Radio Control Helicopters-2007/12

144 MODEL AVIATION
Action aplenty at the Lexington, Kentucky, fun-fly
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Danny “Wildman” Arnet of Louisville wrings out his Miniature
Aircraft Stratus for the crowd. He gives the airframe a workout
when he flies.
Blake McBrayer, who is also a 3-D pilot, flies his Augusta 109. He
converted one of his Raptors to this scale machine. It looks and
flies great.
Brandon Crosier, one of the Lexington KY area’s top pilots, brings
in his Align 600N for an inverted hover at show center. He has
reached a new level of flying this year.
Also included in this column:
• Photo of the month
Below: Bill Pirschel’s Huey circles the field
during a test flight. The sound and smell
of its kerosene-burning turbine are
fantastic.
WELCOME BACK. I hope you all had a great 2007. This year
was certainly a high point for the RC helicopter world. The
IRCHA (International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association)
Jamboree broke all records for an RC event. That is big news for
sure.
I believe that’s because helicopters are becoming so much
more accessible to so many more people. More people are finding
out what we have known all along: helicopters are really cool!
The difference is that now the average Joe can give helicopters
a try without breaking the bank. And guess what? Joe likes it.
That is so cool for the hobby.
Lexington Fun-Fly: Each year I look forward to September
because of this event. Bill Pirschel and Blake McBrayer put on
the show. They are great guys and they have a passion for the
hobby.
Last year the turnout was a bit light, with only 20 or so pilots.
This year was different; attendance was doubled, with 41
registered pilots.
We had a scare with the weather
forecast showing rain. It ended up being
perfect flying weather, albeit a bit hot.
Temperatures climbed into the mid-90s on
Saturday. It was not a big deal since
everyone in the Midwest had been used to
the heat all summer.
The club volunteers grilled brats and
hamburgers all day. That was some
awesome food!
It was practically the perfect setting
for a perfect fun-fly. The field faces north,
and it is so picturesque that it doesn’t look
real. There is an old barn off in the
distance, and the whole area looks like
something you would see on G3 (the
flight simulator). The field had a freshly
paved blacktop runway.
I arrived early Saturday morning and
got out my sound system. Many of you
know that I love music and probably
could have been happy as a DJ.
I set up the speakers and amps and let
my iPod play the Rock directory while I
got my helicopters ready. The hard
Techno was saved until later, when some
special guests arrived. Blake gave me the
signal to crank it up, so everyone got to
know ZZ Top a little better that morning.
There was a diverse mixture of models
at this event. There were some 50-size
nitros, a couple 400 electrics, and quite a
number of 90-size nitros. It seems like the
smaller helicopters are fairly popular, but
when pilots really want to lay it down
they pull out their 90s. And lay it down
they did!
Our special guests, Matt Botos and Jim
Stark, pulled in after a much-needed
beauty sleep. (Ha! Ha!) That is when
things got interesting. Matt promised to
thrill the crowd, so I pulled out some
radical Techno mixes and cranked the
system level to “extreme hardcore 3-D.”
He did not disappoint the crowd.
Several times during the flight I knew
the helicopter was trashed, but in typical
Botos style it was miraculously saved just
as it was going in. In addition, he
demonstrated some cool crack rolling.
In case you have not heard, there is a
new flying technique called “crack
flying.” It is done by wiggling the
ailerons back and forth extremely fast to
make the helicopter shake. Then, as it is
shaking, you fly your normal maneuver.
The stick wiggling makes it hard to fly
while keeping up the movement. The
most common moves are a crack roll and
a crack flip.
You are going to see a great deal of
this style of flying in the next couple
years. It looks cool if you do just a bit of
it during your flight. The new faster and
more powerful servos are allowing this to
be done.
Nice job, Matt. I really enjoyed seeing
you fly.
Bill “Make it Hot” Donovon and
Danny Arnet traveled to the event from
Louisville, Kentucky. Danny, aka
“Wildman,” showed us the best moves his
Miniature Aircraft Stratus had. It was
great to see them again.
Matt brought Sean Hall with him to the
fun-fly. They live and fly together in
Atlanta, Georgia. Sean is pleasant and a
good helicopter pilot too. I had a blast
hanging out and flying with them.
It is a great idea to have a flying
buddy. Most of the top pilots or those who
are improving rapidly have one. I just
hooked up with a new buddy and am
seeing more progress in my flying.
A flying buddy literally works on the
buddy system. It is someone to push you
to learn that next move, and that person is
there to watch out for you and keep you
accountable. A few guys I know are
successful flying by themselves, but not
too many reach the level of pilots who fly
in pairs.
Sometimes there is no one around your
area to fly with or the other pilot is far
below or above your level of flying. Be
patient; new pilots are sprouting up
everywhere. The fields of RC helicopter
pilots are fertile right now.
Next up to run the gauntlet was Jim
“Jrock” Stark. His model blasted off into
the stratosphere, and he locked it into a
perfect Tailslide that terminated in a
warp-speed pullout. It was total “Jrock”
Toledo R/C Expo Scale contest winner Wayne Mason shows how
it is done with his electric powered Indy Helis AH-64 Apache.
The gang’s all here! Sean Hall, Jim Stark, Wayne Mason, Matt
Botos, Mike Trueblood, and Walt discuss what they will wear to
dinner. Ha! Ha!
style. He wowed the audience with large,
fast, powerful maneuvers for the next eight
minutes.
Jim used to fly RC Aerobatics
airplanes, so much of his precise style
comes from that. Not many of the newer
pilots fly the way he does. His helicopter
is always in fast motion when he flies. His
models are in perfect condition at all
times, and they run in an ultra-smooth and
powerful manner.
Great flying, Jim. You are always fun
to watch.
Mike Trueblood was another top pilot
in attendance. The talent at this fun-fly
was extraordinary. Mike won the
autorotation contest with Jim Stark’s
helicopter. Now that hurts when you loan a
guy your model and he beats you in the
competition. Mike won $50 for his
accomplishment.
He flies for Team Mikado and uses a
Logo helicopter. I gave the Logo a try, and
I will say that it flies exceedingly well
indeed. The electrics are getting so much
better. The power-to-weight ratio is
increasing at a fast pace.
I met Jamie Edwards at the event. He is
an excellent pilot even though he has only
a few years of experience. Jamie is not one
of the young kids, either; I mean he is not
old like me, but he is 30-something! He
flew his T-Rex 600 nitro well in a smooth,
controlled manner, but he had some more
extreme moves to go along with it.
Brandon Crosier, another excellent
pilot from the area, was in attendance
again this year. He was ripping it up with
his T-Rex 600N.
The level of flying at this event was
astounding. It used to be that I would go to
a small local fun-fly and there might be
one person there I would call an “expert”
pilot. That is no longer true. At Lexington
this year approximately 30 of the 41 pilots
were flying at an extreme level. That is a
great reflection on the hobby because I
know how long it takes to build those
skills.
It may seem as though some pilots get
good really quickly. In a couple years they
are flying exceptionally. If you could track
their progress you would probably learn
that they have burnt some midnight oil to
get where they are. Some do learn faster
than others, but it is usually the time
invested that makes the pilot.
There was a great scale helicopter
presence at the fun-fly this year. Event CD
Bill Pirschel is putting the finishing
touches on his turbine-powered Huey. This
thing is huge, and the sound of the turbine
is spectacular. Bill flew it numerous times
during the day, and it was flawless in the
air.
Blake McBrayer had a beautiful
Augusta 109 with his old Raptor
mechanics inside. It was a new model, and
Blake made it look as if he had been flying
it for years.
Wayne Mason took his incredible Indy
Helis Apache to the event. The electricpowered
model requires two pilots to fly
it: one to handle the flight controls and the
other to work all the features, such as
turning the pilot’s head and gun, operating
the lights, and working many of the other
scale details. It is truly a work of art.
Picture of the Month: I thank everyone
for submitting pictures for the monthly
photo contest. To check out past winners
and entries, go to RunRyder.com and click
on the “Photos and Movies” section.
Some incredible pictures have been
entered. They will be printed each month
in MA, so keep a look out for that.
That wraps it up for this month. I hope all
of you get a new helicopter or two during
the holiday season. I am really excited
about what 2008 will look like in the RC
helicopter world. See ya next month. MA