Mississippi Afterburner 2001
May 19-20

We gathered at the field around 7AM and flew until dusk (about 8:30 PM) on Friday and Saturday. Sunday was a short day, allowing the travelers from Texas, Missouri, Florida, etc. to get home. Everybody certainly got their fill of jet flying.
Tom Dodgen and I logged about 30 flights between us flying the BobCat and F-86 with RAM 500 power (about 17 flawless flights), the MiG-15 (RAM 750) and the F-4 and F-100 on AMT Pegasus power. Not a single engine problem during the 3 days.
Two new BVM Phantoms belonging to Ray Blair and Mike Jensen were tested and flown multiple times during the event.
David Reid's F-4 flew its 2nd through 5th flight with the addition of a gyro on the rudder and some mixing (see the TIPS section - gyro gain control). The results were obvious in that the model was rock solid, most notably in the landing configuration.
Evening meals and aviation video entertainment are served up in the hangar providing an opportunity to visit and discuss the day's events with fellow jet enthusiasts. A nice touch.

Thank you Vernon, Dennis and the Tri-City Club.

Tom Dodgen got a few flights on the BobCat while B.V. was hogging the sticks for 15 during the 2-1/2 day get together. Tom was awarded the "Best Sport Turbine" for his flights. We demonstrated the extremes of the flight envelope with super slow approaches for multiple touch-n-go's, stall turns with inverted snaps on the down leg and high speed, on the deck slow and eight point rolls. Lots of interest and some more orders for BobCats - so we are very busy with production of parts and instruction package.

A new and beautiful Bandit is proudly owned and flown by Brad Long. The RAM 750 powered Bandit logged several flights at Mississippi and Brad is very pleased with his super clean jet.

Bill Hanson and Bill Harris converted this Bandit from Viojett/.91 power to RAM 500 power using a BVM conversion kit. It seems to be a perfect combination. They flew it multiple times during the event - the engine performed flawlessly. Note that the inlet cowls were changed and are still in primer. The FJ Fury paint scheme looks great on the Bandit and is very easy on the eyes in flight.

The Mississippi event offered a great opportunity to show our new F-100D to lots of enthusiasts who had not previously seen it in action. And it has lots of action - even with a full compliment of wing pylons and the long range tanks the Super Sabre can clip along at 200mph. When it's time for the overhead 360 landing pattern, one switch activates the slats and flaps and allows the model to fly very safe and stable slow flight while the gear and speed brake are deployed. Actually, long runways like we had at Mississippi delete the need for the speed brake allowing long, shallow approaches with a very high nose angle at flare out. The leading edge slats are rigged such that they create washout at the tips, thus preventing a tip stall.

Mississippi Phantoms

Missing from the group shots was Dennis Lott's very colorful F-4. Once a pilot gets through the initial flights of his F-4 - he's a Phantom pilot forever. There is a learning curve for the power management of a scale fighter such as the F-4 and F-100. They are power-on machines especially when fully fueled and in the landing pattern. We have a great success record with Phantom flyers who get assistance from others with this kind of experience.

Dennis Lott's F-4

Mike Jensen's orange F-4 was one of the two 1st flight Phantoms at Miss. It's "in-trim" now, C.G. adjusted and Mike should enjoy it for years to come.

As they say in Mississippi - "Now here's a happy camper." David Reid's camo Rhino with shark's mouth and MiG kill markings is a super scale project still underway. David is doing a great job flying his jet besides learning the tricks of scale detailing. Markings are by ProMark.

Ray Blair's Thunderbird Phantom was another first flight success story. The BVM team checked it over, offered a little advice on control rigging, range check, etc. and then was on hand for advice on the first flight. This is the finest specimen of a Thunderbird scheme we have seen. The detailing is beyond the camera's capability. Hope you can see it up close at future events.

Mississippi's main man, Vernon Montgomery readies his F-4 for its 326th flight. Originally powered by twin Viojett's, it was converted last year to a single RAM 1000 and has worked flawlessly ever since. Vernon and Dennis Lott make this event happen and see to it that everyone totally enjoys their weekend of jets. Don't miss it next year.