Helicopter events in Hoosier country
Mark Fadely [[email protected]]
THANK YOU FOR visiting the helicopter column this month. I am writing this before heading out the door for the biggest helicopter adventure in all the land. That sounds like some kind of fairy tale, doesn't it? Well, it's more than that; it's real and it's the IRCHA Jamboree at AMA's International Aeromodeling Center. IRCHA stands for the International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association, and the Jamboree is the annual event held in Muncie, Indiana. I'll have more about this spectacular event in the next issue.
Meanwhile, outdoor flying is winding down for Northerners, while things are heating up in anticipation of a big indoor season. Designers have been hard at work, figuring out ways to extract more performance from our models.
Also included in this column:
- Skydiving from a helicopter
- Airtronics SD-10G at the field
This has been an incredible year of progress for our sport. Excellent new products and devices have come to market, mirroring the previous years' advancements. More emphasis than ever is being placed on the smaller machines. The 250-size electric helicopters appeal to many fliers, so a few companies are diving into that market.
Good things are happening in many areas of our hobby. Only a short time ago, 2.4 GHz technology was introduced for our radio systems. Now when you go to the flying field, very few 72 MHz units are in use. The helicopter pilots move fast on new technology. And to put some icing on an already delicious offering of electronics, the prices of popular transmitters have been dropping.
Hoosier Heli Rumble
The weekend of July 10–12, 2009, I attended the Hoosier Heli Rumble fun-fly in Lafayette, Indiana. This is one of the most relaxed gatherings of the season. Erik Anderson and Corben Meyer organized it this year. Many Midwestern pilots look forward to this get-together all year. The flying field is excellent and the focus is on fun. We had a bit of rain on Saturday, but those present found ways to enjoy.
RC skydiver "Charlie"
Jared Granzow, an XFC (Extreme Flight Championships) veteran, brought a cool little RC skydiver that he named "Charlie." We all took turns dropping Charlie from altitude. One pilot "flies" the skydiver after it is released from the helicopter. Charlie's arms (for steering) and chute deployment are controllable via RC. It was fun to see how long you could let the figure drop before pulling the "rip cord." One time, Jared had just gotten the chute open when Charlie piled into the paved runway.
Mike King rode with Jared Granzow to the Rumble and put on quite a show with his nitro-powered T-Rex 700. Mike has been flying helicopters for several years but has not been able to attend many shows because of his busy family schedule. He has two young children and a wife that are more important than helicopters — at least that is what he tells us. Ha! Ha!
Balancing your job, family, and dearest helicopters can be stressful at times. Mike obviously has it figured out, though. He flew some incredible routines that included pirouetting funnels, pogos, low tic-tocs while pirouetting, and a host of other high-level maneuvers. I was surprised by how much he had advanced since I last saw him fly.
Mike explained that he is an avid simulator user. You can't underestimate the benefits of disciplined simulator use. Mike also helped Jared Granzow by launching the skydiver from his helicopter.
Scale and large-scale helicopters
Another highlight of the Rumble was the military scale presence. The guys from Indy Helis showed up in force to entertain the crowd with their large-scale warbirds. Kerry Muncy and Wayne Mason brought AH-64 Apaches, and Mika Woodward had a beautiful Bell 47. They were fresh off of competing at the Nats in Muncie.
I have written about how scale RC helicopters have been increasing in popularity in the last few years. There are many options if you want to outfit your pod-and-boom machine with a nice scale fuselage. The Indy boys bring out some high-dollar, heavy hardware, but anyone can get into the scale scene with a minimal budget. It is amazing how many scale bodies there are for even 450-size electric helicopters today.
Notable pilots
Tyler Lovell was at the fun-fly too. He lives in Chicago, Illinois, where he does much of his flying in cold and windy weather.
Tyler was excited to show me the new radio he has been using. He brought the transmitter to me and was flipping switches and pushing buttons like a space shuttle pilot. I asked him to write down the features of this new radio. He gave me the following.
Airtronics SD-10G at the field
Tyler wrote:
"Airtronics/Sanwa have released the new SD-10G radio, which is distributed by Global Hobby. With a street price of $499 this fully featured 10-channel radio and FHSS3 receiver bring a new level of value to the market.
"Following the footsteps of the legendary Stylus, the SD-10G offers tremendous programming flexibility, yet it is very intuitive and simple to program. The menu system itself is customizable by the end user.
"This is the first Airtronics radio that will be software upgradeable by the customer via USB interface. Currently, the onboard software allows stick calibration, stick mode selection, channel mapping, assignability for every switch, button, knob, and rotary trim.
"Every switch is a three-position switch. Any function can be assigned to any switch, and switch functions can be assigned to the ball-bearing-supported gimbal sticks, such as starting a timer with the throttle stick and pausing the timer with throttle hold.
"The SD-10G can store 20 models using internal memory and another 20 via optional external memory. Three favorite models can be assigned to the instant access buttons on the face of the radio to simplify selecting these aircraft. All data can also be transferred to a computer.
"For helicopter pilots, the SD-10G provides advanced eCCPM programming and servo control. A dedicated gyro and governor function allow three separate gain settings for each of the five available flight modes. Flight modes can be named and copied to speed up programming. Most importantly, helicopter pilots will appreciate the unmatched speed of the true frequency hopping spread spectrum, FHSS3 system.
"Every channel is updated on every single frame, thus reducing eCCPM interaction, averaging only 11.83 ms for all 10 channels simultaneously. The SD-10G is a dedicated 2.4 GHz system with no modules.
"The antenna is retractable and foldable to provide long range and easy storage, and the radio balances perfectly on a neck strap without an adapter. A high-capacity NiMH battery is included, yet the SD-10G is ready to accept a 2-cell Li-Poly battery.
"Airtronics offers a complete line up of affordable receivers with six, seven, eight, and 10 channel versions. The receivers will operate at low voltages so brownouts cannot occur. No upgrades are needed to operate with carbon airframes or fuselages."
Thanks for explaining that, Tyler! It does look like many features for the money.
Futaba has lowered prices on some of its popular radios and offers a cool trade-up program. JR and Spektrum have been stepping up their lines with revisions and competitively priced radios for specific helicopter markets. As I have written in previous columns, it is a great time to be flying helicopters.
Thanks for reading this month. Check back in the next issue.
MF
Sources
- IRCHA: www.ircha.org
- Indy Helis: (317) 831-1665 — www.indyhelis.com
- Airtronics: (714) 963-0329 — www.airtronics.net
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
