140 MODEL AVIATION
WELCOME, AND thank you for working your way past all the
more civilized aspects of the hobby to land here in RC helicopters.
It is a thankless job working back here.
One day when the world is at peace, the planets align, and all
humanity has come to its collective senses (purposeful pun),
helicopters will grace the front part of this publication every month!
That is a dream all us helicopter fanatics share. But it is, and I am
sure it will remain, just a dream.
I can tell you, though, that RC helicopters are fascinating to the
general public. It is obvious by the numbers of small, inexpensive
helicopters that are being sold. The numbers are phenomenal.
I have no idea if these first-time pilots are continuing on in the
hobby or not, but it is clear that many more people are interested in
trying to fly these things than I ever thought there would be. The
future of RC helicopters has never been brighter.
I’m going to follow up on the discussion
I started about personal goals. A couple
issues ago I asked you to write down
some things you wanted to accomplish
in the hobby this year. Did you actually
scribble out something and make plans
to achieve your goals?
In case you did not read that column,
I pointed out that most people who excel
at anything in life have a plan. It doesn’t
matter if you are flying RC helicopters
or trying to make a million dollars with
the latest get-rich-in-real-estate scheme.
You will have a much better chance of
getting what you want if you
thoughtfully lay out a plan and follow it.
I am not referring to becoming the
world’s best pilot. You should
Helicopter highlights from Great Planes’ E-Fest
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Jim Horsman (Des Moines IA) flies the Mini Zoom Pro in his
basement to stay in practice during the cold Midwest winters.
Above: The Mini Zoom Pro
holds a beautiful nose-in hover
for the camera. This model’s
scale detail is surprising.
Left: The Great Planes Axe
CP is “Ready to fly 3D right
out of the box.” It performed
beautifully at the 2007 E-Fest.
E-Fest organizer Frank Noll of Futaba/Great Planes is one of the
top model airplane pilots in the world. He flies helicopters too!
06sig5.QXD 4/23/07 9:23 AM Page 140
Jim Fassino (Peoria IL) holds his amazingly
small Micron V2. It has full helicopter
controls and handles well. The Micron V2 hovers beautifully and seemed stable with Jim Fassino at the sticks.
concentrate on whatever aspect of this hobby appeals to you. You
may be a great Scale builder, model designer, or something else.
There are so many ways to enjoy the hobby. For instance, I have
been enjoying writing for you all. Now please do not critique my
work! You might be saying, “Take some of your own advice and
produce something worthwhile!” To that I reply “Do as I say and not
as I do.”
Seriously, I hope each person can excel in his or her own niche. I
would love to hear some of your ideas about how to progress and
track yourself. It would be interesting to include some of them here
so everyone could benefit.
E-Fest Indoor Fly-In: I was at E-Fest in February, and wow! Frank
Noll and his team of volunteers outdid themselves this year.
Everything about the event was first-class, and most of the difficult
details were handled well. To bring an event to this level in only its
second year is no small feat.
You have to have a great venue. The Track and Field Armory at
the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign makes a super indoor
flying arena, with its 100-foot-high ceilings. More than 250 pilots
registered, and with tons of spread spectrum radios in use the air was
thick with all types of aircraft.
The number and variety of electric-powered helicopters were
astounding. All the flight stations were constantly in use. Plenty of
the usual T-Rex, MX-400, and Blade models were being flown, and
a few new helicopters were on display.
Great Planes has a new model called the Axe CP. Futaba team
pilot Brian Bremmer demonstrated its capabilities during the factory
flights. This little helicopter flew great and performed all the popular
3-D moves with ease.
As does the Blade CP, the Axe comes with everything you need
in the box. The transmitter is included, and everything is prebuilt and
ready to fly.
A couple cool submicro helicopters were flying too. An attractive
little model was the Mini Zoom Pro. It had a fantastic-looking
Schweitzer 300 scale body. Jim Horsman piloted this craft, and
following is what he wrote about it.
“I live in Des Moines, Iowa. I am in my fifth year of this
addiction; Sunday at E-Fest I turned 49. I’ve been an airplane guy
for the first four years. Last winter I bought an ESky Honey Bee
fixed pitch to learn helicopters over the winter and quickly graduated
to a T-Rex last spring. I built the Mini Zoom Pro in November and
have been flying/rebuilding/flying it since.
“The Mini Zoom Pro, available from aeromicro.com (shameless
plug) flies like a much larger helicopter. I assume it’s due to the high
head speed needed to get it off the ground, around 3,800 rpm. As a
mini sport flier it is a blast to fly!
“Living in the Midwest there’s not much opportunity to fly
outside, especially this winter, so the Mini Zoom is perfect for
getting stick time on a helicopter in my basement. As much as I like
airplanes, I love the mechanical complexity of
helicopters. I am an electronic engineer by
trade, so I have the curious gene built in!
“I prefer ‘scale’ type flying, both fixed
wing and helicopters. As much as I enjoy
seeing a T-Rex getting thrown around in
different attitudes and the skill and talent it
takes to fly a helicopter 3-D, I prefer scale.
“I fly airplanes to relax, helicopters for the
adrenaline rush!”
Thank you, Jim. You did a great job of
flying the little 300 at E-fest. You made it look
realistic by flying it in a scalelike manner.
I love seeing all the new products. The
pace of new offerings is incredible. The
smallest full-function helicopter has to be the
cute little Micron V2. Jim Fassino of Peoria,
Illinois, was at E-Fest demonstrating it.
“Micro” is almost too big of a word for this
diminutive specimen. You will definitely need
a new set of reading glasses to work on it!
You can see in the photo just how small this
helicopter is; it will literally fit in the palm of
your hand.
The Micron V2 has full cyclic control,
throttle, tail rotor, and is fixed pitch. It is a
miniature-engineering marvel. And it flew
extremely well. Just make sure nobody
sneezes on it during flight!
One of the larger helicopters that caught
my eye was the Hirobo Leptron. Futaba’s
Steve Helms flew his at E-Fest, and it was
incredibly smooth. It’s a bit larger than a TRex
and appears to be well constructed. J.C.
Zankle also flew the new model.
There were numerous helicopters in the air
at the Amory this year. It would have been an
air traffic controller’s nightmare. Since there
was no ATC, everyone flew according to
the “see and avoid” rule. The seeing part
was no problem, but things got dicey when
it came to avoiding.There were quite a few midairs, and that
is to be expected when congestion gets heavy
indoors. I heard a couple of the helicopter
pilots complain that if they had a strike with
a foamie airplane their helicopters would
sustain much more damage financially. That
is usually true and is something you have to
consider before flying at an event such as
this.
The foamie pilots just laugh when one of
their airplanes goes down, but it is different
with the helicopters. A bad crash with a
helicopter can easily cost more than $100.
You cannot just glue a $40 set of rotor blades
back together. For the most part everyone got
along great, and most helicopter pilots took
the risk and flew with the many diverse
aircraft.
I am making E-fest an annual event on
my calendar. It is nice to go fly somewhere
in the middle of winter when you live in the
Midwest.
I invite you to keep corresponding with me. I
have enjoyed the E-mail and I feel that I’m
getting tuned into the pulse of helicopter
pilots. Things are changing fast right now.
There are a lot of excellent products out
there.
Something that has not changed is the
benefit of having a mentor. Pilots who are
willing to help you are the most important
ingredient for your success. If you can hook
up with someone who is slightly ahead of
you in flying, the benefits are great.
When I was starting out I flew with
someone, and we progressed together and
kept each other motivated. For the last four
years or so I’ve been on my own, and it is
difficult sometimes.
I hope everyone is off to a good start this
year, and I look forward to hearing more
from you. Send me an E-mail anytime. MA