Is that a fighter jet in your boot!

The things that go on in fields around the UK, on warm weekend days with the smell of aviation gas in the air. I mean, just look at it – it’s a scale model jet fighter with a real jet engine!

We’ve all seen the odd propeller-powered model plane or real-rotary helicopter nipping around over English fields, but who knew that people built and flew real mini jet fighters?

Ford has lent a couple of their full-size MPVs, the S-Max, to Britain’s Dave Wiltshire and Steve Roberts to carry their incredible aircraft to the World Model Jet Flying Championships, in Germany.

The guys needed an S-Max as, as you can see, these planes are pretty big - up to two metres in length, weigh 15kg and are worth, wait for it, in excess of £10,000. You have to build them yourself – although the engines can be bought – and the more detail and homemade engineering the better. Impressive stuff indeed.

Dave and Steve – off to ‘invade’ Germany in the international competition - are well known to most on the UK model jet scene. Dave is often to be found at jet events in the UK, flying one of his own fleet. He currently has 15 jets, all self-built. That’s one committed modelist.

Dave commented: “It’s a tremendous help to have such a versatile and spacious vehicle. It makes our job of getting to the championships so much easier – not to mention more enjoyable. We hope to do it justice by bringing home the cup!”

Indeed, or at least beat the Germans! If you went wide-eyed – like me – when you saw these jet pics for the first time, take a search on YouTube for plenty of videos. There’s some incredible mini aircraft action to enjoy, but it looks expensive when it goes wrong!




 
 




 
By Daniel Anslow

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