FLORIDA JETS
comments from Bob Violett

We were fortunate to enjoy 3-1/2 days of perfect weather - even the wind was almost always down the runway. Lots of jet pilots traveled across the USA. Some came from England, Germany, Canada, Puerto Rico and South America to be part of this great happening in the jet world.

Florida Jets is like "the opener" event for the season. Manufacturers struggle diligently to show off what's new or almost available for the coming season.

For BVM, the Rafale B O1 was the big issue. I test flew the first production prototype Wednesday evening (24 Feb.) at the event site. Lucky for me it worked well. We adjusted the C.G. slightly and fine tuned the control surface travels and went on to fly the model six more times during the event. The thrill of operating 2 RAM turbines in such a massive model is very rewarding - kind of the ultimate jet modeling experience.

The Rafale was so liked by all that it received 3 awards at the Saturday night banquet - Best Multi-Engine Performance (sponsored by JR Radio's), Engineering Excellence (sponsored by the ZAP GANG), and Critics Choice (sponsored by Airtronics).

Most of the credit for this achievement belongs to Franz Walti - the model's designer, Sam Leonard (now employed at BVM) who built and painted this beautiful specimen and Don Smith (BVM production manager) who crafted the undercarriage. CAD designer Arturo Zapata accomplished the design of all of the internal parts that are factory installed and worked with BVM's own Roger Nemec to produce the kit plans. It takes a good team of dedicated and talented people to bring such a project to completion.

Franz planned his family vacation to Florida's attractions to include a visit to BVM just in time to help us give the model a final check out before the big event.

During the event hundreds of safe flights were logged by 167 pilots with only a few incidents. Closer compliance with the AMA's "Turbine Waiver Guidelines" could have prevented some of these.

Turbine activity is definitely on the rise and the consumer now has many to choose from. Factory representatives from AMT, RAM, JPX, and Golden West (JET-CAT) were on hand demonstrating their latest power systems.

Ducted Fan activity was still strong and the sales of the VIOFAN/BVM .96 at the show confirms that this economical and reliable source of power will be around for a long time.

Rob Lynch, flying his .96 powered Bandit "V", demonstrated just how good a fan powered aerobatic sport jet can perform. Rob was awarded the Best Sport Jet Performance (Ducted Fan) crystal trophy.

The BVM booth was very busy with demonstrations of our new products like Heat Shield, Aluminum Fuel Tank Caps, and the now available MiG-15 kit.

On a personal note, I must apologize for not being more conversational. I was afflicted with laryngitis the entire event and am just now (4 days later) getting my voice back.

 I assisted 4 new jet pilots to partake in their first event with their BANDIT "T"s.

Florida Jets is now a very established major international jet event. Those who have witnessed it will surely advise that it is worth the trip. Hope you can make it next year.

Sincerely,
Bob Violett

LIST OF AWARDS

This panoramic shot gives you an idea on the size of this event. This picture was taken on Saturday during the noon time static display.

Francis Pischner brought out this Maverick which sports a very nice color scheme.

WOW best describes these colors. Using flourescent lime green paint with checkerboard designs that were also painted on (no decals), this Maverick Pro really stood out all weekend.

Here's Jack Mallery's JPX propane powered Bandit on takeoff.

Billy Harrod took some time to pose with his RAM powered Bandit after the first flight. Bill Harris assisted for some test flights on this model that was built by Paul Hopkins.

The new BVM Rafale B O1 really stands out with the sport paint scheme.

Just after takeoff the Rafale begins retracting the gear for another impressive flight.

After collecting 3 awards on Saturday night, Sam Leonard and Bob Violett show off their beautiful crystal awards.

Raymond Piette finished this Maverick just before Florida Jets. With the help of Rob Lynch, they were able to complete some test flights and fly it at Florida Jets. Raymond's son, Marc pictured here with Rob Lynch is new to the jet scene, but is learning fast with help from Rob.