Radio Control: Helicopters
Walt Schoonard
LAST MONTH, I told you how impressed I was with the new Heli-Boy when Dieter Schluter flew it here in Orlando, Florida. Many people concluded that, after all, it should have looked good because Mr. Schluter is an accomplished flyer. He had promised to send me a sample kit as soon as he returned to Germany. In the meantime, Bill Youmans had gotten very excited about the Heli-Boy and wanted one at once. He was so excited that he even paid for the long distance call to Germany. Mr. Schluter promised to send one to him to fly in the Tangerine contest, December 30 and 31.
They left Germany on December 8, and as you would expect for this time of year, they got lost in the Christmas rush. Knowing that they should be here made it even worse, and Bill and I were sitting on hot coals! Bill would call me practically every day to find out if I had heard anything as to their whereabouts. I had called all the air freight carriers until they were getting tired of telling me that they knew nothing as yet. Time was getting short, and unless they showed up soon, there would be no way to fly them at Tangerine. On top of this, I was scheduled to go into the hospital, so I made arrangements with my wife to clear them through customs and bring them directly to my room. What can you do with a helicopter in a hospital room?
Build it, that's what! I had my tools ready and had even told my doctor of my intentions. It was fine with him. Tying me down in a hospital for a week is an accomplishment in itself. On top of that, the anxiety of wondering where my new helicopter was made it even worse! Needless to say, it didn't show up that week either, at least not so I could get my hands on it. I did find that it had arrived, but customs was closed the 24th through the 27th so I had to wait even longer. Bill had called again to inform me that he was about to go nuts from waiting and had practically worn out his Webra Speed picking it up and seeing if it would still turn over.
We were both waiting at customs at 2:30 p.m. on the 27th and had to wait till 4 p.m. before the choppers were cleared. During that hour and a half waiting period we were within ten feet of the kits and still couldn't touch them. As soon as they were cleared, we had them spread all over the hood of my station wagon, going through each box like a couple of kids at Christmas time.
Bill had to drive about 50 miles to get home, while I had only 15 miles to go. By 5 p.m. I was already putting it together. I have built many helicopters and usually go slowly through the box, read the instructions, and look at all the parts, and then get started in a few days, or weeks in some cases. Not so with this kit. Even though I was so weak that I could hardly stand up, by 2 a.m. I had about 70 percent of the Heli-Boy finished and would have gone further, except my wife reminded me about how late it was and that I sure didn't want to go back into the hospital. A phone call from Bill the next day revealed that he had done the same thing, and planned to fly his on Thursday the 28th.
John Gorham, in California, had gotten his sample kit about ten days earlier, and called to say that he had it flying and was very excited as to its performance. He has flown about every type of helicopter and states that the Heli-Boy flies better than any other he has flown! He has let many other prominent and some barely-able-to-fly fliers fly this machine, and they all were excited. Even though the Heli-Boy is fully aerobatic, it is also very stable from fly-bar gyro stability.
Bill Youmans did not get enough time on his to fly it in competition at Tangerine, but he did some glass-smooth demonstration flights. By the way, he did win in Expert at Tangerine, flying his homebuilt machine that he won with at the NRCHA Nationals last August.
I got my Heli-Boy flying January 2, and after a few trim changes from the sample kit, it flew hands‑off on the first flights.
On the bench set‑up, it flew rock steady, even in strong winds. All three that have been flown were built stock, as per Schluter instructions, although each has different engines and radios. John Gorham used a Futaba radio and a .60 Schneurle engine; Bill Youmans used a Kraft radio with a Webra Speed .60 engine; and I used an EK Logictrol "Cal Wollitz" version with a Kraft .61 Schnuerle engine. They all weighed in at 8 pounds. Last Sunday, I went down to Bill Youman's backyard flying site and watched him do smooth and round loops and rolls. This is a first for Bill, as he is a very conservative flyer — or I should say, was. John Gorham has been doing loops and rolls, and split S's, and Cuban eights, and has let others also loop it. He even got dared into a fly-off with a well-known West Coast flyer who flies fly-barless, and beat him with the new Heli-Boy.
Many of you will say "What is so great about loops and rolls? Other RC pilots have been doing this for at least two years." The great part is that the Heli-Boy flies through maneuvers effortlessly, with no loss of heading or altitude. This comes from light weight, great power reserve, and rigid head with direct blade steering, and high blade-tip speed. All of this from a stock out-of-the-box kit helicopter that sells for less than $325.00. I predict that this helicopter will do more to advance RC helicopter flying this summer than all of the others have done together.
I now have mine looping and rolling, and rolling over while still climbing to do a split-S. The recovery is smooth as an airplane and, needless to say, a very real thrill. Single-skid landings are very easy to do, even in strong winds.
Next month's column will deal with some building and trimming hints on the Heli-Boy.
Walt Schoonard, 2050 Sharon Road, Winter Park, FL 32789.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
