Radio Control Helicopters - 2009/10
HELLO! Another year is winding down. Fall is a good time here in the Midwest; the cooler temperatures are a nice change from the hot summer months. Our engines run better, and the air is thicker, which helps helicopter blades bite better.
The optimal temperature to get the best overall performance from our equipment is near 50°F. Athletes perform better in certain temperature ranges, and our helicopters are much the same.
Our modern machines are certainly more resistant to weather extremes than they used to be, and the components keep getting better each year. I wonder what new equipment developments we will see in 2010.
I wrote about flybarless control-system advancements a few issues ago. Several inside sources have told me that some amazing things are getting ready to happen with flybarless technology.
Wouldn't it be cool to have a 450-size helicopter with an excellent flybarless head setup? The possibilities are exciting to consider. Mechanical aspects of the flybar limit a helicopter's performance in many ways. That limiting factor is compounded on the smaller, electric-powered indoor models.
If an extremely light flybarless control system could be fitted to our 450- and 250-size helicopters, that would open up the flight envelope of the mini models. There are some operational units out there now, but further work is needed to perfect their operation.
On the topic of cutting-edge products and engineering developments, I had the opportunity to talk with Curtis Youngblood at the Extreme Flight Championships (XFC) this year. His history of innovation within the hobby is amazing. Curtis said that we would see some revolutionary things in the near future.
He has hired Nick Maxwell and Jamie Robertson to fly for his company, Curtis Youngblood Enterprises. Following is the conversation we had at the XFC.
Interview with Curtis Youngblood
At the Extreme Flight Championships (XFC)
MF: Curtis, your two crack pilots, Jamie Robertson and Nick Maxwell, are at the top of the leader board in this contest right now. What have you done to help these youngsters achieve the level they are flying at right now?
CY: Nick is actually an employee of mine, and both of them are sponsored pilots. Nick is 19 years old and Jamie just turned 16.
MF: What is the best way for a pilot to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in the XFC?
CY: They watch other pilots a lot, and they have spent many hours watching other top pilots' videos online. They have tried to pick up on techniques and interesting maneuvers.
Nick is fortunate, because he is also an airplane pilot. He talks to the other airplane pilots about various maneuvers that can be transferred to helicopters. Nick and Jamie also feed off of each other when they fly, so they both get a nice spectrum of ideas to work on in their flying. They also attend a lot of fun-flys throughout the year.
MF: How many flights per month do you think Nick and Jamie fly?
CY: Oh my, it's hard to say. But I know sometimes when I have been flying with Nick and leave the field at 5 p.m., I find out he burned 2 more gallons of fuel after I left. That's like another 15 flights in just one evening.
So I have no clue how much he actually flies. It's a ridiculous amount. He flies way over 1,000 flights per year. Jamie usually flies around 15 flights a day during fun-flys.
MF: Do either Nick or Jamie use a simulator?
CY: I know Jamie does, but Nick doesn't. Nick's flying style doesn't lend well to a sim. He flies a lot of open, large, fast maneuvers that don't translate well on the computer.
MF: Have the two pilots influenced each other's style?
CY: Yes, that always happens. Each one picks up things from the other. Jamie flies tighter-in moves, while Nick is faster and bigger. Now we are seeing a little of both styles from each guy.
MF: I noticed that both Nick and Jamie were flying T-Rex 700 machines and, interestingly, Jamie flew an electric version for his Known maneuvers. What's up with that?
CY: The electric-conversion T-Rex 700 that Jamie was flying is a machine that Ray Nemovi built. The Robertsons had been working with Ray to develop that machine, and Jamie wanted to use it for his XFC Knowns. He had the same setup in it as he used for the glow-powered version.
MF: Curtis, you have become quite the helicopter entrepreneur these days. Can you fill us in on the structure of your various companies?
CY: CurtisYoungblood.com is my main company. That's the outlet for the Radix blades, Solid G gyros, and such. PowerHelis.com is the online outlet for Power R/C Hobbies out of Bryan, Texas. I do own Power R/C Hobbies, but I don't run it.
Jamie is sponsored by PowerHelis.com and Nick is sponsored by Curtis Youngblood Enterprises. Youngblood Enterprises is a distributor, where PowerHelis is a retail outlet.
MF: What is in store for the future, Curtis?
CY: The flight control systems are coming into their own. Things have been a little awkward starting out, but the technology is getting better all the time. I'm talking about the flybarless control systems; we call them flight control systems.
I think those systems are going to be much easier to set up, and they will work a lot better. It is going to be the same kind of revolution that heading-hold brought to gyros. It will allow a lot of people to get models that fly really, really good without much knowledge of how to make them fly good.
The benefit for all pilots will be that any given helicopter will be able to be set up much more aggressively and still fly even smoother at the same time. It is the best of both worlds without having to make the compromises involved with the flybar.
Curtis, thanks so much for your insights and explanations. I have really enjoyed your presence at this year's XFC. Good luck to you, your pilots, and your companies.
Drop me an e-mail with any input you might have for the helicopter column. Thanks for reading.
— MA
Sources
- Curtis Youngblood Enterprises
(979) 779-2172 www.curtisyoungblood.com
- PowerHelis.com
(877) 385-4633 www.powerhelis.com
- IRCHA (International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association)
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
