Radio Control Helicopters
Dave Chesney
I finished my SX81, and I've begun familiarizing myself with the new machine. I'm enjoying the renewed regularity of my RC helicopter flying and nervously look forward to participating in my first contest in quite a while. As I mentioned last month, Glenn Willison and I have been going to a local school to practice our flying skills; this, too, is an enjoyable situation, since until Glenn joined me I had been feeling like the Maytag repairman. Greensboro needs heli-fliers. My enthusiasm for flying RC helicopters seems to be somewhat dependent upon having around other folks with similar interest. And, despite my sport flier's priorities, there are few activities that gather interested people like a contest.
Now, getting beginners to participate in a contest with "experts" may be asking a lot, but considering the fact that our activity is still in the fledgling stages (when compared to, say, pylon racing or pattern), beginner and novice helicopter pilots should not be intimidated by the "big boys." We are all still learning. Besides, those "experts" can sure answer a lot of questions between rounds of flying.
Horace Hagen sends this report and photos of the 6th Annual East Coast RC Helicopter Championship.
6th Annual East Coast RC Helicopter Championships (Report by Horace Hagen)
The 6th Annual East Coast RC Helicopter Championships were held on August 16, 1981. Although the weather appeared threatening the day before the contest, we really lucked out again (as we have for the last three years) and had a gorgeous day.
At the end of last year's contest I had stated that I would not run another contest because of poor attendance. I said at that time that the 18 entries were not sufficient to justify the effort. However, a number of events have taken place since that time (the major one being the introduction of a number of lower-priced kits) which gave me the hope of increased participation in the Novice class.
Well, I was fooled again. None of the newly introduced kits were flown in the contest. Fortunately, the attendance was better than at last year's contest. In spite of this, we had:
- Novice: 7 entries
- Intermediate: 5 entries
- Expert: 7 entries
- Scale: 5 entries
for a total of 24. Before this year's contest I had set a goal of 20 entries as the minimum number needed for next year. Thus it appears as though I am committed to do it one more time at least.
A number of new procedures were tried at this year's contest that may be of interest to fellow contest directors. At previous contests we have had a problem with completing three rounds of competition in one day when the number of entries exceeded 20. Two years ago when we had 26 contestants we used two flight lines laid out at 90 degrees to each other, due to field limitations. A number of complaints were heard because one flight line was perfectly aligned with the prevailing wind while the other was not. This creates an unfair competitive edge and should be avoided.
This year we anticipated the same relative number of entries in the four classes as in past contests. This consisted of approximately the same number of entries in the Novice class as in the Scale, Intermediate and Expert classes combined. Thus we set up a second flight line for Novices only. Whoever said that a CD's job is easy? The number of entries at this year's contest did not follow previous patterns, and thus the available time was not used as efficiently as possible. However, we did complete four rounds in the Novice class and three rounds for the remaining classes, which is more than we have been able to complete in years past.
The only complaint that I have with this year's contest is the poor turnout in the Novice class. I know of many pilots who can fly well enough to compete, but we don't see them. Any pilot who can hover over and land on a three-foot diameter helipad is a potential winner in the Novice class. If anyone has an idea that would draw more participation in the Novice class, I would sure like to hear it.
Suggestions for competition classes and maneuvers
With the experience that we have gained over the past six years, I think the time has come for an overhaul of our AMA RC Helicopter competition classes. In the first place, the Expert class should be replaced with the FAI class so that we can groom our top pilots for international competitions. I view this as an absolute must. In addition, I think that each class should be self-sufficient. By that I mean an Expert pilot should not have to fly the Novice and Intermediate as well as Expert maneuvers. We do not operate that way with fixed-wing competitions.
I propose that this be accomplished by rearranging our present maneuvers somewhat. For example:
- New Novice class: present maneuvers 1 through 5
- New Intermediate class: maneuvers 1, 6, 7, 12, 14, and 26
- New Expert class: the FAI maneuvers
There are many possibilities, and I hope that anyone interested in competition will write me presenting their ideas. As chairman of the AMA RC Helicopter Advisory Committee and U.S. representative on the FAI F3C Subcommittee, I will do my best to convince the organizations involved that improvements need to be made to our present rules.
And finally, I would like to thank each member of the Monmouth Model Airplane Club who participated in running this contest for a job well done.
Please write to Horace with your suggestions regarding competition rules and maneuvers: Horace Hagen, 15 Parkway Place, Red Bank, NJ 07701. Perhaps your suggestions will lead to a more desirable contest format.
The Schluter Cup meet at Statesville, NC is just around the corner. I hope this fun-fly style contest will draw as many and more contestants. More on this later.
Meanwhile, the SX81 impresses me with its smoothness. There is a difference between the SX and the Heliboy in the hover. Hard to explain exactly, but I like it. I'll try to focus in on the subject next month.
Dave Chesney Rt. 9, Box 621A, Greensboro, NC 27409.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
