Radio Control: Helicopters
Larry Jolly 15781 Empire Ln. Westminster, CA 92683
IMAGINE a beautifully maintained athletic field, warm sunny temperatures, a well-organized radio impound, and over 200 people who feel the same way about radio-controlled helicopters that you do. That's what I found last September 23–24 as the Merced County RC Club again hosted its annual helicopter fly-in. This has become the major helicopter fun fly in the U.S., with more than 100 registered pilots and over 250 RC helicopters in attendance this year.
I've never seen so much enthusiasm—at most times there were at least seven helicopters in the air, and at one point Saturday afternoon I counted over 13 of them in the air at one time!
Organization and support
The Merced fly-in has been cosponsored by the Merced County RC Club and Gorham Model Products—with Chuck Winters running the show—for the last seven years. I remember the first one and can tell you that not only has the number of people involved climbed in that time, but the flying has improved drastically. Pilot proficiency and machine reliability are way up, which meant there was a lot of great flying and a minimum of bent birds.
One noteworthy factor is that many fliers have expressed concerns about the close spacing of the new radio frequencies. As far as can be determined, there were no glitches or other radio concerns noticed by the many fliers present at Merced, even with the large numbers in the air at one time and a fairly close spacing of pilot boxes.
One of the reasons for this event's success is that there is a lot of good organizing going on behind the scenes. Chuck Winters puts a lot of effort into this fly-in, and his club backs him up 100%.
Another reason is the great support by the RC industry, with major backing from Gorham Model Products in particular. This year the industry really came through with over $4,000 in donated raffle prizes and $3,000 in donated awards.
That's a lot of money, and Chuck would like to give a big vote of thanks to all those who helped out. I know about 200 other guys who would also like to give them a big hand.
Format and atmosphere
One thing that's neat about Merced is the total lack of pressure. The fun fly is set up with the major emphasis on fun. While there are events going on most of Saturday and Sunday, there is open flying at the same time, as well as a help clinic on Sunday morning. So basically, if the pin is available, you fly; if it's not, you get on the list and when it's in you can either fly in the events or blast off and go ballistic.
Events
The events included:
- Helipad landing: The pilot remains stationary and attempts to land on a series of progressively smaller discs arranged in a line going away from the pilot. It's judged against the clock, making it a naturally fun contest that sharpens your skills.
- Ring pickup: Use the helicopter's landing skid to lift each ring. The rings get smaller as the effort increases.
- Limbo: Try to place your machine under a crepe-paper limbo bar. This event is sometimes accompanied by interesting sounds as the rotors greet the limbo pole. No major damage inflicted—it's all part of the fun.
- Helicopters at Work: The pilot must lift a weighted sling load, fly a circuit, and drop the load off at another station.
- Fun Scale: A perennial favorite. The Scale competition at Merced is far tougher than the AMA Nationals; it wouldn't be a bad idea to set up a fund to send the Scale winner at Merced to the following Nationals.
- Autorotations to the spot: Held late Sunday afternoon and the favorite spectator event. Pilots perform autorotations aiming to land in the center of a spot.
Competition results
- Fun Scale
- 1st: Pat Brady — Channel 3 News Jet Ranger (also won last year)
- 2nd: Silas Kwok — scratch-built SA 341 Gazelle (Nats Champion)
- 3rd: Walt Ferrara — GMP "Santini Air" Jet Ranger
All helicopters in this class looked superb and flew well.
- Autorotations
- The favorite is Robert Gorham, who can place a helicopter in the middle of the spot nine times out of ten. This year Robert was challenged by Dan Melnik from the Kalt group. Dan actually tied Robert for first place, but since they are factory pilots, they relinquished their places to the next eligible competitor.
- 1st (awarded): Walt Ferrara — GMP Legend
- Notable: Mike Mas also performed autorotations and placed third in record time—testimony, perhaps, to the advantage of a driven tail.
New products and demos
- Helicopters Unlimited and Century Import representative Peter Choi displayed his Larry Jolly Model Products Airwolf and his EH-100 electric-powered minichopper. The little electric should be available soon; I'll report further as soon as one is available.
- Hobby Dynamics and JR Radios representatives Dan Melnik and Frank Dykes showed the Kalt line of helicopters and JR radios. Dan demoed Kalt's new Excalibur aerobatic machine, proving that with its 9:1 gear ratio it's every bit the equal of other .60-size rocket ships.
- Gorham Model Products had Rebels flying non-stop, including one built by a local hobby shop owner that flew free for over four minutes due to either dead batteries or a switch failure. The machine hovered, ran out of fuel, and landed—an incredible feat showing just how stable the Rebel is. Also on display were GMP's new FAI machines. Not done yet, but they are getting closer to nailing down the design. Robert Gorham gave spectacular demos both Saturday and Sunday.
- Robbe representative Mike Mas gave great demos with his Champion, showing the strengths of that design.
Conclusion
The rest of us just had a great time flying and talking helicopters. Even though there are a lot of folks attending Merced these days, there's still room for you. So get out your 1990 calendar and mark off the last weekend in September. We'll see you there!
BCNU
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
