Author: Mark Fadely
Edition: Model Aviation - 2011/04
Page Numbers: 110,111,112
,
,

Radio Control Helicopters - 2011/04

Mark Fadely

[email protected]

2010 Orlando Helicopter Blowout

Hello, helicopter people. It’s good to see that you have found your way back to MA’s world of rotary again.

Occasionally I ask readers to send in material, questions, or other information. This month Andy Griffith makes his second appearance in the helicopter column with a great write-up. He is active on forums and attends many events. This past December Andy took in the Orlando Blowout, and following is his colorful report about the gathering.

Report by Andy Griffith

While our friends to the north had already seen winter’s first snowfall, the helicopter flying in Florida was as hot as it’s been all year. The Orlando Radio Control Helicopter Society (TORCHS), in cooperation with the Radio Control Association of Central Florida (RCACF), hosted the 2010 Orlando Helicopter Blowout from December 10 through 12, 2010.

RCACF gave over the club’s flying site and provided staffing for the event while CD Carey Shurley and Pilot Coordinator Bert Kammerer made most of the arrangements. The RCACF field is located in Apopka, Florida, just a few minutes outside of Orlando.

The 2010 Blowout closed a busy event schedule in the southeast that starts right back up again January 15 in Statesboro, Georgia, for the Clintstone Birthday Bash.

RCACF has a great field with covered pits, a paved runway, and plenty of open area, but the event is growing so quickly that rumor has it TORCHS is looking at locations for the 2011 event that can accommodate more pilots, RVs, and spectator parking.

Event organizers learned from the 2009 event and closed off parking in the pits to pilots only and opened a separate parking area just for spectators. Spectator parking alone accounted for over 200 vehicles.

The 2010 Blowout has grown steadily each year and this, its third year, was no exception. The final registration count was a whopping 228 pilots. Preregistration worked well as only one pilot who preregistered failed to show up at the event. Estimates place total attendance in the range of 700-plus people at the height of the event during the afternoon demos on Saturday.

The flight line was packed during the demos and a long list of sponsored pilots made the Blowout a worthwhile trip for spectators and fellow pilots alike. The only helicopter event that I’m aware of in the U.S. that surpasses these numbers is the IRCHA Jamboree at AMA Headquarters in Muncie (Indiana) in August of each year.

What makes the Orlando Helicopter Blowout such a success?

  • Weather
  • The first and most obvious attraction (that doesn't have mouse ears) is the weather. While it wasn't perfect Florida weather, Kyle and Ray Stacy departed Rochester, New York, leaving snow flurries and single-digit temperatures in their wake. When given a choice between cold and snow, or daytime highs in the 60s, it's not hard to imagine why a lot of our fellow pilots from the north made the trip.
  • Well-known pilots
  • Another factor is the attraction of a long list of well-known pilots. Not everyone can make the trip to IRCHA each year so the chance to drive a few hours to talk to these folks and watch them fly in person is a huge draw. Even with the high-quality videos available online these days, it still doesn't compare to seeing these guys in person. Plus, watching them on YouTube doesn't give you a chance to hang out and talk with them.
  • Prize pool
  • The last key ingredient was the impressive prize pool. Even with a mediocre economy, many retailers and manufacturers stepped up and provided a whole tent full of pilot prizes and raffle items. Shirts, hats, and even blades were being given out throughout the day by emcee Mike Fortin to spectators and pilots alike. A lot of people left with goodies of some sort on Saturday. The prize pool for this year's Blowout was in excess of $15,000.

The list of sponsored pilots who were on hand was impressive as well (my apologies in advance to anyone I might have missed):

  • Bert Kammerer (host) — flew a great tandem demo with Kyle Stacy set to high-energy music
  • Matt Botos (with his wife Amy) — flew a demo with his Synergy N9, including a follow-the-leader with three more Synergys
  • Nick Maxwell — doing auto rotations onto a card table placed on the flight line
  • Tom-Erik Rolfson (from Norway) — put the new Thunder Tiger Raptor X50 through its paces
  • Alon Barak (10 years old, from Israel) — Thunder Tiger pilot
  • Lucas Riva (Team Outrage, from Switzerland)
  • Andrea Pousi (Team Outrage, from Italy)
  • Leon Luke (Canada)
  • Colin Bell (Canada)
  • Kyle Dahl — fresh off a win at the 2010 XFC (Extreme Flight Championships)
  • Joe Kaulbach (Germany)
  • Mitch Marozas
  • Andy Panoncillo
  • Many others

With over two hundred pilots it would normally be hard to single someone out but I got to spend a few minutes with Tim Jones from Simi Valley, California, and talk about his amazing electric helicopter. Tim does R&D (research and development) for Castle Creations and his helicopter serves as a test bed for their prototype motors and speed controllers.

His helicopter, nicknamed “the Beast,” started out life as a T-Rex 700 but the stock airframe couldn’t absorb all of the power they were pumping into it so he custom made a set of beefier (an understatement) gears and frames. A consumer T-Rex 700 seems to pack a pretty good punch at around 4 horsepower.

Tim’s prototype machine sustains 6.5 hp and peaks in the neighborhood of 14 hp! Power gets to the Align rotor head via a Castle 160HV speed controller and 12S, 65C Thunder Power batteries.

If you’re visiting the Florida area there are events with great people and great flying all year round. In addition to Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona, Melbourne, Mulberry, Port Charlotte, Tampa, and Gainesville all host events and more are added every year. Throw in the events in Dalton, Statesboro, and Andersonville, Georgia, and you can go to almost two helicopter events a month within a couple of hours' drive.

Attending events even as a spectator is a great way to see incredible flying and get a wealth of setup and flying help and advice. Hope to see you at one soon!

Thanks a lot for the great report, Andy. It’s nice to know that there is a good event to attend when the weather turns ugly up north.

We will be enjoying our first outdoor event here in the Midwest in April. The Midwest Sundowners R/C Flying Club is holding its popular fun-fly in Hobart, Indiana, this year on Saturday, April 23.

Hobart is located roughly an hour from Chicago, Illinois, and the flying field is wide open and excellent. The address is: 471 North County Rd. 650 West

Pilots from around the area flock to this fun get-together to shake off the rust of not flying outdoors for a while. I hope to see you there. One of the best things you can do to enhance your RC helicopter experience is attend a fun-fly.

Until next month, keep the rotors turning. MA

Sources

Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.