Frank Tiano

I hate writing an obituary for a guy I knew. What do you say? Best to tell the truth as I knew it. Frank Tiano passed away in January 2021 and his death was both personal and a big deal for the modeling industry. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, maybe his business line of adhesives will, ZAP.

Above all else, Frank Tiano was a promoter. Best I ever knew. Not that I knew him very well, but when I called and said, Hi, it’s John, he knew who I was. Not friends, that wouldn’t be accurate, but very close to the truth is he’d stop what he was doing to make time to chat with me. Pretty nice of him considering we’re both in the industry but he was the big deal.

And if asked (and I always picked his brain, so I did ask) he’d generously share a few of his insights and thoughts for what I could do better with my own business. Why? Because it’s just how he thought. He was always thinking. Along with being very astute and sharp, he was observant and would generously opine on things of import. And if we’re being honest, it’s worth noting two thing, he’d give you the shirt off his back whilst at the same time, having a short fuse for suffering fools.

Point being his loss is personal ‘and’ will be felt throughout the RC industry. Here’s why. Insiders knew him for promoting. What? His line of adhesives. FTE’s what put food on the table for Frank and Carol and he never lost sight of that. Not for a moment. Frank, basically the personification of FTE (Frank Tiano Enterprises) was what he was about. That, and a provider of American jobs, and an all around savvy guy.

What else is there to say? My being in the hobby business maybe gives me a little insight that’s different from what others may have to share. Reason is, I’m a little fish in this business so I study the players. Frank was a consummate player in the RC business. Let me tell you something, the adhesive business is not an easy gig. Not with the likes of Bob Smith Industries, and the distribution giants (tails that wag the industry-dog, like Horizon) competing for the same customer. Basically, they’re all looking to eat his lunch. Not personal, business.

But Frank played on a different level. He was where they weren’t. Ran circles around them, in truth. Whilst the 18th century had PT Barnum, in our times we had Frank Tiano. To help you understand the guy . . . he was always thinking. Do you know what that means? When I say always thinking, from the perspective of another businessman, I simply can’t offer a higher compliment. For example, to promote his business he dreamed up a modeling event.

But being who he was – a marketing genius in combination with a driven type of guy – the event he dreamed up grew to became a happening. You grok happening? Woodstock in the 60’s – that was a happening (albeit on a national scale).

On a modeling-scale, what he dreamed up became something similar. No, not hundreds of thousands of participants but a lot in modeling terms, hundreds of models and thousands of spectators. See, I’m not kidding when I say a ‘happening’. Top Gun. Heard of it? Bet a milkshake you have. Prize events,too. Money. Money attracts talent. Always has, always will.

Said happening – Top Gun – soon became bigger than one man. Became a ‘big’ deal. And as if that weren’t enough, he did it again! Two happenings. By sheer force of personality and perseverance. What’s more, he had his sights on a third! Seriously, I couldn’t make this up if I tried! Add to it work. Hard work, plenty of it. He threw himself heart and soul into promoting these events because it differentiated him from all the others in the adhesives business. And he recruited help, fine people, all.

But like I said, the events grew to be more than about his business because he loved modeling. Scale modeling. The three events were Top Gun, Florida Jets, and 12 O’clock High. Where do I come into the story? Don’t in terms of the events. Nothing whatsoever to do with them.

I first got to know Frank in the mid-90s. Met at Toledo and hit it off. Not friends because it wasn’t like that, more like tolerant big brother, but not that close. Maybe kindly uncle. Took time for me. Don’t know why, maybe he just liked me. Anyway, against competitors with decent products at decent prices, he offered up a premium product line. Hard to do. More difficult than anyone not in the business can comprehend. Just trust me, he did really, really good.

Creating a product like ZAP within this industry, with a high standing, took a Frank Tiano. If you knew him, this is understood, and if you didn’t then grab a cold one and sit back. I’ll steal a few minutes of your time and in return share a little insight into someone you would have liked.

(Note date for 2020 – not the traditional end of April but late October. Why? The pandemic. Threw a spanner into our entire country – 4/2021).

Believe me when I say Frank Tiano did the sport a lot of good. Above, an example of how he promoted the events. He did it first class. With big money 4-color adverts in the big time modeling magazines. The oldest and biggest is Model Airplane News. So naturally, that’s who he partnered with!

So Top Gun was his special baby. Started it about ten years after launching the ZAP line of adhesives. Told me he didn’t have a clue what it would grow to become. Anyway, and without question, he was the motive force that made it happen. Sure, maybe it began as a gimmick to promote his business but it didn’t stay that way long. Why not? Simple it’s because while it started as purely a blue sky venture, because he loved scale models as much as he loved FTE (and maybe half as much as Carol, his better half), he lavished it with attention. Not kidding to say he grew it from nothing!

Note; don’t confuse Frank’s Top Gun with the Navy Fighter Weapons School school at Miramar as depicted in the Cruise-movie, Top Gun. That one’s no closer to those of us flying RC models than for the average red-blooded American because – duh – US Navy only, fighters, best each class. Totally different thing. But for us – regular modelers – Frank’s Top Gun event was a real thing we could touch. Something we could take part in. Tangible. An event, and eventually . . . a happening!

How big a deal? Took up the better part of a week. Didn’t put Lakeland, FL on the map (Sun-N-Fun does that) but definitely filled more than a few hotels rooms, goosed sales at local restaurants, and gave modeling good press. Master at obtaining good press and shared it around.

And like I said, more than one event so he filled a few hotels several times a year between Top Gun, Florida Jets, and 12 O’clock high!

So why did it become an event? Because Frank made it his business to attract scale model builders of a certain caliber. The kind, if their models were for sale, museums would pay big money for. Who built and attended?

Over the years the names read like a whos-who of competitive scale modeling. Top builders he attracted have names like Nitsch, Violet, Chambers, Hahn, Goldsmith, and Becker. And many more. Reason is that in the more than 30 years spent producing the event (and producing is a perfect word for what became a show), there were many winners.

Winners in many classes. This, because he wanted to grow the sport. So he created openings for a lot of fellows by having several classes. Gave a lot of a people a shot. This meant Expert Class, Designer Class, Masters Class, for example, Bottom line? Over the years a lot of Top Gun winners. After all, he ran the event more than 3 decades!

But the only winner that matters each year – the one – was Mr. Top Gun. You see, there was only one of those each year. The entry with the highest total score (combined static plus the average of flight scores). And Mr. Top Gun came not from any one class but from whomever had the most points.

For example, Expert Class meant the model could start from kit or plans. Designer meant own-design. Frank Tiano made little distinction where you began, what mattered is where you finished. The details counted. The more, the better. And for that there were judges.

We’ve lost a giant in Frank Tiano. Never be another quite like him. Never met him? You’re the worse for it. What’s on the horizon? The event is scheduled for April 2021. Ray Labonte will shoulder the burden and CD. God Bless him. Big shoes to fill.