Radio Control Helicopters
Mark Fadely mdkja@aol.com
The new RC helicopter columnist introduces himself
Hello, everyone. My name is Mark Fadely and I will be contributing to the helicopter column. I have been a modeler since the age of six and I received my first MA magazine from a family friend in 1972.
I have always had a fascination with flight — whether it is a helicopter, an airplane, a bird, or even a kite; anything that flies has my attention. I'm looking forward to writing this column because I know the readers are a diverse group and I hope some pilots develop an interest in the helicopter side of the hobby.
Helicopters are definitely not as hard to understand and operate as they used to be. In fact, I see many airplane pilots giving the little electric-powered helicopters a go. Some of the top airplane pilots, such as Jason Noll, Andrew Jesky, and Chip Hyde, fly helicopters as well. There are many crossover pilots these days.
Also included in this column:
- A look at the young guns of the helicopter world
There used to be a line drawn in the sand: either you were a "plank" pilot or a helicopter freak, and there was no in between. Those days are coming to an end, thanks to recent advances in technology. Simulators and foolproof, ready-built helicopters have accelerated the learning curve toward success in RC helicopters.
Not too many years ago you had to be an expert mechanic and a glow-engine tuning specialist to get one of these whopper helicopters into the air and back down without some kind of structural damage. Those days are over, thank goodness, and the new revolution (pun intended) of high-performance, electric-powered ARF helicopters is here.
Clean electric-powered, high-performance aircraft are revolutionizing both the airplane and helicopter sides of the hobby. Recent developments in realistic computer simulators have helped countless newcomers ease their way into an otherwise difficult pastime.
First there were micro-size helicopters that were cool, but they were also fragile and expensive. Then along came the mini-size models, such as the wildly popular T-Rex. Recently several manufacturers have introduced 600-size electric helicopters. They are basically equivalent in size to a 50 glow-powered helicopter, sporting main blades that are 600 mm long. The performance of these amp-gulping monsters is astounding.
I was at the IRCHA (International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association) Jamboree this year, where Eric Larson was flying his new Miniature Aircraft 50-size electric-powered Razor. He was telling me how much fun it was to fly this new EP helicopter. Then he handed me the transmitter and said, "Give it a go."
A little earlier I had been flying my 90-size glow helicopter, so I was expecting to take things a bit easier with this smaller electric model. Boy, was I surprised! I took off and the Razor shot up in the air, so I thought, "Okay, let's see how it does some demanding maneuvers." I think I scared Eric, though, because he made sure to tell me that the model was a prototype probably four times during the flight. I ran the Razor through most of the motor-bogging maneuvers I could think of, and it just purred and asked for more. I was impressed. It's no wonder so many pilots are getting excited about helicopters now.
Any flier who can fly an airplane can be successful with a helicopter, and that hasn't always been the case. Helicopters have traditionally been reserved for those RC enthusiasts who love an almost impossible challenge. Today, if a pilot is willing to put in the time, he or she can be successful. With all this new excitement about equipment, guess what else has been happening? Kids are coming back to the hobby. It's about time.
In the last two years I've noticed a strong resurgence of youth interest. The youth are our future, and it's exciting to be witnessing the return of the younger generation to our hobby. It's been a long time coming. The RC helicopter fraternity has a new bevy of young pledges who are shaking up the sport in radical fashion. Let's meet a few of them.
Young pilots to watch
- Bobby Watts (17): Has been flying for two years. He lives on the East Coast, and the Maryland Helicopter Association club members helped him get started the right way. If you saw Bobby's jaw-dropping demonstration flights at the IRCHA Jamboree this year, you would have sworn he had been flying for at least 10 years. He flies a Miniature Aircraft Stratus 90 and the new Razor electric.
- Nir Meiri (17): From Israel. He earned a second-place finish at the 3D Masters held in the United Kingdom in July. Nir flies a Miniature Aircraft Stratus 90.
- Kyle Stacy (10): A well-known youngster from Rochester, New York. It's hard to believe that a 10-year-old could lay down some of the shocking flights he did at the IRCHA Jamboree. He has a great full-time mechanic — his dad Ray — to help him. Kyle flies a Raptor 90 as well as smaller electric-powered helicopters.
- Tyler Bonita (10): An up-and-coming pilot who flew in the Xtreme Flight Championships (XFC) this year and turned quite a few heads with his well-rounded flying style. Tyler is always cool and in full control of his model. He has wonderful sponsorship from his dad and Team VISA (ha ha!).
- Nigel Brown (17): I saw Nigel for the first time at the IRCHA Jamboree. He's from New Zealand and is sponsored by the new Synergy helicopter company. He can really fly and he piloted a new 90-size model to perfection.
- Nick Maxwell (16): From Indiana, my home state. He has been flying for seven years. Nick flies a T-Rex 600 outdoors and the smaller mini T-Rex indoors. He flew in the 2006 XFC this year and is a pleasant young man.
- Marcus Kim (20): Represents the upperclassmen of this group. He is always fun to watch with his death-defying, on-the-deck routines. Marcus has flown in the XFC for the last three years and never disappoints the crowd. He is flying an Avant from Carbon Extreme.
- Alan and Danny Szabo: Icons in the helicopter community for the last several years. Danny is still just a kid at 17, but Alan is one of the older pilots now at age 20. Both have signed on to fly the new Aurora 90 helicopter from Carbon Extreme.
Those are just a few of the outstanding young pilots I got to meet at the 2006 IRCHA Jamboree in Muncie, Indiana. Remember these names; you're going to be seeing a lot of them.
That's all I have room for in this issue. I hope this gets some of you excited about the great and growing world of RC helicopters.
MA
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
