Radio Control: Helicopters
WELCOME BACK. I've got quite a few things to cover this month, but before I get to them I'd like to share a few thoughts with you. First off, I'd like to thank all of the newsletter editors who have been kind enough to send me their respective club newsletters. This is such a great help I just can't express enough my most sincere thanks to you generous folks. Please keep `em coming! Recently I've heard of some complaints about the column. Looking back, I realize that I've been AMA's Heli columnist since 1983. I have to admit that I have been at it longer than I thought I would. Eight years is a long time, but I'm not ready to hang up the old word processor yet.
Larry's Emmy
IF YOU read my story about making and flying a model Boeing 737-200 for the CBS-TV movie on the Aloha Air disaster ("Miracle Landing," November 1990 Model Aviation), you'll understand my thrill when the Larry Jolly Model Products team, along with the experts at Introvision Studios, won an Emmy Award for Special Visual Effects. After the string of misadventures that had bedeviled our first days of filming-followed by the glorious catharsis of our model's own perfect "miracle landing"-it was especially gratifying to be honored in this way.
Radio Control: Helicopters
LET'S LOOK at Kalt's latest offering-the exciting, electric-powered Whisper. Many of you who have read this column over the years know that I have a great personal interest in electric-powered models, particularly Helicopters. Before the Whisper, electric-powered Helis were limited to either disappointingly short flights of two minutes or less using an on-board Ni-Cd pack, or longer flights tethered to a 12-volt motorcycle battery. The Whisper is the first of a new generation of Electric Helicopters which are the real thing. These new RC Electric Helis are not held back by the fact that they must carry a battery pack. Kalt's Whisper features an ultralightweight chasis, toothed-belt tail drive, collective pitch, and a Bell-Hiller rotor head utilizing a fiberglass flexplate for rotor dampening.
Radio Control: Helicopters
WELCOME back. This month we're going to take a look at Kyosho's latest offering, the new Concept 30 SX. By now everyone is familiar with Kyosho's Concept 30. I think it's fair to say that never before has a model helicopter been as widely accepted and successfully marketed as Kyosho's initial offering. From coast to coast at fields across America, Concepts are flying and flying well. Since the Concept 30 was Kyosho's first helicopter, it is not surprising that modelers could find a few things they wanted to see done differently. As a result, there have been a great many after-market parts made available for the Concept-more, in fact, than any other machine I can remember.
Radio Control: Helicopters
WELCOME BACK. It is with the greatest of sadness that I report the passing of Walt Schoonard on November 17, 1990. Walt was most famous for founding Miniature Aircraft Supply and producing the X-Cell series of Helicopters. What many of you may not know is that Walt spent the better part of his last 20 years promoting RC Helicopters, serving at various times as columnist (He was MA's first "RC Helicopters" columnist.-RMcM), Contest Director, and of course, importer. Walt loved RC Helicopters. Many of us had not seen Walt these last few years-this was because of his declining health due to the ravages of diabetes. Our thoughts now are of the Schoonard family who run Miniature Aircraft Supply. Tim and Ted are now officially in charge and have vowed to keep MAS at the forefront of Helicopter technology.
