Radio Control: Helicopters
ALTHOUGH THIS is officially the January issue, it should be getting to you by late November-still in plenty of time to make additions to your Christmas wish list. So, just to whet your appetite, I thought this would be a good time to present some of the more interesting products I have used over the past few months. Futaba Corporation of America, 4 Studebaker, Irvine, CA 92718, has recently released a new microreceiver and microservo for small electric or gas powered helicopters. I have been very impressed with them in my EP Concept helicopter.
Radio Control: Helicopters
FOR THE PAST several months, I have had the pleasure of flying the new Airtronics Infinity 660 Series radio, and am impressed not only with its improved capabilities, but also with the obvious thought and effort that went into its design. This radio neither looks nor feels like anything we have seen before. The layout is easy to use and understand, requiring minimal instruction-manual reading. Because this radio presents such a volume of capabilities, it is impossible to adequately describe all its features in just one article. What I will do is describe the Infinity 660's main features, and use it to support future articles.
Radio Control: Helicopters
SPRING HELICOPTER SAFETY: The worst of the winter should be behind us by now, so this would be a good time to inspect your helicopters and ready them for the upcoming flying season. To ensure that nothing is missed, I recommend beginning the inspection from the nose. This is a generic list; your particular model will dictate the criteria you use and the degree to which you make your inspection. Modify the list as needed. Starting from the nose . . .
Radio Control: Helicopters
IN THE LAST ISSUE, I presented some safety checks for your helicopter after a winter's rest. However, one area I didn't discuss in detail is the proper care and feeding of Ni-Cd batteries, which continue to be the weak link in our radio systems. Battery technology is virtually unchanged for the past several years, and there continue to be different points of view on battery technology, even among the experts.
Radio Control: Helicopters
A NEW HELICOPTER PUBLICATION called Model Helicopter Technique (4926 Verdura Ave., Lakewood, CA 90712-3018) has recently hit the streets and is being published by Ray Hostetler. To give us the most helicopter information for Ray's publishing dollar, this quarterly publication is printed on black and white stock paper and is bound with staples. I'm really impressed with the attitude of the magazine-cutting down on the frills and beefing up the informative and interesting articles helps all classes of fliers. I hope you all give this publication your support, because we are the ones who will benefit in the long run. One of the MHT articles is a pilot profile: Curtis Youngblood responds to Ray's questions. Although I have never met Curtis or even seen him fly (except in videos), I'm impressed with his basically stock X-Cell and his down-to-earth attitude of relying on the basic helicopter.
