plane can fly faster than the average pilot's brain can react so the pilot has to "think ahead" of the aircraft and plan maneuvers in advance.
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Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #14 on: August 03, 2008, 08:13:40 PM »
Nice model of the British DeHavilland Vampire. But alas!


Landed hard on it's one and only flight of the day.
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Offline Chris_

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #15 on: August 03, 2008, 08:24:40 PM »
I know how radio controls work -- I think I saw on TV something about a problem with RC jets going out of controller range because they are so fast...
Well speed really isn't a factor as radio signals travel much faster than the plane. The problem is that the plane can fly faster than the average pilot's brain can react so the pilot has to "think ahead" of the aircraft and plan maneuvers in advance.
That's what I meant -- there isn't a lot of time to make sure your plane doesn't get beyond range before turning it to keep it in range-- I was wondering if there are any special failsafes or new technologies to deal with that.

Very cool pics, btw -- I envy you.  Sorry about not having the $5K handy.
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Offline Ptarmigan

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #16 on: August 03, 2008, 11:30:19 PM »
Cool. I used to fly RC airplanes myself, but I got too busy. I am considering going back to RC flying by the fall hopefully.
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Offline JohnnyReb

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #17 on: August 04, 2008, 03:26:47 AM »
Flying models for 40 years, huh. I got my first gas powered model at 12 years of age........DANG! That was 50 years ago. It was a Ringmaster Jr. with a McCoy 29 engine. It was way overpowered and to nose heavy to do much more than get me interested in faster planes. Started flying in contest at 14, rat race and combat(controlline of course). Did that for a few years and had an attic full of trophies until "X" threw'em out.

Seems the jets have come a long way from the old Dyna-jets of my time.....LOL It's all come a long way from my time. I got a few old racing engines around here somewhere and 3 or 4 brand new Super Tigre and Fox combat engines still in the box.

Since you're still flying, maybe you can tell me how many of these manufactures are now defunk.

Engines-Fox, K&B, McCoy, Hi Johnson, VECO, Super Tigre, Cox, Hornet, Dyna-jet.

Kits-Sterling, VECO, Goldberg, Midwest, Dumus, ...uh,...uh ....just can't remember to many of the kit manufactures but there were a slew of them 50 years ago.

LOL :-) :-)....and I was getting unwillingly high off of glue and 'dope' long before I knew it was supposed to be fun.
“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."  Stalin

Offline Uhhuh35

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #18 on: August 04, 2008, 01:04:18 PM »
Flying models for 40 years, huh. I got my first gas powered model at 12 years of age........DANG! That was 50 years ago. It was a Ringmaster Jr. with a McCoy 29 engine. It was way overpowered and to nose heavy to do much more than get me interested in faster planes. Started flying in contest at 14, rat race and combat(controlline of course). Did that for a few years and had an attic full of trophies until "X" threw'em out.
The Ringmaster was a pretty good looking plane. I've located a set of reproduction plans and will probably build one during this winter building season. When I was 14 or 15 I had a Flight Streak with a "Two Bolt" Fox 35 in it. That was the first engine I learned to start by myself and fly inverted. No electric starters back then, we had to hand prop em' remember?   :-)
Here's my first plane, a Magician. The date on the pic says February 69 but I built it in the summer of 68 and soloed it a little later that year. I have an 8mm film of me flying it but I haven't converted it to something I can play on my computer. 40 years later i'm working on another Magician, now kitted by Brodak Models, but I'm thinking of putting a 4-stroke or an electric motor in it this time.

My dad and I flew a control line speed Formula 40 racer with a rear exhaust K&B 40 for a while but never in competition. You had to get it in a "grove" before one lap around because the elevators would lock from the speed! We hand timed it at a best of 145 mph. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Those were good times!
Seems the jets have come a long way from the old Dyna-jets of my time.....LOL It's all come a long way from my time. I got a few old racing engines around here somewhere and 3 or 4 brand new Super Tigre and Fox combat engines still in the box.
We flew a Dyna-Jet once. Used a bicycle pump to start it! Those jets made a lot of noise and attracted a lot of attention but were fairly easy to fly and were a bit slower than their propped bretheren.
Since you're still flying, maybe you can tell me how many of these manufactures are now defunk.
Engines-Fox, K&B, McCoy, Hi Johnson, VECO, Super Tigre, Cox, Hornet, Dyna-jet.
Kits-Sterling, VECO, Goldberg, Midwest, Dumus, ...uh,...uh ....just can't remember to many of the kit manufactures but there were a slew of them 50 years ago.
LOL :-) :-)....and I was getting unwillingly high off of glue and 'dope' long before I knew it was supposed to be fun.
All of those engine manufacturers are now out of business except for Super Tigre, which is Taiwanese. Depending on what you have and it's condition, they could be worth a small fortune.
Some of those kit manufacturers are still in business, Goldberg and Dumas though they are more R/C centric nowadays. If you still have some of the old kits with all the parts, they could be worth a lot more than you originally paid for them. Hang on to em'! Remember the old "Die Cutting" method used in cutting out the parts for the kits? After a while the dies became dull and sometimes you got a kit that had parts that were more "Die Crunched" than Die Cut! Laser cutting has since solved that problem :-)
Remember when Testors, in response to complaints about glue smelling so bad, put out a "Lemon Scented" glue for the plastic models? I wonder how many addicts got their start from that? I hated it because it made my models smell like lemons, not cool and very un-military!
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— Albert Einstein.

Offline JohnnyReb

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Re: Liberty Bell Jet Rally, Marietta PA
« Reply #19 on: August 04, 2008, 06:03:51 PM »
 Uhhuh35 ........Thanks for the long reply.

Oh yes, the old Flite Streaks by George Aldrich(sp) designer of the old Nobler stunt plane. The Nobler was "the Standard" in it's day. Back to the Flite Streaks, we used to hinge the pieces that you were supposed to glue to the back of the wings. Putting flaps on them and running a "hot" engine on Missle Mist with a 9-7 or 9-8 prop, they were pretty good combat planes. You could pull a 4 foot inside or outside loop and no loss of speed with that arrangement.

Just checked my old planes and engines out. Going to list a few and explainations.

2-VooDoo's... flyable and one in the box.
1-heavily modified Flite Streak.
1-Royal Rodent rat racer.
1-Shoestring Stunter.
1-unusual self-design slow combat plane.
1-out of the ordinary self design fast combat.
1-self designed slow rat racer
...and what's left of a VECO kitted Renegade combat plane that I'm going to use for a pattern someday to build another......these were my favorite combat planes in the early 60's. They were the lightest, hottest, most sensitive thing flying way back then.

Engine wise I got.
1-1960 Super tigre G21 35 BBL that's been tuned and chromed for RR and Combat.   
1-1962 Super Tigre G21 35 BBl  tuned same as above.
1- appox '62 Fox 40 RR Special with new piston and sleeve but not broken in yet.
1- appox 1975 Fox 35 Combat Special not quite broken in completely yet.
2 - Fox 35's same as above still in the box. never run.

Most of these planes are at least 30 years old or older. Don't know if they'd hold up to flying again but my 13 year old son has shown some interest lately, might get'em out. Now if I can just find some 20-25% fuel mix for them. The last time I talked to anyone about 2 cycle engine fuel 5 to 10% was about the hottest they ever heard of.......and to think we used to run FOX 50/50 or our own homebrews that were way "hot"..

Thanks again, I've enjoyed this thread. ....and those jet pictures are fantastic.

“The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of ‘liberalism’, they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened.” - Norman Thomas, U.S. Socialist Party presidential candidate 1940, 1944 and 1948

"America is like a healthy body and its resistance is threefold: its patriotism, its morality, and its spiritual life. If we can undermine these three areas, America will collapse from within."  Stalin