Radio Control: Helicopters
Larry Jolly 15781 Empire Ln. Westminster, CA 92683
Sandown Exposition 1991
Sandown is to England what Toledo is to the U.S. Radio Control market — a large trade show with a well-organized flying display held just south of London on the first weekend in June.
I've recently heard from Dan Melnik, who has flown at Sandown for the last two years as a guest of J. Perkins, the English distributor for Kalt Helicopters. Thanks to Dan we have the following mini-report.
Dan's first love is Kalt Helicopters (sorry, Laura), and as a result I got a lot of information on the Kalt line. Dan flew his Kalt Excalibur twice daily with the Kalt Exhibition Team. Joe Yashida was there interpreting for Zen Chan, a demo pilot for the Kalt factory. Zen is really into the Kalt Whisper electric ship and, from what I hear, he did some extraordinary flying: switchless inverted flight, six-foot loops starting four to five feet off the ground, consecutive rolls, a rolling stall turn and smooth auto-rotations.
No, he didn't have an O.S. engine in it. Apparently the Japanese have been experimenting with different pinion gears to increase the head speed on the Whisper. Zen was running a 19-tooth pinion — the same pinion Dr. Richard Smith has been flying at our local field. I have been running Astro motors and am now going to try a 22-tooth pinion. Zen runs the Whisper with Japanese wood blades with 15 grams of weight in the leading edge at the tip. He says it's important not to exceed 50 grams blade weight.
With that information in mind I'm going to rework my Whisper and give it a try. If anyone over here is getting that kind of performance, drop me a line and I'll pass your successes on to the readers. If you are going to experiment with different gear ratios, remember to use a 32‑pitch gear.
Slough Radio Control has the Kyosho distributorship in England. Presently the most popular RC heli in England is the Concept 30. Now that they have the 60, look out. Apparently Bob, their demo pilot, was winding his Concept 60 like crazy. How fast? Try 2,200 rpm in the hover. Using stock blades, an O.S. 60 and Kyosho muffler, Bob was able to do a Curtis Youngblood-style demo. Dan reported the 60 was very impressive, was extremely smooth in the hover, and had good forward speed.
As a side note, I was reading in the Atlanta Newsletter that Frank and Mark Murdock were at the field when Robert Teoh showed up with his Concept 60. They thought it looked fast and decided to race it against an X-Cell 60 powered by an identical O.S. .61. They reported the Concept was faster and apparently had a better follow-through in the stall turns.
Vago Nordigan of Model Tech showed the Heim line, including Heim's new .40-size Star Ranger. I suspect that Raves R.C. has or will have this new ship soon.
According to Dan, Jim Fox Models was showing the Vario line — including their new four-cycle model. The model features C.P.P.M. mixing and is designed for an O.S. 90 or 120 Surpass. If anyone is importing this model, please send me some information so I can get the word out.
In the end Dan and Laura had a great time flying with the English and look forward to Sandown 1992.
Vertical Flight Technology is the name of Dan and Laura Melnik's new company, and it caters to RC heli types. They are the U.S. distributors for Northern Helicopters' carbon-fiber main and tail blades. Many of us have used the carbon tail rotor blades for years.
V.F.T. offers:
- Tail rotor blades: 95 mm and 105 mm bolt-to-tip length — $19.95.
- Main blades: 620–660 mm and 680 mm bolt-to-tip lengths. The blades are symmetrical in section and are very stiff. Main blades are $129.95.
I'm trying some 660 mm blades on my Concept 60 and will let you know how they perform. You can contact Vertical Flight Technology at:
Vertical Flight Technology 12318 Washington St. Pembroke Pines, FL 33025
Kyosho 30-size contest
I couldn't attend the 30-size meet this year, but I did hear from Tim Lampe, Contest Director and chief Concept driver. The weather was perfect with low humidity and low wind. There were 70 total entries with the following breakdown:
- 11 in FAI
- 18 in Intermediate
- 38 Novice
- 3 in Scale
Wayne Mann was first in FAI, flying his smooth Miniature X-Cell 30. Kalt factory flier Yossi came in second with an Enforcer. Third was Mike Mas with a Shuttle, and Pete Cook was fourth, flying a Concept SX.
Notably, there were so many Novice contestants that they had to have two flight lines in that class.
Ted Schoonard won Scale with Miniature's new little Hughes 500E with X-Cell 30 mechanics.
Demonstration flights were made with Concept 60s, Kalt Whispers and Concept 30s.
This meet is well received and I look forward to attending next year.
My latest addition
I couldn't resist sending some photos of my latest addition. In the script of the new movie I'm working on, a full-size Jet Ranger has to deliver a 35‑ft.-tall stuffed rabbit. The producers just about fell off their chairs when we told them we could do it in a more practical way than by using motion control. I ended up flying the stuffed bunny under one of my Long Rangers constructed for an upcoming HBO movie called Wedlock. The test was a success, and the scene looks like real fun. I'll let you know the name of the movie by Christmas time.
BCNU
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
