Product Spotlight
New products that are Worth a Closer Look
MORE OFFERINGS FROM SKS VIDEO
#### Warbirds Over Delaware
Warbirds Over Delaware has grown into a sizeable event featuring some of the best scale models from across the country. If you missed this year’s show, you can still get up close and personal with 20 of the event’s best models and their owners and pilots with SKS Video Productions’ 103-minute DVD. Learn about the unique features of each of these aircraft and watch from the flightline as these magnificent models take to the skies.
Among the airplanes featured are:
- Thomas White’s scratch-built 1/5-scale Horton 229
- Ken Karpinski’s Terry-dactal
- Carl Bachhuber’s Canadian Convair 580
- Aleksey Lomov’s P-51 modeled after World War II ace Don Bryant’s “Little One”
Coverage of the event includes noontime demonstrations featuring grouped flights of warplanes from World War I and II, bombers, and WWII Heavy Iron classes, as well as Mack Hodges’ B-29/X1 and an interview with Authentic Scale’s Antonio Silva.
Sit back and relax as announcer “Fast-Eddie” Leuter brings the flightline to your living room!
#### IRCHA Jamboree 2013
The International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association (IRCHA) Jamboree is the largest single-category event in the U.S., and this year boasted an attendance of more than 1,100 RC helicopter and multirotor pilots. The Jamboree is a must if you enjoy a multitude of demonstrations, competitions, and, of course, flying.
If you missed it, or you were there and missed bits and pieces of the excitement, check out the SKS Video Productions IRCHA Heli Jamboree 2013 DVD.
Held at the Academy of Model Aeronautics in Muncie, Indiana, the IRCHA Jamboree is the mecca of all things helicopter, whether it is FAI, scale, 3-D, or multirotor. Scott Stauffer and SKS Video Productions covered it on this 100-minute DVD. SKS captures the essence of the event, with interviews from the pilots, up-close peeks at their helicopters, and views from the flightline as pilots take to the sky.
SKS shows a wide and diverse variety of helicopter types and gives glimpses into the companies that are behind the scenes and make it all happen. Interviews with vendors are dispersed throughout the video, showcasing new and exciting products.
Highlights include:
- The Speed Cup competition
- The Auto-Rotation contest
- Noon demonstrations
- The One Competition
- The night-fly contest
- The Saturday night fireworks finale
- Awards and prize giveaways
If you love all things rotor and haven’t visited AMA in August for the IRCHA Jamboree but wondered what it was all about, check out the IRCHA Jamboree 2013 DVD.
#### NEAT Fair
The NEAT Fair is held at the Peaceful Valley Campsite buried deep in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The flightline includes separate heli and park flyer areas, as well as six center stations for the main event.
The video opens with CD Tom Hunt welcoming everyone to the event and then gets right into the action with interviews, flight footage, and some onboard video. Over two dozen models are featured as well as segments covering the popular warbird gaggle, night fly, and the indoor event which is hosted by AMA’s own Micro columnist Joe Malinchak. A few of the highlights on the 102-minute DVD include:
- Adam Woodworth’s completed Eurofighter
- Don Belfort’s Ercoupe
- Dave Perrone’s Fokker D.VIII
- Adam Lilley’s Hellcat
- Chris Susicke’s Wyvern
- Mica McCathy’s Extra 330
- Jason McQuistion’s B-17
- Robert Caso’s Bulldog pylon racer
The NEAT Fair coverage is also available from SKS on Blu-ray with an additional eight minutes of footage.
SKS Video: 85 Pine Rd., Abbottstown, PA 17301; Tel. (800) 988-6488; website: www.sksvideo.com
ESTES PROTO X NANO QUADCOPTER RTF
To most people, the Estes brand is synonymous with model rocketry—and with good reason—but now the company can claim the smallest production quadcopter we have ever seen.
Don’t let its 0.4-ounce weight and 1.8 x 1.8-inch size fool you into thinking that it’s difficult to see and fly indoors. The Proto X is equipped with LED lights that are easily visible and useful for orientation. The quad is surprisingly stable and provided plenty of enjoyment to eager pilots of varying skill levels who lined up in the office to give it a try.
A couple of minor mishaps involving indoor shrubbery and other obstacles had no lasting effect on our quad. The worst was a loose propeller that was easily pressed back onto the motor shaft.
The Proto X comes with:
- A small 2.4 GHz radio
- USB charge cable
- Four extra propellers (two gray and two black)
Not included are the two AAA batteries required to power the tiny transmitter.
During charging, a red LED on the USB plug remains lit. When charging is complete, the red LED will no longer be illuminated. Charging takes approximately 25 minutes.
Because of its small size, the Proto X has a built-in LiPo battery that is not designed for replacement. Attempting to remove or replace the LiPo battery will likely damage the quadcopter.
To fly the model:
- Switch on the transmitter.
- Then switch on the Proto X via the on/off switch on the bottom of the quad.
- Set the Proto X on a level surface until the blue LEDs change from blinking to solid; you are then cleared for takeoff.
In flight, our Proto X only required two clicks of trim to hover with minimal drift. Although it is tame enough to easily fly in a small space, it is also quite agile and can zip around larger open areas.
The quad provides enough enjoyment to make you wonder where the five minutes of flight time went. When the LEDs begin to flash, the Proto X signals that it’s time to land. This warning provides the pilot enough time to maneuver the model into a final landing without the immediate loss of power that is common among other micro quadcopters.
We were pleasantly surprised with the Estes Proto X Nano Quadcopter in both price ($39.99) and performance. It should prove to be a popular gift!
Hobbico: 3002 N. Apollo Dr., Suite 1, Champaign, IL 61822; Tel. (800) 637-7660; website: www.estesrockets.com
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
