110 MODEL AVIATION
WELCOME BACK to the helicopter corner of MA. This has
already proven to be an incredible year for model helicopters.
Manufacturers have been working hard in the last year to make our
hobby better than ever.
Droves of new pilots are buying their first helicopters, and
sales of intermediate models are strong. The top-level helicopters
have many new
innovations built in.
The expert fliers
have an arsenal of
advanced equipment
at their fingertips.
The tools a pilot
needs are available,
and they’re even
cheaper than they
were a decade ago.
State-of-the-art
equipment can be
found at every level.
A few reflections on our state of the sport
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Also included in this column:
• Learn the Tic Toc
• Wings for Kids event
• FAI could help your 3-D skills
• Send in your cool flight shots
C.B. Frazier shows his Synergy N9 with custom-painted canopy.
He uses yellow tape around the tail area for enhanced visibility. All
photos by Jim Stark.
Devan Raines with his Synergy 90. This Louisville KY event attracts
the region’s best pilots. The flightline is in the background.
Doug Trent pilots his beautiful Hirobo FAI machine. He does
fantastic demos and helps out behind the scenes to make the
Wings for Kids air show a success.
“Make it Hot!” Bill Donovan is referring to how hot the flying is. He had T-shirts embroidered with the phrase and it caught on.
It makes you wonder where things will be five years from now.
I’ll bet that advancements will not be slowing. It is going to be fun
to see how things progress in the next few years. It is cool that a
pilot can buy a modern RC helicopter and get really good within a
couple years. That was never possible before.
Many potential pilots are being exposed to the hobby through
small micro electric-powered models that may have arrived as
Christmas or birthday gifts. Many of the little helicopters are
aerobatic, so the new pilots can get a taste of extreme flight.
Then if they are into it, they can move up to 500-size electric-,
30-size glow (fuel)-, or 50-size glow-powered machines. Since the
manufacturers cover the upgrade path so well, more and more
expert-level pilots are popping up. It is truly a fantastic time to be in
the hobby.
But it is not all about 3-D; Scale helicopters are coming out of
the dark as of late. No offense, but Scale had been on the back
burner for a while. Turnout at contests and meets has been down
in the last five years.
Now Scale is making a big comeback, and part of the reason is
support from the manufacturers. A Scale enthusiast can buy a
prepainted fuselage and pop a 50-size helicopter into it to
complete a great-looking model in minimal time.
Some of the Scale purists will argue that buying ARF stuff is
somehow not worthy. I look at it from the opposite perspective;
there is a new Scale pilot who probably would not have taken the
time to build a kit otherwise. That equals one new pilot the hobby
did not have before.
New Maneuver Time—Learn the Tic Toc: If you have attended a
fun-fly recently, you surely would have seen this move. A Tic Toc (or metronome, as the Brits say) is an
oscillating maneuver that suspends the
helicopter in air by pivoting on an axis.
Aileron and elevator Tic Tocs are the most
common.
It is a cool move that can look nice,
especially when flown to music; a Tic Toc’s
tempo often matches a song’s beat. Voilà! Now
you can choreograph your flight to music.
The elevator Tic Toc is the most
common, and it looks the coolest. Your
helicopter should be capable of inverted
flight before you try this maneuver. You can
fly it with the tail toward you, but for best
effect it should be done side-on.
If you are comfortable with a side-view
orientation, go up to a safe altitude and put
the model into a left or right side-on hover.
Feed in positive collective while gently
pulling back elevator until the helicopter is
nose-up, pointing at the 10 o’clock position
while the tail is down near the 6 o’clock
position. The helicopter is now in the
positive stopping position of the Tic Toc.
You can sneak up on trying the fullblown
version by stopping in this position
and then letting the model settle back into an
upright hover by applying down-elevator.
When you are ready to do the full move,
pull the helicopter back into an inverted
nose-high position with the nose at 2 o’clock
and the tail at 6 o’clock. The idea is to keep
the tail fairly motionless and move the
canopy back and forth between 10 o’clock
and 2 o’clock.
You can do long, slow Tic Tocs or fast,
tight ones. That is why they work so well to
music; you can vary the speed of the
transitions quite a bit.
It sounds easy, but, as in most
maneuvers, it is difficult to keep the model
locked solidly in and moving the same
amount on each Tic Toc. With practice, you
will be doing these maneuvers on the deck
and choreographing them to your favorite
music tracks.
Good luck, and send me an E-mail to let
me know how it is going.
Louisville Wings for Kids Air Show: The
River City Radio Controllers opens its field
to the public every June for an actionpacked
air show. The club is located in an
upscale section of Louisville, Kentucky. It is
on the city’s Tom Sawyer State Park
property. This year marks its eighth
anniversary. The facility is fantastic and
sports a long asphalt runway.
The show’s proceeds go to the Crusade
for Children foundation. It is a great cause,
and top pilots show up each year to do their
part for the charity by making demo flights
as only they can. The show includes airplane
and helicopter flying.
Doug Trent is one of the local helicopter
gurus. He has flown in many contests and
currently pilots a beautiful Hirobo FAI
machine. FAI is the world’s air sports
federation, and its contests are flown
according to a precise and defined set of
maneuvers and placements. It is losing
popularity in this country as 3-D is taking
over. In relation to helicopters, 3-D is as
American as apple pie and baseball.
All 3-D pilots could enhance their flying by
looking into the details of FAI flying. Much of
the precision and maneuver placement that is
required in FAI is completely lost in a lot of
the 3-D flying. A melding of the two styles is
most exciting to watch.
Bill Donovan is one of the nicest guys
you could ever meet. He is a longtime
member of the Louisville club. Bill is fun to
be around and is a big fan of helicopters. His
piloting skills are impressive when he guides
his Synergy N9 through an aerobatic
routine. I have always admired how clean
and mechanically perfect he maintains his
models.
A few years ago at the XFC (Extreme
Flight Championships), we were all
enjoying the showmanship of some of the
pilots. The infamous Darrell Bell (aka Big
D!) was the announcer that year. He would
command the pilots to “Make it hot!” and
their flights would begin.
That phrase caught on, and Bill has been
shouting it out at fun-flys and contests ever
since. In fact, he had a shirt made for each
helicopter flier in his club that reads, “Make
it Hot!” on the back. He even made one for
me. Thanks a lot, Bill. That shirt brings back
some great memories.
Thanks to Jim Stark for taking the
pictures at Louisville this year. I normally
go, but this year we had to cancel our family
trek to River City because my wife had a
bad bicycle accident. She is doing okay, but recovering from surgery at a fun-fly was not
going to work. We already have plans to
attend next year’s gathering, though.
Jim Stark has been around the helicopter
side of our hobby for a long time. He
recently put his vast knowledge to work by
starting a business with his longtime friend,
Carl Bonta, called Hyperformance RC.
They make upgrade parts for helicopters.
Right now most of the parts are designed
for the Synergy line of helicopters.
Hopefully they will expand their
capabilities by making upgrades for other
brands.
The tooling and machining work Jim
and Carl produce is beautiful. Parts quality
makes a huge difference in how our
machines perform. Check out their Web site
the first chance you get. I know these guys
are going to be successful as they expand
the business.
Thank all of you for the pictures you have
been submitting to the “Viewfinder” page
here in MA. A slew of killer shots have
already been submitted. I can’t wait to see
what everyone contributes.
RunRyder is running a monthly photo
contest in the photo and video forum, but
you can submit cool airplane or helicopter
shots directly to MA through Editor Michael
Ramsey’s E-mail.
I have enjoyed our time this month and I
have some exciting stuff for you next time.
See you back here then. MA
Sources:
River City Radio Controllers
www.rcrcky.com
Hyperformance RC
(630) 757-1080
www.hyperformancerc.com
RunRyder
www.runryder.com
Michael Ramsey
(765) 287-1256, extension 223
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 110,111,112,114
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 110,111,112,114
110 MODEL AVIATION
WELCOME BACK to the helicopter corner of MA. This has
already proven to be an incredible year for model helicopters.
Manufacturers have been working hard in the last year to make our
hobby better than ever.
Droves of new pilots are buying their first helicopters, and
sales of intermediate models are strong. The top-level helicopters
have many new
innovations built in.
The expert fliers
have an arsenal of
advanced equipment
at their fingertips.
The tools a pilot
needs are available,
and they’re even
cheaper than they
were a decade ago.
State-of-the-art
equipment can be
found at every level.
A few reflections on our state of the sport
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Also included in this column:
• Learn the Tic Toc
• Wings for Kids event
• FAI could help your 3-D skills
• Send in your cool flight shots
C.B. Frazier shows his Synergy N9 with custom-painted canopy.
He uses yellow tape around the tail area for enhanced visibility. All
photos by Jim Stark.
Devan Raines with his Synergy 90. This Louisville KY event attracts
the region’s best pilots. The flightline is in the background.
Doug Trent pilots his beautiful Hirobo FAI machine. He does
fantastic demos and helps out behind the scenes to make the
Wings for Kids air show a success.
“Make it Hot!” Bill Donovan is referring to how hot the flying is. He had T-shirts embroidered with the phrase and it caught on.
It makes you wonder where things will be five years from now.
I’ll bet that advancements will not be slowing. It is going to be fun
to see how things progress in the next few years. It is cool that a
pilot can buy a modern RC helicopter and get really good within a
couple years. That was never possible before.
Many potential pilots are being exposed to the hobby through
small micro electric-powered models that may have arrived as
Christmas or birthday gifts. Many of the little helicopters are
aerobatic, so the new pilots can get a taste of extreme flight.
Then if they are into it, they can move up to 500-size electric-,
30-size glow (fuel)-, or 50-size glow-powered machines. Since the
manufacturers cover the upgrade path so well, more and more
expert-level pilots are popping up. It is truly a fantastic time to be in
the hobby.
But it is not all about 3-D; Scale helicopters are coming out of
the dark as of late. No offense, but Scale had been on the back
burner for a while. Turnout at contests and meets has been down
in the last five years.
Now Scale is making a big comeback, and part of the reason is
support from the manufacturers. A Scale enthusiast can buy a
prepainted fuselage and pop a 50-size helicopter into it to
complete a great-looking model in minimal time.
Some of the Scale purists will argue that buying ARF stuff is
somehow not worthy. I look at it from the opposite perspective;
there is a new Scale pilot who probably would not have taken the
time to build a kit otherwise. That equals one new pilot the hobby
did not have before.
New Maneuver Time—Learn the Tic Toc: If you have attended a
fun-fly recently, you surely would have seen this move. A Tic Toc (or metronome, as the Brits say) is an
oscillating maneuver that suspends the
helicopter in air by pivoting on an axis.
Aileron and elevator Tic Tocs are the most
common.
It is a cool move that can look nice,
especially when flown to music; a Tic Toc’s
tempo often matches a song’s beat. Voilà! Now
you can choreograph your flight to music.
The elevator Tic Toc is the most
common, and it looks the coolest. Your
helicopter should be capable of inverted
flight before you try this maneuver. You can
fly it with the tail toward you, but for best
effect it should be done side-on.
If you are comfortable with a side-view
orientation, go up to a safe altitude and put
the model into a left or right side-on hover.
Feed in positive collective while gently
pulling back elevator until the helicopter is
nose-up, pointing at the 10 o’clock position
while the tail is down near the 6 o’clock
position. The helicopter is now in the
positive stopping position of the Tic Toc.
You can sneak up on trying the fullblown
version by stopping in this position
and then letting the model settle back into an
upright hover by applying down-elevator.
When you are ready to do the full move,
pull the helicopter back into an inverted
nose-high position with the nose at 2 o’clock
and the tail at 6 o’clock. The idea is to keep
the tail fairly motionless and move the
canopy back and forth between 10 o’clock
and 2 o’clock.
You can do long, slow Tic Tocs or fast,
tight ones. That is why they work so well to
music; you can vary the speed of the
transitions quite a bit.
It sounds easy, but, as in most
maneuvers, it is difficult to keep the model
locked solidly in and moving the same
amount on each Tic Toc. With practice, you
will be doing these maneuvers on the deck
and choreographing them to your favorite
music tracks.
Good luck, and send me an E-mail to let
me know how it is going.
Louisville Wings for Kids Air Show: The
River City Radio Controllers opens its field
to the public every June for an actionpacked
air show. The club is located in an
upscale section of Louisville, Kentucky. It is
on the city’s Tom Sawyer State Park
property. This year marks its eighth
anniversary. The facility is fantastic and
sports a long asphalt runway.
The show’s proceeds go to the Crusade
for Children foundation. It is a great cause,
and top pilots show up each year to do their
part for the charity by making demo flights
as only they can. The show includes airplane
and helicopter flying.
Doug Trent is one of the local helicopter
gurus. He has flown in many contests and
currently pilots a beautiful Hirobo FAI
machine. FAI is the world’s air sports
federation, and its contests are flown
according to a precise and defined set of
maneuvers and placements. It is losing
popularity in this country as 3-D is taking
over. In relation to helicopters, 3-D is as
American as apple pie and baseball.
All 3-D pilots could enhance their flying by
looking into the details of FAI flying. Much of
the precision and maneuver placement that is
required in FAI is completely lost in a lot of
the 3-D flying. A melding of the two styles is
most exciting to watch.
Bill Donovan is one of the nicest guys
you could ever meet. He is a longtime
member of the Louisville club. Bill is fun to
be around and is a big fan of helicopters. His
piloting skills are impressive when he guides
his Synergy N9 through an aerobatic
routine. I have always admired how clean
and mechanically perfect he maintains his
models.
A few years ago at the XFC (Extreme
Flight Championships), we were all
enjoying the showmanship of some of the
pilots. The infamous Darrell Bell (aka Big
D!) was the announcer that year. He would
command the pilots to “Make it hot!” and
their flights would begin.
That phrase caught on, and Bill has been
shouting it out at fun-flys and contests ever
since. In fact, he had a shirt made for each
helicopter flier in his club that reads, “Make
it Hot!” on the back. He even made one for
me. Thanks a lot, Bill. That shirt brings back
some great memories.
Thanks to Jim Stark for taking the
pictures at Louisville this year. I normally
go, but this year we had to cancel our family
trek to River City because my wife had a
bad bicycle accident. She is doing okay, but recovering from surgery at a fun-fly was not
going to work. We already have plans to
attend next year’s gathering, though.
Jim Stark has been around the helicopter
side of our hobby for a long time. He
recently put his vast knowledge to work by
starting a business with his longtime friend,
Carl Bonta, called Hyperformance RC.
They make upgrade parts for helicopters.
Right now most of the parts are designed
for the Synergy line of helicopters.
Hopefully they will expand their
capabilities by making upgrades for other
brands.
The tooling and machining work Jim
and Carl produce is beautiful. Parts quality
makes a huge difference in how our
machines perform. Check out their Web site
the first chance you get. I know these guys
are going to be successful as they expand
the business.
Thank all of you for the pictures you have
been submitting to the “Viewfinder” page
here in MA. A slew of killer shots have
already been submitted. I can’t wait to see
what everyone contributes.
RunRyder is running a monthly photo
contest in the photo and video forum, but
you can submit cool airplane or helicopter
shots directly to MA through Editor Michael
Ramsey’s E-mail.
I have enjoyed our time this month and I
have some exciting stuff for you next time.
See you back here then. MA
Sources:
River City Radio Controllers
www.rcrcky.com
Hyperformance RC
(630) 757-1080
www.hyperformancerc.com
RunRyder
www.runryder.com
Michael Ramsey
(765) 287-1256, extension 223
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 110,111,112,114
110 MODEL AVIATION
WELCOME BACK to the helicopter corner of MA. This has
already proven to be an incredible year for model helicopters.
Manufacturers have been working hard in the last year to make our
hobby better than ever.
Droves of new pilots are buying their first helicopters, and
sales of intermediate models are strong. The top-level helicopters
have many new
innovations built in.
The expert fliers
have an arsenal of
advanced equipment
at their fingertips.
The tools a pilot
needs are available,
and they’re even
cheaper than they
were a decade ago.
State-of-the-art
equipment can be
found at every level.
A few reflections on our state of the sport
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Also included in this column:
• Learn the Tic Toc
• Wings for Kids event
• FAI could help your 3-D skills
• Send in your cool flight shots
C.B. Frazier shows his Synergy N9 with custom-painted canopy.
He uses yellow tape around the tail area for enhanced visibility. All
photos by Jim Stark.
Devan Raines with his Synergy 90. This Louisville KY event attracts
the region’s best pilots. The flightline is in the background.
Doug Trent pilots his beautiful Hirobo FAI machine. He does
fantastic demos and helps out behind the scenes to make the
Wings for Kids air show a success.
“Make it Hot!” Bill Donovan is referring to how hot the flying is. He had T-shirts embroidered with the phrase and it caught on.
It makes you wonder where things will be five years from now.
I’ll bet that advancements will not be slowing. It is going to be fun
to see how things progress in the next few years. It is cool that a
pilot can buy a modern RC helicopter and get really good within a
couple years. That was never possible before.
Many potential pilots are being exposed to the hobby through
small micro electric-powered models that may have arrived as
Christmas or birthday gifts. Many of the little helicopters are
aerobatic, so the new pilots can get a taste of extreme flight.
Then if they are into it, they can move up to 500-size electric-,
30-size glow (fuel)-, or 50-size glow-powered machines. Since the
manufacturers cover the upgrade path so well, more and more
expert-level pilots are popping up. It is truly a fantastic time to be in
the hobby.
But it is not all about 3-D; Scale helicopters are coming out of
the dark as of late. No offense, but Scale had been on the back
burner for a while. Turnout at contests and meets has been down
in the last five years.
Now Scale is making a big comeback, and part of the reason is
support from the manufacturers. A Scale enthusiast can buy a
prepainted fuselage and pop a 50-size helicopter into it to
complete a great-looking model in minimal time.
Some of the Scale purists will argue that buying ARF stuff is
somehow not worthy. I look at it from the opposite perspective;
there is a new Scale pilot who probably would not have taken the
time to build a kit otherwise. That equals one new pilot the hobby
did not have before.
New Maneuver Time—Learn the Tic Toc: If you have attended a
fun-fly recently, you surely would have seen this move. A Tic Toc (or metronome, as the Brits say) is an
oscillating maneuver that suspends the
helicopter in air by pivoting on an axis.
Aileron and elevator Tic Tocs are the most
common.
It is a cool move that can look nice,
especially when flown to music; a Tic Toc’s
tempo often matches a song’s beat. Voilà! Now
you can choreograph your flight to music.
The elevator Tic Toc is the most
common, and it looks the coolest. Your
helicopter should be capable of inverted
flight before you try this maneuver. You can
fly it with the tail toward you, but for best
effect it should be done side-on.
If you are comfortable with a side-view
orientation, go up to a safe altitude and put
the model into a left or right side-on hover.
Feed in positive collective while gently
pulling back elevator until the helicopter is
nose-up, pointing at the 10 o’clock position
while the tail is down near the 6 o’clock
position. The helicopter is now in the
positive stopping position of the Tic Toc.
You can sneak up on trying the fullblown
version by stopping in this position
and then letting the model settle back into an
upright hover by applying down-elevator.
When you are ready to do the full move,
pull the helicopter back into an inverted
nose-high position with the nose at 2 o’clock
and the tail at 6 o’clock. The idea is to keep
the tail fairly motionless and move the
canopy back and forth between 10 o’clock
and 2 o’clock.
You can do long, slow Tic Tocs or fast,
tight ones. That is why they work so well to
music; you can vary the speed of the
transitions quite a bit.
It sounds easy, but, as in most
maneuvers, it is difficult to keep the model
locked solidly in and moving the same
amount on each Tic Toc. With practice, you
will be doing these maneuvers on the deck
and choreographing them to your favorite
music tracks.
Good luck, and send me an E-mail to let
me know how it is going.
Louisville Wings for Kids Air Show: The
River City Radio Controllers opens its field
to the public every June for an actionpacked
air show. The club is located in an
upscale section of Louisville, Kentucky. It is
on the city’s Tom Sawyer State Park
property. This year marks its eighth
anniversary. The facility is fantastic and
sports a long asphalt runway.
The show’s proceeds go to the Crusade
for Children foundation. It is a great cause,
and top pilots show up each year to do their
part for the charity by making demo flights
as only they can. The show includes airplane
and helicopter flying.
Doug Trent is one of the local helicopter
gurus. He has flown in many contests and
currently pilots a beautiful Hirobo FAI
machine. FAI is the world’s air sports
federation, and its contests are flown
according to a precise and defined set of
maneuvers and placements. It is losing
popularity in this country as 3-D is taking
over. In relation to helicopters, 3-D is as
American as apple pie and baseball.
All 3-D pilots could enhance their flying by
looking into the details of FAI flying. Much of
the precision and maneuver placement that is
required in FAI is completely lost in a lot of
the 3-D flying. A melding of the two styles is
most exciting to watch.
Bill Donovan is one of the nicest guys
you could ever meet. He is a longtime
member of the Louisville club. Bill is fun to
be around and is a big fan of helicopters. His
piloting skills are impressive when he guides
his Synergy N9 through an aerobatic
routine. I have always admired how clean
and mechanically perfect he maintains his
models.
A few years ago at the XFC (Extreme
Flight Championships), we were all
enjoying the showmanship of some of the
pilots. The infamous Darrell Bell (aka Big
D!) was the announcer that year. He would
command the pilots to “Make it hot!” and
their flights would begin.
That phrase caught on, and Bill has been
shouting it out at fun-flys and contests ever
since. In fact, he had a shirt made for each
helicopter flier in his club that reads, “Make
it Hot!” on the back. He even made one for
me. Thanks a lot, Bill. That shirt brings back
some great memories.
Thanks to Jim Stark for taking the
pictures at Louisville this year. I normally
go, but this year we had to cancel our family
trek to River City because my wife had a
bad bicycle accident. She is doing okay, but recovering from surgery at a fun-fly was not
going to work. We already have plans to
attend next year’s gathering, though.
Jim Stark has been around the helicopter
side of our hobby for a long time. He
recently put his vast knowledge to work by
starting a business with his longtime friend,
Carl Bonta, called Hyperformance RC.
They make upgrade parts for helicopters.
Right now most of the parts are designed
for the Synergy line of helicopters.
Hopefully they will expand their
capabilities by making upgrades for other
brands.
The tooling and machining work Jim
and Carl produce is beautiful. Parts quality
makes a huge difference in how our
machines perform. Check out their Web site
the first chance you get. I know these guys
are going to be successful as they expand
the business.
Thank all of you for the pictures you have
been submitting to the “Viewfinder” page
here in MA. A slew of killer shots have
already been submitted. I can’t wait to see
what everyone contributes.
RunRyder is running a monthly photo
contest in the photo and video forum, but
you can submit cool airplane or helicopter
shots directly to MA through Editor Michael
Ramsey’s E-mail.
I have enjoyed our time this month and I
have some exciting stuff for you next time.
See you back here then. MA
Sources:
River City Radio Controllers
www.rcrcky.com
Hyperformance RC
(630) 757-1080
www.hyperformancerc.com
RunRyder
www.runryder.com
Michael Ramsey
(765) 287-1256, extension 223
[email protected]
Edition: Model Aviation - 2008/09
Page Numbers: 110,111,112,114
110 MODEL AVIATION
WELCOME BACK to the helicopter corner of MA. This has
already proven to be an incredible year for model helicopters.
Manufacturers have been working hard in the last year to make our
hobby better than ever.
Droves of new pilots are buying their first helicopters, and
sales of intermediate models are strong. The top-level helicopters
have many new
innovations built in.
The expert fliers
have an arsenal of
advanced equipment
at their fingertips.
The tools a pilot
needs are available,
and they’re even
cheaper than they
were a decade ago.
State-of-the-art
equipment can be
found at every level.
A few reflections on our state of the sport
[[email protected]]
Radio Control Helicopters Mark Fadely
Also included in this column:
• Learn the Tic Toc
• Wings for Kids event
• FAI could help your 3-D skills
• Send in your cool flight shots
C.B. Frazier shows his Synergy N9 with custom-painted canopy.
He uses yellow tape around the tail area for enhanced visibility. All
photos by Jim Stark.
Devan Raines with his Synergy 90. This Louisville KY event attracts
the region’s best pilots. The flightline is in the background.
Doug Trent pilots his beautiful Hirobo FAI machine. He does
fantastic demos and helps out behind the scenes to make the
Wings for Kids air show a success.
“Make it Hot!” Bill Donovan is referring to how hot the flying is. He had T-shirts embroidered with the phrase and it caught on.
It makes you wonder where things will be five years from now.
I’ll bet that advancements will not be slowing. It is going to be fun
to see how things progress in the next few years. It is cool that a
pilot can buy a modern RC helicopter and get really good within a
couple years. That was never possible before.
Many potential pilots are being exposed to the hobby through
small micro electric-powered models that may have arrived as
Christmas or birthday gifts. Many of the little helicopters are
aerobatic, so the new pilots can get a taste of extreme flight.
Then if they are into it, they can move up to 500-size electric-,
30-size glow (fuel)-, or 50-size glow-powered machines. Since the
manufacturers cover the upgrade path so well, more and more
expert-level pilots are popping up. It is truly a fantastic time to be in
the hobby.
But it is not all about 3-D; Scale helicopters are coming out of
the dark as of late. No offense, but Scale had been on the back
burner for a while. Turnout at contests and meets has been down
in the last five years.
Now Scale is making a big comeback, and part of the reason is
support from the manufacturers. A Scale enthusiast can buy a
prepainted fuselage and pop a 50-size helicopter into it to
complete a great-looking model in minimal time.
Some of the Scale purists will argue that buying ARF stuff is
somehow not worthy. I look at it from the opposite perspective;
there is a new Scale pilot who probably would not have taken the
time to build a kit otherwise. That equals one new pilot the hobby
did not have before.
New Maneuver Time—Learn the Tic Toc: If you have attended a
fun-fly recently, you surely would have seen this move. A Tic Toc (or metronome, as the Brits say) is an
oscillating maneuver that suspends the
helicopter in air by pivoting on an axis.
Aileron and elevator Tic Tocs are the most
common.
It is a cool move that can look nice,
especially when flown to music; a Tic Toc’s
tempo often matches a song’s beat. Voilà! Now
you can choreograph your flight to music.
The elevator Tic Toc is the most
common, and it looks the coolest. Your
helicopter should be capable of inverted
flight before you try this maneuver. You can
fly it with the tail toward you, but for best
effect it should be done side-on.
If you are comfortable with a side-view
orientation, go up to a safe altitude and put
the model into a left or right side-on hover.
Feed in positive collective while gently
pulling back elevator until the helicopter is
nose-up, pointing at the 10 o’clock position
while the tail is down near the 6 o’clock
position. The helicopter is now in the
positive stopping position of the Tic Toc.
You can sneak up on trying the fullblown
version by stopping in this position
and then letting the model settle back into an
upright hover by applying down-elevator.
When you are ready to do the full move,
pull the helicopter back into an inverted
nose-high position with the nose at 2 o’clock
and the tail at 6 o’clock. The idea is to keep
the tail fairly motionless and move the
canopy back and forth between 10 o’clock
and 2 o’clock.
You can do long, slow Tic Tocs or fast,
tight ones. That is why they work so well to
music; you can vary the speed of the
transitions quite a bit.
It sounds easy, but, as in most
maneuvers, it is difficult to keep the model
locked solidly in and moving the same
amount on each Tic Toc. With practice, you
will be doing these maneuvers on the deck
and choreographing them to your favorite
music tracks.
Good luck, and send me an E-mail to let
me know how it is going.
Louisville Wings for Kids Air Show: The
River City Radio Controllers opens its field
to the public every June for an actionpacked
air show. The club is located in an
upscale section of Louisville, Kentucky. It is
on the city’s Tom Sawyer State Park
property. This year marks its eighth
anniversary. The facility is fantastic and
sports a long asphalt runway.
The show’s proceeds go to the Crusade
for Children foundation. It is a great cause,
and top pilots show up each year to do their
part for the charity by making demo flights
as only they can. The show includes airplane
and helicopter flying.
Doug Trent is one of the local helicopter
gurus. He has flown in many contests and
currently pilots a beautiful Hirobo FAI
machine. FAI is the world’s air sports
federation, and its contests are flown
according to a precise and defined set of
maneuvers and placements. It is losing
popularity in this country as 3-D is taking
over. In relation to helicopters, 3-D is as
American as apple pie and baseball.
All 3-D pilots could enhance their flying by
looking into the details of FAI flying. Much of
the precision and maneuver placement that is
required in FAI is completely lost in a lot of
the 3-D flying. A melding of the two styles is
most exciting to watch.
Bill Donovan is one of the nicest guys
you could ever meet. He is a longtime
member of the Louisville club. Bill is fun to
be around and is a big fan of helicopters. His
piloting skills are impressive when he guides
his Synergy N9 through an aerobatic
routine. I have always admired how clean
and mechanically perfect he maintains his
models.
A few years ago at the XFC (Extreme
Flight Championships), we were all
enjoying the showmanship of some of the
pilots. The infamous Darrell Bell (aka Big
D!) was the announcer that year. He would
command the pilots to “Make it hot!” and
their flights would begin.
That phrase caught on, and Bill has been
shouting it out at fun-flys and contests ever
since. In fact, he had a shirt made for each
helicopter flier in his club that reads, “Make
it Hot!” on the back. He even made one for
me. Thanks a lot, Bill. That shirt brings back
some great memories.
Thanks to Jim Stark for taking the
pictures at Louisville this year. I normally
go, but this year we had to cancel our family
trek to River City because my wife had a
bad bicycle accident. She is doing okay, but recovering from surgery at a fun-fly was not
going to work. We already have plans to
attend next year’s gathering, though.
Jim Stark has been around the helicopter
side of our hobby for a long time. He
recently put his vast knowledge to work by
starting a business with his longtime friend,
Carl Bonta, called Hyperformance RC.
They make upgrade parts for helicopters.
Right now most of the parts are designed
for the Synergy line of helicopters.
Hopefully they will expand their
capabilities by making upgrades for other
brands.
The tooling and machining work Jim
and Carl produce is beautiful. Parts quality
makes a huge difference in how our
machines perform. Check out their Web site
the first chance you get. I know these guys
are going to be successful as they expand
the business.
Thank all of you for the pictures you have
been submitting to the “Viewfinder” page
here in MA. A slew of killer shots have
already been submitted. I can’t wait to see
what everyone contributes.
RunRyder is running a monthly photo
contest in the photo and video forum, but
you can submit cool airplane or helicopter
shots directly to MA through Editor Michael
Ramsey’s E-mail.
I have enjoyed our time this month and I
have some exciting stuff for you next time.
See you back here then. MA
Sources:
River City Radio Controllers
www.rcrcky.com
Hyperformance RC
(630) 757-1080
www.hyperformancerc.com
RunRyder
www.runryder.com
Michael Ramsey
(765) 287-1256, extension 223
[email protected]
