Hello, and thanks again for stopping by. The end of 2012 is fast approaching.
For me, one of the highlights of each fl ying season is the Extreme Flight
Championships (XFC). It is great to see all of the top pilots wringing out the
latest top-level machines. The XFC is a 3-D contest that combines RC Giant Scale
airplanes with helicopters. I was fortunate to make it to this year’s event. Incredibly,
the pilots’ skills continue to improve each year.
Nick Maxwell led the way, fl ying his new Thunder Tiger G4 720 helicopter. Nick
uses Futaba electronics.
Mikado dominated the event with team pilots, Jamie Robertson and Kyle Dahl,
claiming the second- and third-place spots on the podium. Jamie fl ew his trusty
Logo 600 controlled with a JR radio, while Kyle used the new Logo 700 XXtreme
heli and a JR XG8 radio. Both Jamie and Kyle are previous XFC champions.
Every heli at the 2012 XFC was a fl ybarless, electric-powered machine. This has
proven to be the best setup for competition.
There is an ongoing
debate about the
pros and cons of
electric versus internal
combustion for
helicopters. Both power
systems have benefi ts.
Some of the top pilots I
spoke with at XFC said
that they generally fl y a
nitro-powered machine
at fun-fl ys.
One of the main
reasons the competitors
prefer electric at
competitions is because
the consistent power
output is not affected
by weather conditions.
Tuning a liquid fuel
engine during a hot
and humid contest is a
challenge that
most pilots
would rather not
deal with.
The scoring
among the seven fi nalists was
tighter than ever. The judges had
a diffi cult job fi nding fl aws in any of
the premier pilots’ fl ights.
This year, the judging panel had an
elite group of knowledgeable individuals,
including Darrell Bell. He designed the
required maneuvers for the contest, so
his pencil was sharp during the scoring.
There are three maneuvers each pilot
must complete during the required (or
Known) fl ight. There is also a Freestyle
or Unknown fl ight in which all the
moves are up to the pilot. Known
fl ights are fl own in the morning, with
Unknowns taking place in the afternoon.
Congratulations to all of the 2012
XFC competitors. They all put on a
great show and should be commended
for their hard work and contributions to
the hobby.
Golf Cart Problem
I’m going to shift gears and hear
from my friend, Tony Whiteside. Tony
is always up to something fun, and this
month is no exception.
I have written about the pros and cons
of nitro power versus electric power.
One of the cons of electrics is you
need to have some powerful charging
equipment with the larger helicopters
because they have high-capacity
batteries.
Tony came up with an interesting
concept that is perfect for attending fun-
fl ys with electric helicopters. He, along
with a friend, built a custom-fi tted golf
cart for fun-fl ys.
“Hi everybody, my name is Tony
Whiteside. I have been fl ying helis for
six years and I love all the friends I have
made and the fun I have had. Before I
start talking about the golf cart, I want to
thank my sponsors, Will James, owner of
Helifreak.com, and David Grey, owner
of ProgressiveRC!
“These guys stepped up, and I mean
stepped up—thank y’all so much! No
way could I have made this happen
without y’all! Will James even drove to
Kentucky and worked a day with me on
it.
“My story started when I crashed my
golf cart and I needed to get it fi xed. I
did not have all the tools so I called on
my friend down the street. His name is
Binky Greenwell. I knew he worked in
painting and body work.
“I got to know [his] family a little
when I crashed a heli over their
land. I was looking for parts, and
next thing you know I was being
shot at—by their renter!
“Binky came out, put a stop to it,
and got the situation under control.
It was not a big deal, and it’s just
not a good idea to be on folks’ land
around here without permission.
“Well, anyway, their whole family
came out and helped me look for
heli stuff, and friendships were formed
right then and there. I wish I knew Binky
years ago. Thank God for the shooting,
or I would never have gotten to meet
him! He is as cool and non-judging a
man as they come. I had a blast working
with him, and he makes work fun!
“He showed me he cared about me
in many ways without saying it. That’s
how we do it here in Kentucky. We
just do things for each other, and share
with each other everything we can. He
worked really hard on
this cart! There is no
way I could have done
it without him. Thank
you so much, Binky!
“I called Binky and
he came over to take a
look at my cart and he
said, ‘I love working on
golf carts.’ He said, ‘Just
come over and we will
get started.’ My mind
races sometimes, and
I can’t slow it down—
haha. As my ideas
came, Binky would
think of ways to make
it happen.
“I wanted to put a
Honda 2000 generator
in there on sliding
tracks, so we made it
work. I then wanted
some battery chargers
under the seats and
glove compartments;
we did just that. David
from ProgressiveRC
sent me a 1500-watt
power supply, two
PowerLab 8 chargers,
and a 208b icharger.
He also sent me a
sidekick charger box for the hidden
toolbox in the fl oorboards.
“In one of the glove compartments
there will be a mad amount of USB
ports and 12-volt plug-ins. There will
also be an iPad in the headliner [and]
iPhone on the steering wheel to control
a Bose speaker system.
“Binky painted all the metal work in
tri-fl ake black, along with doing all the
fabrication work to make the rear-end
seats and sliding Honda generator fit.
The graphics were all done by Dallas
Fowler, owner of Digital EFX Wraps.
Thanks dude, you rocked it!
“The seats were also done by Gary
Cook. Chad Greenwell did some
welding and stuff, also. Thanks, Chad!
“I got all my upgrades from
golfcartking.com. I met this cool kid
named Brent. He busted his hump
getting all my parts fast. They sponsored
my tray design for the gas carts, as they
do not have them for gas carts, just
electric, so I made one and it works
great. It’s the tray under the seat with
chargers in the pictures.
“Binky and his family are great
country folks. Binky’s mom even
worked on this cart. Her name is
Bernice Greenwell and she is 76 years
old. She even cooked me some fresh
catfish dinners with catfish out of their
own lake! She also gave me fresh eggs
from the chickens she raises. Guys, this
cookin’ was good stuff.
“If anybody wants to see a video of
the golf cart, I will be launching videos
the same day as the magazine release.
Tonybryanwhiteside is my YouTube
channel.”
Thanks, Tony. That is a great
hometown story. It is fun to hear about
helis bringing people together and
making friends.
That is it for this month. See you next
time.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/10
Page Numbers: 115,116,118
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/10
Page Numbers: 115,116,118
Hello, and thanks again for stopping by. The end of 2012 is fast approaching.
For me, one of the highlights of each fl ying season is the Extreme Flight
Championships (XFC). It is great to see all of the top pilots wringing out the
latest top-level machines. The XFC is a 3-D contest that combines RC Giant Scale
airplanes with helicopters. I was fortunate to make it to this year’s event. Incredibly,
the pilots’ skills continue to improve each year.
Nick Maxwell led the way, fl ying his new Thunder Tiger G4 720 helicopter. Nick
uses Futaba electronics.
Mikado dominated the event with team pilots, Jamie Robertson and Kyle Dahl,
claiming the second- and third-place spots on the podium. Jamie fl ew his trusty
Logo 600 controlled with a JR radio, while Kyle used the new Logo 700 XXtreme
heli and a JR XG8 radio. Both Jamie and Kyle are previous XFC champions.
Every heli at the 2012 XFC was a fl ybarless, electric-powered machine. This has
proven to be the best setup for competition.
There is an ongoing
debate about the
pros and cons of
electric versus internal
combustion for
helicopters. Both power
systems have benefi ts.
Some of the top pilots I
spoke with at XFC said
that they generally fl y a
nitro-powered machine
at fun-fl ys.
One of the main
reasons the competitors
prefer electric at
competitions is because
the consistent power
output is not affected
by weather conditions.
Tuning a liquid fuel
engine during a hot
and humid contest is a
challenge that
most pilots
would rather not
deal with.
The scoring
among the seven fi nalists was
tighter than ever. The judges had
a diffi cult job fi nding fl aws in any of
the premier pilots’ fl ights.
This year, the judging panel had an
elite group of knowledgeable individuals,
including Darrell Bell. He designed the
required maneuvers for the contest, so
his pencil was sharp during the scoring.
There are three maneuvers each pilot
must complete during the required (or
Known) fl ight. There is also a Freestyle
or Unknown fl ight in which all the
moves are up to the pilot. Known
fl ights are fl own in the morning, with
Unknowns taking place in the afternoon.
Congratulations to all of the 2012
XFC competitors. They all put on a
great show and should be commended
for their hard work and contributions to
the hobby.
Golf Cart Problem
I’m going to shift gears and hear
from my friend, Tony Whiteside. Tony
is always up to something fun, and this
month is no exception.
I have written about the pros and cons
of nitro power versus electric power.
One of the cons of electrics is you
need to have some powerful charging
equipment with the larger helicopters
because they have high-capacity
batteries.
Tony came up with an interesting
concept that is perfect for attending fun-
fl ys with electric helicopters. He, along
with a friend, built a custom-fi tted golf
cart for fun-fl ys.
“Hi everybody, my name is Tony
Whiteside. I have been fl ying helis for
six years and I love all the friends I have
made and the fun I have had. Before I
start talking about the golf cart, I want to
thank my sponsors, Will James, owner of
Helifreak.com, and David Grey, owner
of ProgressiveRC!
“These guys stepped up, and I mean
stepped up—thank y’all so much! No
way could I have made this happen
without y’all! Will James even drove to
Kentucky and worked a day with me on
it.
“My story started when I crashed my
golf cart and I needed to get it fi xed. I
did not have all the tools so I called on
my friend down the street. His name is
Binky Greenwell. I knew he worked in
painting and body work.
“I got to know [his] family a little
when I crashed a heli over their
land. I was looking for parts, and
next thing you know I was being
shot at—by their renter!
“Binky came out, put a stop to it,
and got the situation under control.
It was not a big deal, and it’s just
not a good idea to be on folks’ land
around here without permission.
“Well, anyway, their whole family
came out and helped me look for
heli stuff, and friendships were formed
right then and there. I wish I knew Binky
years ago. Thank God for the shooting,
or I would never have gotten to meet
him! He is as cool and non-judging a
man as they come. I had a blast working
with him, and he makes work fun!
“He showed me he cared about me
in many ways without saying it. That’s
how we do it here in Kentucky. We
just do things for each other, and share
with each other everything we can. He
worked really hard on
this cart! There is no
way I could have done
it without him. Thank
you so much, Binky!
“I called Binky and
he came over to take a
look at my cart and he
said, ‘I love working on
golf carts.’ He said, ‘Just
come over and we will
get started.’ My mind
races sometimes, and
I can’t slow it down—
haha. As my ideas
came, Binky would
think of ways to make
it happen.
“I wanted to put a
Honda 2000 generator
in there on sliding
tracks, so we made it
work. I then wanted
some battery chargers
under the seats and
glove compartments;
we did just that. David
from ProgressiveRC
sent me a 1500-watt
power supply, two
PowerLab 8 chargers,
and a 208b icharger.
He also sent me a
sidekick charger box for the hidden
toolbox in the fl oorboards.
“In one of the glove compartments
there will be a mad amount of USB
ports and 12-volt plug-ins. There will
also be an iPad in the headliner [and]
iPhone on the steering wheel to control
a Bose speaker system.
“Binky painted all the metal work in
tri-fl ake black, along with doing all the
fabrication work to make the rear-end
seats and sliding Honda generator fit.
The graphics were all done by Dallas
Fowler, owner of Digital EFX Wraps.
Thanks dude, you rocked it!
“The seats were also done by Gary
Cook. Chad Greenwell did some
welding and stuff, also. Thanks, Chad!
“I got all my upgrades from
golfcartking.com. I met this cool kid
named Brent. He busted his hump
getting all my parts fast. They sponsored
my tray design for the gas carts, as they
do not have them for gas carts, just
electric, so I made one and it works
great. It’s the tray under the seat with
chargers in the pictures.
“Binky and his family are great
country folks. Binky’s mom even
worked on this cart. Her name is
Bernice Greenwell and she is 76 years
old. She even cooked me some fresh
catfish dinners with catfish out of their
own lake! She also gave me fresh eggs
from the chickens she raises. Guys, this
cookin’ was good stuff.
“If anybody wants to see a video of
the golf cart, I will be launching videos
the same day as the magazine release.
Tonybryanwhiteside is my YouTube
channel.”
Thanks, Tony. That is a great
hometown story. It is fun to hear about
helis bringing people together and
making friends.
That is it for this month. See you next
time.
Edition: Model Aviation - 2012/10
Page Numbers: 115,116,118
Hello, and thanks again for stopping by. The end of 2012 is fast approaching.
For me, one of the highlights of each fl ying season is the Extreme Flight
Championships (XFC). It is great to see all of the top pilots wringing out the
latest top-level machines. The XFC is a 3-D contest that combines RC Giant Scale
airplanes with helicopters. I was fortunate to make it to this year’s event. Incredibly,
the pilots’ skills continue to improve each year.
Nick Maxwell led the way, fl ying his new Thunder Tiger G4 720 helicopter. Nick
uses Futaba electronics.
Mikado dominated the event with team pilots, Jamie Robertson and Kyle Dahl,
claiming the second- and third-place spots on the podium. Jamie fl ew his trusty
Logo 600 controlled with a JR radio, while Kyle used the new Logo 700 XXtreme
heli and a JR XG8 radio. Both Jamie and Kyle are previous XFC champions.
Every heli at the 2012 XFC was a fl ybarless, electric-powered machine. This has
proven to be the best setup for competition.
There is an ongoing
debate about the
pros and cons of
electric versus internal
combustion for
helicopters. Both power
systems have benefi ts.
Some of the top pilots I
spoke with at XFC said
that they generally fl y a
nitro-powered machine
at fun-fl ys.
One of the main
reasons the competitors
prefer electric at
competitions is because
the consistent power
output is not affected
by weather conditions.
Tuning a liquid fuel
engine during a hot
and humid contest is a
challenge that
most pilots
would rather not
deal with.
The scoring
among the seven fi nalists was
tighter than ever. The judges had
a diffi cult job fi nding fl aws in any of
the premier pilots’ fl ights.
This year, the judging panel had an
elite group of knowledgeable individuals,
including Darrell Bell. He designed the
required maneuvers for the contest, so
his pencil was sharp during the scoring.
There are three maneuvers each pilot
must complete during the required (or
Known) fl ight. There is also a Freestyle
or Unknown fl ight in which all the
moves are up to the pilot. Known
fl ights are fl own in the morning, with
Unknowns taking place in the afternoon.
Congratulations to all of the 2012
XFC competitors. They all put on a
great show and should be commended
for their hard work and contributions to
the hobby.
Golf Cart Problem
I’m going to shift gears and hear
from my friend, Tony Whiteside. Tony
is always up to something fun, and this
month is no exception.
I have written about the pros and cons
of nitro power versus electric power.
One of the cons of electrics is you
need to have some powerful charging
equipment with the larger helicopters
because they have high-capacity
batteries.
Tony came up with an interesting
concept that is perfect for attending fun-
fl ys with electric helicopters. He, along
with a friend, built a custom-fi tted golf
cart for fun-fl ys.
“Hi everybody, my name is Tony
Whiteside. I have been fl ying helis for
six years and I love all the friends I have
made and the fun I have had. Before I
start talking about the golf cart, I want to
thank my sponsors, Will James, owner of
Helifreak.com, and David Grey, owner
of ProgressiveRC!
“These guys stepped up, and I mean
stepped up—thank y’all so much! No
way could I have made this happen
without y’all! Will James even drove to
Kentucky and worked a day with me on
it.
“My story started when I crashed my
golf cart and I needed to get it fi xed. I
did not have all the tools so I called on
my friend down the street. His name is
Binky Greenwell. I knew he worked in
painting and body work.
“I got to know [his] family a little
when I crashed a heli over their
land. I was looking for parts, and
next thing you know I was being
shot at—by their renter!
“Binky came out, put a stop to it,
and got the situation under control.
It was not a big deal, and it’s just
not a good idea to be on folks’ land
around here without permission.
“Well, anyway, their whole family
came out and helped me look for
heli stuff, and friendships were formed
right then and there. I wish I knew Binky
years ago. Thank God for the shooting,
or I would never have gotten to meet
him! He is as cool and non-judging a
man as they come. I had a blast working
with him, and he makes work fun!
“He showed me he cared about me
in many ways without saying it. That’s
how we do it here in Kentucky. We
just do things for each other, and share
with each other everything we can. He
worked really hard on
this cart! There is no
way I could have done
it without him. Thank
you so much, Binky!
“I called Binky and
he came over to take a
look at my cart and he
said, ‘I love working on
golf carts.’ He said, ‘Just
come over and we will
get started.’ My mind
races sometimes, and
I can’t slow it down—
haha. As my ideas
came, Binky would
think of ways to make
it happen.
“I wanted to put a
Honda 2000 generator
in there on sliding
tracks, so we made it
work. I then wanted
some battery chargers
under the seats and
glove compartments;
we did just that. David
from ProgressiveRC
sent me a 1500-watt
power supply, two
PowerLab 8 chargers,
and a 208b icharger.
He also sent me a
sidekick charger box for the hidden
toolbox in the fl oorboards.
“In one of the glove compartments
there will be a mad amount of USB
ports and 12-volt plug-ins. There will
also be an iPad in the headliner [and]
iPhone on the steering wheel to control
a Bose speaker system.
“Binky painted all the metal work in
tri-fl ake black, along with doing all the
fabrication work to make the rear-end
seats and sliding Honda generator fit.
The graphics were all done by Dallas
Fowler, owner of Digital EFX Wraps.
Thanks dude, you rocked it!
“The seats were also done by Gary
Cook. Chad Greenwell did some
welding and stuff, also. Thanks, Chad!
“I got all my upgrades from
golfcartking.com. I met this cool kid
named Brent. He busted his hump
getting all my parts fast. They sponsored
my tray design for the gas carts, as they
do not have them for gas carts, just
electric, so I made one and it works
great. It’s the tray under the seat with
chargers in the pictures.
“Binky and his family are great
country folks. Binky’s mom even
worked on this cart. Her name is
Bernice Greenwell and she is 76 years
old. She even cooked me some fresh
catfish dinners with catfish out of their
own lake! She also gave me fresh eggs
from the chickens she raises. Guys, this
cookin’ was good stuff.
“If anybody wants to see a video of
the golf cart, I will be launching videos
the same day as the magazine release.
Tonybryanwhiteside is my YouTube
channel.”
Thanks, Tony. That is a great
hometown story. It is fun to hear about
helis bringing people together and
making friends.
That is it for this month. See you next
time.
