IRCHA 2015
Chris Mulcahy
cspaced@gmail.com
As I write this, the 2015 International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association (IRCHA) Jamboree is coming to a close. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it this year, but I was kept up to date by my friends who were there.
The December issue of Model Aviation will be the helicopter issue featuring IRCHA event coverage by Ray Stacy, which I very much look forward to reading.
In the meantime, I’d like to congratulate Kyle Stacy for winning The One Competition. I’m sure there are plenty of videos of his flight online by now, and I heard that it was pretty phenomenal!
There were a couple of great product releases at the IRCHA Jamboree, which was held August 5-9. Synergy R/C Helicopters released its new Synergy 776 helicopter—a completely modular platform that allows you to build a 700- to 800-size helicopter. Blade helicopters showed off its new 270 CFX with panic recovery mode. There was plenty of scale action too, as well as the traditional speed competition.
On a somber note, a number of people had items stolen this year. It is unfortunate that when such a large crowd gets together, a small percentage of people can ruin the fun for everyone else. We are all keeping our eyes open for the stolen goods, and hopefully the victims will get some sort of resolution.
What can we do to keep thieves at bay? Hindsight is always 20/20. We can certainly all keep an eye open for suspicious-looking activity and watch each other’s gear.
As much as we shouldn’t have to, we can also try to keep our equipment under supervision and/or locked in a vehicle.
Vendors tend to get hit the worst. We can help them by keeping watch while
Self-tapping screws hold the track in place. (Note: that’s lens distortion; the track is straight.)
they have their attention focused on their customers, and vendors can use lockboxes to protect their profits. To the theft victims, I hope that justice is served on your behalf.
Random Heli
When my buddy, Ray Lepper at Random Heli, came out with his Skid Clamps, I thought there was no way he could top them. It didn’t take long for the Skid Clamps to start popping up everywhere. It was one of those “duh, why hasn’t anyone else ever thought of this” ideas that has revolutionized the way we transport our helicopters. You can hang your helicopters just about anywhere that you can screw in the clamp (including Ray’s living room wall!).
I’ve been driving my helis around using the same set of Skid Clamps for a few years now (can’t believe it’s been that long already), and they are still going strong! So when Ray told me he had something new coming out, I was all ears.
He said he had improved the Skid Clamps, which I didn’t believe. He then showed me his new T-Track System. Again, it was one of those “duh!” moments. I had seen Ray playing around with this idea, but he really ran with it and made it his own. It is so simple, yet innovative, and you can use your existing Skid Clamps.
The tracks allow you to slide your Skid Clamps left and right, securing them with thumbscrews where the regular screws used to be. This lets you rearrange your helis without having to remove the Skid Clamps. It makes it easy to readjust the Skid Clamps for skids of different widths, so even if you only have one set of clamps, you can easily use them to transport different helicopters.
For $15 you can get a pair of 24-inch-long T-Tracks big enough to hold at least two 700-size helicopters. To convert your existing Skid Clamps to the adjustable type, you need a pack of T-Track thumbscrews and nuts.
They come eight to a pack, which is enough to do two pairs of Skid Clamps (which, in my case, amounts to one set per helicopter). The thumbscrews are knurled aluminum with steel backplates, providing plenty of grip to tighten them and ample strength to hold your helicopter in place.
The set is simple to install. The molded PVC T-Track comes with all of the self-tapping screws you will need to mount the track into wood, plastic, or sheet metal. It took me five minutes to install using a drill with a screwdriver bit.
If you want to mount the track in a brick wall, masonry anchors are available. The tracks are durable and rigid when screwed into place. The clamps slide in beautifully, and it doesn’t take much to snug the thumbscrews down so that they won’t move. The T-Track is a great addition to the Skid Clamp lineup. Ray really did it again and proved me wrong!
SOURCES:
IRCHA
www.ircha.org
Random Heli
www.randomheli.com
Synergy R/C Helicopters
synergy rchelicopters.com
Blade
(800) 338-4639
www.bladehelis.com
