Radio Control: Helicopters

Radio Control: Helicopters

Walt Schoonard

I HAVE BEEN telling you about the advantage of attending helicopter meets. You may feel that you are not up to flying in a meet whether it be competition or a fun-fly, but there is no better way to get first hand information and help than at one of these meets. Don't leave your machine at home—take it with you and enter. This way you will be one of the guys and not an outsider. Most fliers, myself included, tend to put off someone just asking questions and has not even bothered to enter the meet. After all, how can one tell how sincere a person is unless they are at least trying.

I am listing in this column some fun-fly meets and some competitive ones that I urge you to take advantage of. The fun-flys are listed first, and the competitive ones later. They will all be AMA sanctioned.

• August 28-29—Miami, FL. Charlie Grey CD, 19360 West Andrews Dr., Miami, FL 33015. Host: Florida RC Helicopter Assn.
• October 2-3—Fort Rucker, AL. Hal Beauchesne CD, 107 Glenwood Lane, Enterprise, AL 36330. This meeting is being held on the Army helicopter flight training base. There is a helicopter museum as well as practically every type of helicopter in the world. They also have a flight simulator that you can try to fly—this is an experience in itself. Write Hal for more information. Host: Florida Helicopter Assn.
• May 23—Davenport, IA. Wayne Krager CD, 4131 Fillmore Lane, Davenport, IA 52806. Host: Davenport RC Society.
• June 6—Peoria, IL. Rich Atkinson CD, 909 East Giff, Peoria, IL 61603. Sponsor: Peoria RC Club Helicopters.
• June 27—Elgin, IL. Lloyd Wheller CD, 995 N. McLean Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Host: Elgin Academy RC Flyers.
• July 11—Terre Haute, IN. Ed Ice CD, 1208 N. 15th St., Terre Haute, IN 47807. Host: Terre Haute RC Club.
• August 15—Peoria, IL. Rich Atkinson CD, 909 East Giff, Peoria, IL 61603. Host: Peoria RC Club.
• September 12—Champaign, IL. Al Erwin CD, 1312 West Hill St., Champaign, IL. Host: Champaign County RC Club.

Competitive Meets

• May 15-16—Jacksonville, FL. Rebel Rally. Walt Schoonard CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules—Novice, Intermediate, Expert. Host: Florida RC Helicopter Assn.
• June 20—Atlanta, GA. Atlanta Helicopter Contest. Dan Dougherty CD, 3761 Macedonia Rd., Powder Springs, GA 30073. Novice, Intermediate, Expert.
• July 17-18—Greenville, PA. National RC Helicopter Assn. Nationals. Bill Curtis CD, RD #2, Greenville, PA 16125.
• July 30-31, August 1—Dayton, OH. AMA Helicopter Nationals. Walt Schoonard CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules—Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Scale.
• December 31—Winter Park, FL. Tangerine International RC Championships. Walt Schoonard CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules—Novice, Intermediate, Expert.

There are many other meets listed in AMA Competition News so you should be able to find a good helicopter meet this summer and please do attend. I will be looking forward to meeting you personally.

Let's talk a little about setting up your machine to compete. First of all, it should start easily. There is nothing more irritating than to have a balky starting helicopter, especially when a lot of people are watching! The engine should be able to idle reliably. You should have the blades tracking and the helicopter trimmed out to fly practically hands off. You don't want to be fighting the helicopter while you are competing. Set it up to do smooth and gentle flying. The novice and intermediate maneuvers are all low altitude, close-in hovering, and even the intermediate 360-degree fly-around is done at 20 ft. within a 100-ft. circle. All I am trying to say is to keep it gentle and smooth!

Even at the N.R.C.H.A. Nats in Greeneville, PA, almost all of the events evolve around a good hovering helicopter. Oh, I know, you probably have seen some helicopter pilots really tearing up the sky with their helicopters, or at least you have heard about them (you may even have seen some films that have been mailed around); but for contests you need to be smooth and precise. Remember you will be flying for judges! If you want to emulate some helicopter pilot, pick one that is smooth and precise, and one who is in constant command of his machine.

At Lake Charles AMA Nationals in 1974, Mike Bosch and Ernie Huber flew spectacular flights that were very smooth at all times. They flew leap-frog over each other's machine and then added a 360-degree spin as they went over the top. They did side-by-side, side-downwind reverse tail-low take-offs and auto-rotational landings. Mike did fast horizontal figure-of-eights head high around pylons 15 ft. high and at least 100 ft. away from him. He put his helicopter in a hover about 30 ft. high, took his hands off the transmitter, turned his back on the helicopter, borrowed a cigarette from someone, walked to someone else, had it lit and smoked it while the helicopter remained in the sky where he had left it! He also hovered it over his head, put it in a pass and kissed the landing gear, and on another pass he patted the side of the fuselage. All of this was done with his hands off the controls. I will also tell you that he does not fly with a gyro.

Mike and Ernie both fly very smooth and spectacularly, and when they are flying in competition, at least so far, they are unbeatable. They both had to start from scratch, and they are both self-taught and can point out to you some dents that they have made in Mother Nature while learning. To emulate this takes many hours of ground maintenance and practice. It can't be done overnight, and I hope that in a small way my column is bringing some help and encouragement to you.

If you can, take a spare helicopter with you. Take some spare parts; it is a good idea to have a spare rotor head all tuned and flown. You should have some spare I have been telling about the advantage of attending helicopter meets. You may feel uptight about flying at a meet, whether competition or fun-fly, but there is no better way to get first-hand information and help. Don't leave your machine home — take it and enter. You will be accepted by the guys; outsiders? Most fliers, myself included, tend to put off someone just asking questions; it has bothered me to see people not enter a meet. After a while you can tell a sincere person unless he's at least trying. I am listing in this column some fun-fly meets and some competitive ones. I urge you to take advantage. Fun-flys are listed first; competitive ones later. All will be AMA sanctioned.

• August 28-29 — Miami, FL. Charlie Grey, CD, 19360 West Andrews Dr., Miami, FL 33015. Host: Florida RC Helicopter Assn.
• October 2-3 — Fort Rucker, AL. Hal Beaschesne, CD, 107 Glenwood Lane, Enterprise, AL 36330. Meeting being held at the Army helicopter flight training base; helicopter museum with practically every type of helicopter in the world. They also have a flight simulator you can try. Write Hal for information. Host: Florida Helicopter Assn.
• May 23 — Davenport, IA. Wayne Krager, CD, 4131 Fillmore Lane, Davenport, IA 52806. Host: Davenport RC Society.
• June 6 — Peoria, IL. Rich Atkinson, CD, 909 East Gift, Peoria, IL 61603. Sponsor: Peoria RC Club.
• June 27 — Elgin, IL. Lloyd Wheller, CD, 995 N. McLean Ave., Elgin, IL 60120. Host: Elgin Academy RC Flyers.
• July 11 — Terre Haute, IN. Ed Ice, CD, 1208 N. 15th St., Terre Haute, IN 47807. Host: Terre Haute RC Club.
• August 15 — Peoria, IL. Rich Atkinson, CD, 909 East Gift, Peoria, IL 61603. Host: Peoria RC Club.
• September 12 — Champaign, IL. Al Erwin, CD, 1312 West Hill St., Champaign, IL. Host: Champaign County RC Club.

Competitive Meets

• May 15-16 — Jacksonville, FL. Rebel Rally. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules. Novice, Intermediate, Expert. Host: Florida RC Helicopter Assn.
• June 20 — Atlanta, GA. Atlanta Helicopter Contest. Dan Dougherty, CD, 3761 Macedonia Rd., Powder Springs, GA 30073. Novice, Intermediate, Expert.
• July 17-18 — Greenville, PA. National RC Helicopter Assn. Nationals. Bill Curtis, CD, RD #2, Greenville, PA 16125.
• July 30-31, August 1 — Dayton, OH. AMA Helicopter Nationals. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules. Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Scale.
• December 31 — Winter Park, FL. Tangerine International RC Championships. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules. Novice, Intermediate, Expert.

Other meets are listed in AMA Competition News. You should be able to find a good helicopter meet this summer — please attend. I will be looking forward to meeting you personally.

Let's talk a little about setting up your machine to compete. First, it should start easily; nothing is more irritating than a balky starting helicopter, especially with a lot of people watching. The engine should be able to idle reliably. You should have blades tracking and the helicopter trimmed out to fly practically hands-off. You don't want to be fighting the helicopter while competing. Set up for smooth, gentle flying. Novice/intermediate maneuvers are low altitude, close-in hovering. Intermediate 360-degree fly-arounds are done 20 ft. high within a 100-ft. circle. I am trying to say: keep it gentle and smooth.

At NRCHA Nats, Greenville, PA, almost all events evolve around good hovering helicopter work. Oh, I know you have probably seen some helicopter pilots really tearing up the sky — helicopters, at least, have been heard about; you may have seen some films that have been mailed around. Contest flying needs smooth precision. Remember the flying judges want to see, and want you to emulate, those helicopter pilots who pick smooth, precise, constant-command flying. I have been telling about the advantage of attending helicopter meets. You may feel up to a flying meet whether competition or fun‑fly; there is no better way to get first‑hand information and help than at meets. Don't leave your machine home — take it and enter; you will meet guys who are not outsiders. Most fliers, myself included, tend to put off someone just asking questions; it has bothered me when people don't enter a meet. After a while you can tell a sincere person unless they are at least trying. I am listing in this column some fun‑fly meets and some competitive ones. I urge you to take advantage. Fun‑flys listed first; competitive ones later. Will be AMA sanctioned:

Competitive Meets

• May 15-16 — Jacksonville, FL. Rebel Rally. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules: Novice Intermediate Expert. Host: Florida RC Helicopter Assn.
• June 20 — Atlanta, GA. Atlanta Helicopter Contest. Dan Dougherty, CD, 3761 Macedonia Rd., Powder Springs, GA 30073. Novice Intermediate Expert.
• July 30-31, August 1 — Dayton, OH. AMA Helicopter Nationals. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules: Novice Intermediate Expert Scale.
• December 31 — Winter Park, FL. Tangerine International RC Championships. Walt Schoonard, CD, 2080 Sharon Rd., Winter Park, FL 32789. AMA Rules: Novice Intermediate Expert.

Other meets are listed in AMA Competition News. You should be able to find a good helicopter meet this summer — please attend.

Lake Charles AMA Nationals 1974: Mike Bosch and Ernie Huber flew spectacular flights, very smooth. At times they flew leap‑frog over other machines, added 360‑degree spins, went over the top, did side‑by‑side downwind reverse tail‑low takeoffs, and auto‑rotational landings. Mike did fast horizontal figure‑of‑eights head high around pylons 15 ft high at least 100 ft away. He put his helicopter in a hover about 30 ft high, took his hands off the transmitter, turned back, had someone borrow a cigarette, someone walked up, someone else lit it, they stood and carried on a conversation for a long time and never looked at the helicopter — it did remain in the sky. He also hovered over someone's head, passed, kissed the landing gear; another patted the side of the fuselage — all done hands off the controls. I'll also tell you they don't fly gyro. Mike and Ernie both fly very smoothly and spectacularly.

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.