District I
Andy Argenio, District I Vice President; [email protected]
States covered
- Connecticut
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
On Columbus Day weekend I attended a popular RC helicopter event in Massachusetts. One of District I’s RC helicopter-only clubs, the New England Heli Crew (NEHC), held its second annual Heli Phenomenon October 9–11 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. This is the biggest helicopter smackdown event in the Northeast.
NEHC is two years old and currently has 65 members who fly off a large, open field with five widely spaced helicopter flight stations. The club’s flying site is well suited for events with spacious parking for guests and multiple areas designated for flying 3-D, sport, scale, and hovering activities. The site is only minutes off Routes 95 and 495, about 30 miles south of Boston.
Club amenities include:
- A huge, gated field
- On-site shade structure
- Storage container
- AC/DC power and charge stations
- A 5K generator
- Lawn mowers
- Cooking grills
- A portable toilet
Despite the weather, this year’s event drew 85 registered pilots, more than a dozen factory-sponsored pilots, hundreds of spectators, and numerous aspiring aeromodelers.
Each day attendees were treated to spectacular flight demos from some of the world’s best helicopter pilots, including:
- Frank Columbia (Team Align)
- Bob Libby (Team R/C Hover)
- Andrew Melino (Team Hirobo)
- Team Outrage pilots Alvin Chai, Wesley Griffith, and Andrew Palmer
- World’s youngest champion flier, seven-year-old Justin Chi
As with many events today, night flying entertained those who stayed at the site after 7 p.m. On Saturday, more than 12 scale helicopters competed on a second flightline for a Pilots’ Choice Scale award.
More than $3,000 worth of prizes were put into a public and pilot raffle with drawings on Saturday afternoon.
All who attended reported having an awesome time. A big thanks goes out to event sponsor Jeremy Waltzer; CD Shawn Leclair; Kyle Parson, who served more than 300 meals; and all of the members of NEHC for another Phenomenon.
If you love helicopters, want to fly, or just watch and learn from the best, plan to attend next year. Visit www.NEHelicrew.com for more information.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
