The famous invitation only 'Top Gun' Model Show at Palm Beach's Polo Stadium was, last weekend (28th - 29th April) brought down by flak from local residents.

It all started when a model jet went out of control and crashed through the window of a town house in the nearby suburb of Wellington, reported Meghan Meyer in the Palm Beach Post.

Nina Rosato was drying her hair in her bathroom when the model jet came crashing through the ceiling, at about 11am on Saturday, missing her by inches.

Nina's husband Ira Green said that it had knocked his wife to the floor, ripping out insulation tiles and spurting fuel everywhere. 'The whole complex could have burnt down', he claimed.

'The hole was only eight inches in diameter', said Top Gun Show organiser Frank Tiano, 'and was patched up quickly to keep out the rain.' Tiano thought that the model plane, which was a new design with folding wings, probably crashed because of a faulty cell in the battery pack. This could have caused the wings to fold in mid flight.

But the crash was only the beginning of Frank Tiano's problems! A series of bizarre incidents that began with Saturday's crash end on Sunday with a stand off between show organisers and local residents, with Tiano vowing never to bring the show back to Palm Beach.

As the show was preparing to pack up for the day on Saturday, some of the 5,000 spectators spotted the lone figure of a horseman riding out on the adjacent polo field.

It was none other than the polo club owner Glen Straub who was determined to take his afternoon gallop - Top Gun or no Top Gun! Show organiser Tiano said that Straub had decided to play polo - all by himself! Flying of course had to stop because it was not safe to continue. Straub left the field some twenty minutes later after a confrontation with show organisers, claiming he always rode out at 5.00pm!

By Sunday morning, Frank Tiano's problems where still not over. Three local residents had tied helium filled balloons onto a fence directly in the flight path of model aircraft. They were protesting at the noise they had to suffer every time the show came to town.

The balloons were only removed after Frank Tiano promised never to bring the show back.

Tired of the polo stadium owner's antics, and with rising costs of renting the stadium, the resident's action was the final straw. Tiano now wants to host the next Top Gun Show at Boca Raton, where, he says his pilots will be able to stay in hotels closer to the competition.

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Flying Sites by
The Palm Beach Post