Top Gun 2000
Great Pilots - Great Products

Expert scale
1st place - Terry Nitsch - Rafale B O1 - (2) AMT USA Mercury's
3rd place - Tommy Wood - F-4 Phantom - RAM 1000
8th place - Steve Gabrys - MiG-15 - RAM 750
10th place - Tim Redelman - F-4 Phantom - RAM 1000
11th place - Geraldo Diaz - MiG-15 - RAM 750
12th place - Mitch Weiss - MiG-15 - AMT (USA) Mercury


Team Scale
4th place - Caudle/Violett - TV-2 (Navy T-33) - RAM 750
5th place - Valdez - TV-1 (Navy F-80) - RAM 750
7th place - Snyder/Dodgen - MiG-15 - RAM 750
10th place - Arajuo/Gonzalez - Rafale B-O1 - (2) RAM 1000


The results speak for themselves, good modelers, good pilots with good products and technical support will come out on top. And, the top of "Top Gun" is very difficult to achieve - the competition is serious and the rewards for winning are both monetary and self fulfilling.
The competition is so intense that in both the Expert and Team Scale categories the top 5 position scores span less than a 3 point gap out of a possible 200. One half of the score is the static judging portion - a maximum of 100 points. The other half is the average of the 3 best flight scores - a maximum of 100 points.
BVM is very proud of all pilots who used our products, they all completed at least 3 of the 4 rounds, even in some serious crosswind conditions and there were no crashes of BVM products.
Special congratulations goes to Terry Nitsch, now a 5 time winner of Top Gun and Tommy Wood for his 3rd place achievement. Terry and Tommy proved the inevitability of both the BVM Rafale B-O1 and the F-4 Phantom to score well in the accuracy of the outline category of the static score and to be able to handle the grass field and crosswind conditions. Their preparation, piloting skills, and dedication to success are admired by all who strive towards this level of accomplishment.

New Strivers

Steve Gabrys, Tim Redelman, and Mitch Weiss were participating in their first Top Gun competition. They proved themselves and their models worthy by finishing in the top half of the field. They now have a year to absorb and apply the lessons of the event and hone their scale modeling and flying skills. It gets tougher each year - and that's the way it should be.

Bob Violett


The expert scale division winner! Terry Nitsch and very supportive wife Shiela have accomplished this most difficult task 5 times, this time with a twin AMT (USA) Mercury powered Rafale B O1.
Terry really likes the Rafale and feels it is a "natural" to win scale contests. Thanks to Terry and Geoff Combs, the wing tanks that contribute to the scale presence and appearance in flight are now available from BVM.
The big Rafale proved its worthiness under the most demanding conditions at Top Gun. The grass field and strong crosswinds are extra challenging as is the pressure of competing against the best.
The attractive clocks represent the Best Jet and Highest Total flight score awards also garnered by Terry and his Rafale.


Tommy Wood's 60 plus flight experience on this RAM 1000 powered Phantom really paid off at Top Gun. His third place score was less than 2 points behind Terry illustrating the level of expertise it takes to succeed at Top Gun.
The BVM F-4 has always done well at Top Gun because of its extremely rugged airframe and landing gear system. Tommy's low, high speed passes with all of these external stores were thrilling to the thousands of spectators in the grand stands.


BVM's top models and pilots pose at the end of the awards ceremony. Rafale's and Phantoms will be great competition platforms for many Top Gun's to come.


First time Top Gun competitor Tim Redelman placed 10th in Expert with his brand new Phantom in this very attractive scheme.
Tim had at least 10 flights on the F-4 prior to the event. More flight time on the machine and some more time on skin detailing and external stores will allow Tim to advance in this sport - he is driven.


Geraldo and Jack Diaz from Venezuala brought Geraldo's MiG-15 in Polish markings to place 11th in the Expert class. The MiG was actually a back-up model, the intended F-4 was damaged back home.
This father/son team truly enjoy's jet modeling and attending the social affairs associated with the meets. Excellent flying by Geraldo - he posted a flight score of 95.625.


Rei and Albert (RAM team) equipped this Rafale B-O1 with 3 external tanks to demonstrate the power of their engines.
They spent most of their time at Top Gun attending to the needs of their customers - there were 9 RAM powered aircraft entered in the event.


Steve Gabrys placed 8th in the Expert division with his RAM 750 powered MiG-15. This is quite an accomplishment for a first time competitor at Top Gun.
Steve did his homework on the model, had about 40 flights on it prior to the show, paid attention to the other more experienced competitors techniques and proceeded to log some very nice flights. Tim Redelman assists Steve during a start up.

Jerry Caudle built this Navy TV-2 for the show but was unable to attend because of a serious knee problem - a new knee is on order.
Kent Nogy stood in as caller and we flew it to a 4th place finish in Team Scale.
The BVM T-33's and F-80's have competed at Top Gun for 6 years and the landing gear and mounting systems have evolved as a result. They can now handle the turf and crosswinds.
The model is powered by a RAM 750 but full power is used only for take-off. A throttle mix allows us to turn the power down to about 14lbs of thrust in flight for a more scale like flight profile.


Frank Tiano called about a month before Top Gun and said he had a number of invites who cancelled for one reason or another and did we know of anyone who had a competitive model who could do a credible job.
Mitch Weiss had just finished and flown his MiG-15 and yes, with some coaching and practice flying - he could be ready.
As it turned out Mitch totally enjoyed his first Top Gun placing a very respectable 12th in the Expert category. He is really fired up now about next year's event and is already gathering documentation for a combat weary F-100D Super Sabre.


Tom Dodgen (pilot) and Sam Snyder (builder) teamed up for the 2nd year in a row with Sam's beautiful MiG-15 powered by a RAM 750.
This aircraft has over 30,000 rivets on it and really needs to be seen in person to be fully appreciative of the craftsmanship in this model.
Tom and Sam enjoyed themselves thoroughly and finished in 7th place in Team Scale.


The following photo's depict some scale details and various ground and flight shots of the BVM Rafale B-O1, the winner!

The Rafale on take-off roll.

Rei & Albert's 3 tank machine.

If you look closely, you can see the hot exhaust gases from the twin turbines!

More photo's to come.