District IV — Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia
Hank Mausolf — Vice President
- Email: [email protected]
- Address: 12204 Dell Way, Fredericksburg, VA 22407
- Tel.: (703) 517-9860
- Website: www.amadistrict-iv.org
Scale Helicopter Fun‑Fly — Fredericksburg Area RC Field, Thornburg, VA (June 27–29, 2014)
The inaugural Scale Helicopter Fun‑Fly was held at the Fredericksburg Area RC field in Thornburg, Virginia, June 27–29, 2014. It attracted some of the country’s best scale helicopter pilots and builders. The event was organized by Bob Harris and was CD'd by Salvatore Vezzi. The weather was great, with clear skies, temperatures in the mid‑to‑high 80s, and light winds.
Thornburg Field is a first‑class facility with an air‑conditioned clubhouse, electric power to the flight area, and ample shelter for large crowds. A well‑equipped kitchen kept participants well fed.
If you were to gather the best scale helicopters into one area, this was the place to be. Nearly all would have been Top Gun competitive; some had already won national events. I have covered many events and have never seen such an amazing collection of exceptional models in one place.
Sandy Jaffe brought a red Vario MD 900 NOTAR that he converted from nitro to electric power. It now flies on 12S 8,000 mAh for about five minutes and sounds so realistic you would think it has a turbine. He also brought an R‑22.
Sandy also brought a turbine‑powered SA 315B Lama that was a pleasure to see flying. I was surprised at how long it flew. He even had telemetry on his radio that kept him informed about everything going on in his helicopter.
Darrell Sprayberry, who has been featured in Joe Nall articles, came with his impressive H‑34 in Marine colors. This electric‑powered helicopter was entirely scratch‑built (he makes the molds) except for the rotor head. It has the authentic sound of the full‑scale R2000 starting up and evokes the sounds of the Vietnam era. Having flown the full‑scale H‑34 myself, I can say the model flew and reacted just like the originals I remembered.
An interesting helicopter was the scratch‑built Comanche by Butch Wellmaker. It was electric powered with two motors and two ESCs, had scale retracts, and a scaled‑out cockpit for pilot and gunner. He, like Darrell, made his own molds; the aircraft had to be seen up close to be appreciated. Butch also brought an S‑76 with retracts and electric power that flew in a very scale‑like manner. Interestingly, Butch also works on the full‑scale S‑76 that he patterned the model after—you can’t get any better scale detail than that.
Bob Harris, one of the organizers, brought his scratch‑built Hiller H‑23, one of the few gasoline‑powered helis at the event. The model was patterned after the H‑23 that flew during the Korean War and was decorated as “Yobo the clown” to boost morale. Having flown the full‑scale H‑23, I can say he did a great job making it look and fly like the original.
One of the most interesting setups was from the only entrant from Canada. Donald Irvine had a Jet Ranger rigged to lower a fire bucket into a small portable pond and, when airborne, release the water like a real firefighting helicopter. On one pass I actually got wet along with several other people.
There were many other fine examples of craftsmanship such as the Nightingale rescue helicopter, a Light Observation Helicopter (LOH), and others. Every entrant deserves credit for the beautiful workmanship and superb flying I witnessed that weekend. I look forward to next year and recommend you try to attend if you are in the Fredericksburg, Virginia area.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
