by TOM ATWOOD - Model Airplane News

• Above: Garland Hamilton s F-86, which was built
from a BVM kit.
The BVM F-86
eup: owners (from
nt to back}—Bill Har-
, Bob Violetl, Jerry
sch, Ron Gilman, Patty
lett and Paul Schuessler, a
M exhibition model and Gerry
udle. Garland Hamilton's model
dn't yet been repaired after Us
iking in "Hamiltion Lake."
Above: Ron Gilman s face shows intense concentration.
• Ron Gilman's Skyblazer on one of
its last flights.
exhibition in the U.S. today.
After weeks of eager anticipation, I eventually arrived at the
luxurious Palm
Beach Polo club in
West Palm Beach,
FL, the site for this
year's Top Gun.
Posters advertising
the event taped to
street signs at freeway
exits 15 miles
away, custodians at
all points
of entry to
the
Paul Schuessler, Patty Violett, Terry Nitsch, Bob Violett grounds,
and Ron Gilman in the winners' lineup. Ron s Sky blazer (not and a large
shown) went in while flying with the BVM F-16 exhibition
plane concession
area preparing
for
the crowds
indicated
the event
had been
U S. AIR FORCE
planned to
run like
clockwork.
Still, I
wasn't
prepared
for the eyeopening
spectacle
that was in
store!
! At the
flying site,
' a large
concrete
stadium crowned with a
"control tower" faced a
huge, well-manicured
flying field. One
couldn't help but be impressed
by the large expanse
of closely cut
grass stretching across
multiple polo fields.
Chalk lines delineated the
runway and the flight lines
along the field. A second runway
was set at a 45-degree
angle to the first to accommo-
• Left above: Terry Nitsch s F-86F drops
its tanks. • Left: Garland Hamilton (left)
and Bob Violett (right) prepare Garland's
F-86F for flight.
SEPTEMBER 1991 47