RC: Helicopters
Larry Jolly
BIG 64 — the 1990 AMA National Championships
The 1990 AMA National Championships marked the 64th anniversary of the big meet. The Radio Control Helicopter competition was held at Mt. Carmel Airport, IL, about 18 miles from the main Nats site at the Lawrenceville Mid‑American Air Center. This was the largest RC Helicopter Nationals to date, with over 100 entries — a significant growth that should earn more recognition from the AMA Nats planners and suggests continued growth for the event.
IRCHA and the Nationals
The International Radio Control Helicopter Association (IRCHA) has become the de facto Helicopter Special Interest Group. A dedicated SIG is important to help the Nationals organizers run the contest helicopter fliers want. An invitation for IRCHA to take an active role was expected by the Event Director in 1990, but IRCHA did not follow through. Hopefully IRCHA will take a bigger role at the 1991 Nationals so helicopter fliers can help shape future events.
Event direction and scoring
This year’s RC Helicopter Event Director was Dwayne Stevens, at the helm for his sixth time. Dwayne handled adversity well and ran a solid contest. He credits many volunteers for the meet’s success, notably Decker Doggett of Ohio, a computer‑scoring whiz who has scored many large meets (including the ’87 Lincoln Nats, the ’88 Tidewater Nats, team trials in ’87 and ’89, and the World Champs in ’89). Mr. Doggett volunteers his equipment and expertise.
Champion: Cliff Hiatt
Model Aviation AMA Helicopter National Champion Cliff Hiatt (Winter Garden, FL) won the Nats flying modified X‑Cell machines. He credits his victory to smoothness, positioning and maneuvers, and to his long RC Pattern experience. Some credit must also be given to his caller, Wayne Mann — honesty could have gone either way; in fact, the top four could have won.
Cliff’s helicopter modifications included:
- 60‑inch rotor disc
- TSK 87‑tooth main gear and nine‑tooth hollow pinion (9.66:1 ratio)
- English carbon tail rotor blades (11.5 in. diameter)
- Tail boom lengthened 1½ in. to suit the larger disc
- X‑Cell airframe powered by a YS engine with a SuperTigre carb
- Ran on 30%‑nitro Magna fuel
- Futaba 1024 PCM radio
Cliff uses a Japanese‑developed style with two setups on the same machine: a hovered rotor‑head rpm of about 1360 and a spun rpm of about 1620 for aerobatics (he shifts gears for aerobatics). In the final flight he managed perfect autorotations, scoring 10s across the scoreboard.
Other top competitors and machines
- Curtis Youngblood flew a basically stock X‑Cell without push‑pull controls.
- Mike Mat flew Hirobo Eagles.
- Tom Dooley flew Hirobo SST Eagles.
- Robert Gorham brought two TSK Black Stars, powered by YS Long Stroke engines and using Futaba 1024 radios. This was the first time TSK machines flew the Nats. Gorham likely would have finished higher, but after sealing the fuel‑tank end cap with silicone, some of the sealant apparently migrated into the YS pump and caused severe engine problems.
- Nick Nicholas finished second in Novice flying a TSK Ace.
It’s apparent across classes that American pilots are adapting to the Japanese style of competition machines. Dual‑setup head speeds and acceptance of larger rotor discs were noted in all classes.
FAI class and high speed flying
In FAI, third‑place finisher Seiji Suwabe treated spectators to some of the fastest helicopters ever seen at the Nats. He flew Hirobo Eagles with the SR2 rotor head and a Nova fuselage, powered by modified O.S. rear‑exhaust engines. During aerobatics Suwabe was flying at least 80 mph — maybe more. That extra speed may have cost him the win.
Intermediate and Juniors
- Intermediate: Muraki Yasunobu convincingly won flying Hirobo Eagle mechanics in a Black Shark fuselage. Expect to see Muraki move up to FAI competition soon.
- Junior Standard: Young Ben Pipic won the Junior Standard class. Earlier in the week Ben had trouble with landings; fellow junior Bryan Gill helped him practice in the evenings. Ben then beat Bryan in Standard class — a good example of camaraderie and sportsmanship among the juniors.
Judging, flying and final thoughts
The contest ran three rounds of good flying over three days for each competitor. The site was good and the judging consistent and by the book. The flying and sportsmanship were excellent, reflecting a higher level of competence and maturity in the sport.
Congratulations to all the winners, and a big thank‑you to the officials and workers who made the 1990 Nats happen.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
