Fresno Jet Modelers Rally 2016
MADERA RANCHOS — The Fresno Radio Modelers hosted the 21st Annual Fresno-Madera Jet Rally from Thursday, Sept. 22 through Sunday, Sept. 24. We had 26 registered pilots from California, Nevada, and Arizona that brought about 40 turbine and electric powered aircraft. Fun was had by all through three days of flying.
On Saturday, we were joined by over a hundred locals from Madera, Fresno, and the mountain communities that came out to enjoy enjoy the day watching the flying and enjoying the snack bar amenities.
Barry Hou won People’s Choice Award
They also got to participate in the choosing of the 2016 People’s Choice award sponsored by Madera Hobby/Cart Addictions. This year Barry Hou of San Marino won with his 1/5 scale F-16 in Dutch Air Force colors.
Awards were also given for three other categories.
Best Scale Jet Flight (category for aircraft that are modeled after a full sized airplane) went to Neal Smiley of Rancho Dominguez for his amazing F-104 Starfighter in Italian Air Force demonstration colors. Neal is also one of the great ambassadors of modeling, and always willing to talk to spectators, answer questions, and support local events.
Dave Fusinato was a big winner
Dave Fusinato, local club member from Squaw Valley, was the big winner this weekend.
He brought three airplanes to fly and took home awards with two of them. With his Bob Violet Models (BVM) Bandit, he won Best Sport Flight given to the pilot/plane combo who best impressed the crowd with an airplane that is designed to fly well but not necessarily replicate a full-sized airplane. These are most often the hot-rods of any rally and easily reach speeds of 200 mile per hour, even going straight up!
Dave also won Best Electric Jet with his BVM F-16 powered by an electric motor turning a fan internally.
Best Scale Jet Flight, Neal Smiley
We received wonderful support from sponsors, Madera Hobby, BVM, Hobbico, Horizon Hobby, ZAP, Efflux RC, Kingtech Turbines. Our club members worked very hard getting this all together, and it was extremely rewarding to have so many local spectators enjoy in the fun!
Thank you to everybody who came out to enjoy our event with us and give us such tremendous support.
Visit the event site at www.fresnojets.com and the club site at www.frcm.org for more information.
Coarsegold resident Tom Messer is a member Fresno Radio Modelers
