Me too.

YEAH I remember getting a call from Tom Cook, JMP. "Can you bring your camcorder to the field tonight" Sure ,I told Him ,Whats going on? I ask? We are test flying the T-33 with a Turbine.. Ill be their. I was really surprised how easy he made it look. from starting to flying. That Jet Kit is still available and Fly's as good now as it did back than. I was Hooked, But it was years before I got involved.

Ahhhh, memories...
15 to 20 years ago back in New Zealand our local club was having a Fly-In during the winter solstice. Some guy brought out a JPX Turbine mounded to a plank for a demo.
SCUBA tank air start and an external oil tank. It was so cold (About 5-10 degrees celcius) that the oil was to thick for him to start it. Still, it sounded good when he spun it up trying to get the fire lit.

The very first Turbine I heard flying was my very first turbine I got mounted to a Reaction 54 2 to 3 years ago. Jetcat P70. (At least it was until it decided to wrap itself around the front wheel of the landowners Chevy truck! Oops)
Each and every time I fly my Jets now I still get that same kick and tingle down the spine I got when I flew that first Turbine. Especially now I am at a new club where I'm the only Turbine flier out there. Everyone stops and watches the BRIGHT ORANGE jet tear around the sky.

George

I still have a Golden West turbine in great running condition.

Back before the inet days we learned everything from magazines and trade shows. I was attending the wram show in NY in Feb 1993 and i was passing a booth where there was a video playing on a small tv. My ears heard this wonderful sound of a miniature jet engine, as i turn to look there is this byron F-16 going thru its paces powered by a JPX T-240 turbine. I ran and grabbed my two friends, also DF jet guys and we watched this tape over and over again. I was completely hooked on getting a turbine to replace all of my finicky IC DF motors. A year or so later i bought a Golden West FD3-67 engine and the rest is history...ha

V..

In 1997, at Peeler Park in Madison, Tennessee, Johnny Woods was flying a Byron F-86 with a Golden West Turbine.

I remember seeing Seymour's Big Red F-18 at Superman FAN FLY, along with Kent Nogy's JPX Viper - I think it was lime green? I just dug thru my old pics, and the F-18 was there in 1995 - not sure if it was there before that. I need to scan the pics. [8D]

Those days, I was just happy to keep my tuned pipe still attached on landings, pipe coupler not melted all the way thru, and the glow plug intact!

Early ninties TOC Nogy with the JPX Viper and then at the same noontime demo the Big Red F-18 from Yellow with SWB power Fio on the sticks. That demo is burn into my brain as I turned and tolds Steve Stricker " this is going to cost me a lot of money". the next year at Toledo SWB was showing the engine in JMP's booth and Lot's of tires kickers all I wanted to know was when and how much to get one.

How about Turbomin T-60 , T-100 Ray and Alberts " RAM's" first push. Any snow melters still around ??

I built 2 Thomas Kamps motors before the design really took off, The first to use a centrifugal compressor. never got one to run right. But worked well as flame throwers. SCARRY stuff back then.

Some may find it interesting the FD3-64 and early 67 used a plywood built Axil compressor wheel. They did work

It was 1992 and a Byron F-16.... I was there as well. I drove down with Charlie Nelson of Berlin MA. (That was the year he finally won 1st Place @ TG with his Waco YKS).

A French group of people showed up for the week with a 'special' model jet (JPX). I scanned the photos below.

Lebanon "Liberty Bell" Jet Rally, PA, 2002. Amazing.

1995 or 1996, EBRC field in Livermore, CA Rich Fong with BVM T-33 and Jaimie Cortez with F-16, sound was incredible and Rich gave me a complete rundown of how it all worked, years later I have gone wild with 4 jets all ready to fly and building others, 1 for me and another for a friend.

Kevin

That is a great story! and look at you know Paul! The best I know! and always a pleasure. The sound and smell hooked me.



Ron

THAT'S where I know you from.. You were Steve's caller/mechanic for a long time weren't you?

For me, the first time I saw a turbine was when Kent Nogy showed up at the Madera Unlimited R/C Air Races with his modified Viper he had dubbed the 'Ultra Viper' before there was such a thing.. It had a JPX T-240 in it I think that MAYBE put out 8 pounds of thrust. I was blown away to say the least. I think the next time I saw a turbine was the original JPX powered Bandit at the TOC in 1997.

April 2000 I went to this little R/C event that was being held 10 minutes from where I live. It was called Top-Gun.

I had not flown R/C for about 20 years and I decided to check it out since I was retiring from my current hobby, which was Superbike racing. Anyway, I pull into the parking lot just as a black turbine F-4 makes a pass. I rushed into the show to watch the rest of the flight and was completely blown away. That afternoon when I went home and I told my wife I was going to start flying R/C again. I took her back to the show on Saturday, got tickets for the afternoon buffet at the club house and had a blast watching the noon time show as well as more jet flying.

I was hooked from that moment on.

Beave

Ron,
You're not alone buddy. I have the hardest landing award from the 2008 E-Jets great minds think alike!!!
Bob

May 2002, I was in Hong Kong and was told they fly models at the old Kai Tak airport. met all the local Jet flyers and saw my first Turbine flight. Got my first turbine soon after that.
Regards

For those that are nostalgic I have put together a look back at the history of model turbines in the next issue of RCJI. I managed to dig out some old photos including one of my old Kamps powered delta that flew back in 1997. It ran well but had lots of bearing problems and it we mostly only managed a flight or 2 between rebuilds! The fuel pump was a car windscreen washer pump with metal gears. There was of course no ECU available then and I used a boat speed controller to control the speed. Amazing how far we have come since then!

John

Yup, at the birthplace of Jet Meets - Abingdon 1983 when Jerry Jackman flew his BarJay with his home-made turbine (the BarJay's the Boomerang lookalike in the picture!).

Cheers,

Dick
England

My first view of a Jet was at Lake forsyth float and fly New Zealand 2006, it was a very nice scale vampire, yes I was blown away by the smell and the sound, but had just got my first 40 sized trainer, so had to wait a while. Have now completed 19 flights with a boomer Nano, WHAT A GREAT HOBBY !

First time I saw one fly was Jim Hiller flying an Exterminator with a Golden West FD3-67. I believ that this jet was the first one flown for the AMA. That was back in 1991 or 1992 I think not sure of the dates.

I bought the jet from Jim in 2002 I think and installed a Simjet1200 in it. It eventually met a fatly crash for the jet at Michigan Jets in Aug of 2004.
I was flying low and slow when the fuel pump quit.

Joe L.

How manypounds of thrust did those JPX's/Sophia put out??

Must have been over 10 years ago, but Mark Leavesley invited me down to the jet meet at RAF St Athan to spectate.
Had a good look in the pits and starting area. Remember a big Rafale powered by AMT Pegasus.
Also remember the propane fuelled JPX turbines had a very acrid smell when running.

It's been all down hill since

Love this thread...

Falconwings,
JPX had three motors, the T-240, 250 and 260. I believe the 240 was 8.75lbs, the 250 was 10-11lbs and the 260 was 12-13lbs thrust.
V..