Radio Control: Helicopters
Larry Jolly
15781 Empire Ln, Westminster, CA 92683
First contest for .30s
As I mentioned last month, we are going to take a look at the First Annual Kyosho RC Helicopter Challenge that took place June 9–10, 1990, in Champaign, IL. As far as I know, this was the first contest limited to .30-size machines (machines designed to be powered by engines in the .30-cu.-in. displacement range) in the U.S., although they have been held in Japan. This well-attended competition was jointly sponsored by Kyosho and Model Builder magazine. A big thanks to both, and congratulations on a good idea.
The contest was well organized and ran very smoothly (smoother, in fact, than some Nats I have attended). Contest Director Tim Lampe did a great job of both running the contest and keeping the crowd informed over the public address system.
The competition was blessed with balmy spring weather and was held at the Champaign County RC Club field. The site is ideal for helicopter flying with two runways and nicely manicured grass infields. The site also has a covered work area and a headquarters building for both sign-in and transmitter impound.
The contest was run to AMA rules, with the following classes flown: Novice, Intermediate, FAI, and Scale. The only limitation was that the contestant must fly a .30-size machine. There were over 90 entries, which is larger than most contests and indicative of the following that .30-size machines have.
It's no surprise that Concepts X-Cell 30s, Shuttles, and now Enforcers make up the lion's share of the RC helicopter market. These machines are not only attractively engineered, but also well priced and easy to fly.
One interesting note: Hobbico, Hobby Dynamics, and Horizon Model Distributors are all located in Champaign (by the way, does anyone know why this is so?), even though these folks all carry competing machines. There was absolutely no evidence of politics at this contest. How refreshing! Several times during the competition I heard Tim Lampe, over the PA system, talking about Kalt Enforcers. Interestingly enough, Tim's normal job is working with Concepts. In fact, the judges in FAI were Hobbico's Bill Jeric, Horizon's John Adams, and Hobby Dynamics' Craig Hath, which seems to be proof of the cooperation and camaraderie that showed throughout the contest. This was truly an event that epitomized, "Let the best pilot win and forget what manufacturer's machine he was flying."
A special note: my apologies to the judges in FAI. I hope they didn't hurt themselves laughing at my rolling-stall whatchamacallit. Damn! Maybe next year.
The weather was great, with a little wind for excitement, and the organization was excellent. There were trophies as well as Concept Helicopter kits for class winners, and a well-stocked raffle. There was also an abundance of really super people.
Lessons learned
- Don't cut your interconnecting flights too close together. If you do, the aircraft will not get to Champaign on schedule while your helicopter(s) will be hangared at Chicago's O'Hare overnight. This particular experience is good for character building; however, I survived the episode, and the machines got there in time to fly Sunday.
- He who is prepared wins the contest. Now I know most of you don't like contests, and I'd venture to say that most of you have probably never tried the FAI pattern. This pattern looks deceptively easy in the book, but is in fact a real test of flying skill encompassing most of a helicopter's flight envelope. This also holds true for Novice and Intermediate—albeit to a lesser degree.
- The boys from down South (meaning Miniature Aircraft Supply and their troops) came ready to fly. Their X-Cell 30s were really humming, and their hard practice showed. They placed first, second, and fourth in FAI—Cliff Hiatt, Wayne Mann, and Tim Schoonard, respectively. Congratulations, gentlemen. It was a pleasure getting educated.
- Electric-powered helicopters in 1990 are real. Many of you know that I'm very interested in electric flight and have been active in electric helicopters for some years. While in Champaign, I witnessed both the new Kalt Whisper and the Kyosho EP Concept. Both machines flew well. I was very impressed with Yoshiki Nagatsuki flying the Kalt Whisper. His flight was seven minutes of actual flying time on the chopper's internal batteries (no tether) and included loops, rolls, autorotations, hovering, pirouettes, and other maneuvers. It was a pleasure to see electric flight come of age.
What machines were flown
There were examples from Concepts, Kyosho, Altech, Hobbico, Hobby Dynamics, and Horizon. The X-Cell 30s, Shuttles, and Enforcers were prominent, but other makers showed promising designs and performance. It was a success—please do it again next year.
Congratulations to the winners, and also to:
- Novice judges: John Reiter, Jamie Clancy, and Kevin Hlad
- Intermediate and Scale judges: Jerry Hicks, Kevin Burner, and Randy Gibson
- FAI judges: Bill Jeric, John Adams, and Craig Hath
- Contest Director and MC: Tim Lampe
- FAI Technical Director: Tom Dooley
- Cosponsors: Kyosho and Model Builder
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
