Scale helicopter flying
Chris Mulcahy
In April 2017, the Miracle Strip RC Modelers club in Panama City, Florida, held its first Scale helicopter meet. Fourteen pilots from eight states attended and were greeted with open arms by the Miracle Strip RC Modelers club. The organization closed down all flying so the event could take place, and many of the club members assisted with the gathering throughout the weekend. Each registered pilot was treated to a steak dinner on Saturday night, and everyone appeared to have a good time.
Despite “bumpy” air, a lot of flying took place and the pilots look forward to doing it again next year. For a first-time Scale heli event, the turnout was impressive. This meet will surely continue to grow!
New Helicopter
It’s exciting when a company releases a new helicopter, and that was certainly the case when Matt and Amy Botos from Synergy R/C Helicopters unveiled their new Synergy 516. Labeled as a lightweight, high-performance, 500-class model, you can bet that there will be at least a couple of different configurations available (similar to what was done with the Synergy E5 heli). Unveiled at the Botos Ranch Fun-Fly in May (and via Facebook Live), there were a couple of actual models at the event and not just an “announcement” of a model to tease.
Not only did Matt show what the helicopter could do, so did world-renowned pilots Kyle Stacy and Jamie Robertson, as well as Synergy team pilot Rob Cherry. The pilots put on a great show for everyone there, and fortunately for the rest of us, there are several videos online courtesy of Team Synergy member Chris Sexton. More videos have appeared since then, so if you watch them you can get a good idea of what the Synergy 516 can do.
Although no official release date has been announced, I think we can all rest assured that it is coming soon! In the meantime, check out the following specifications. More information is available on the Synergy R/C Helicopters website.
- Main rotor diameter: 1,172.25mm (using 516mm Rail Blades)
- Tail rotor diameter: 227.5mm (using 80.6mm Rail Blades)
- Main ratio: 11.31 to 9.53:1 (18T included; 10.06:1)
- Tail ratio: 5.0 to 4.1:1 (20T included; 4.5:1)
- Motor: 4020 class with 5mm shaft (1,350 to 1,400 Kv recommended)
- ESC: 6S 90-amp or greater
- Main blades: 500 to 520mm
- Tail blades: 80 to 85mm
- Battery: 6S 3,850 to 4,500 mAh LiPo
- Cyclic servos: Mini
- Tail servo: Full (760us tail servo recommended)
The new Synergy 516 is a lightweight, 500-class heli. A full list of specifications and features is on the Synergy R/C Helicopters website.
Joe Nall
In May, I made my annual trip to the Joe Nall Week event at the Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina. The helicopter flightline was light on pilots, but there was a small group that kept the flying going well into the night! I had a blast flying there and was honored to represent helicopter enthusiasts during the noon demonstrations at the event, along with my friend, Gary Wright.
I sneaked down to the 3-D flightline one evening and did a little heli night flying. I met some cool helicopter pilots who had the same idea. I even managed to talk my friend, Chris, into flying his Synergy E5 under the floodlights. I’m pretty sure he had a good time doing it!
With so many people in attendance, there is often less flying and more socializing. It’s a great place to catch up with old friends while making some new ones. There are many disciplines of the RC hobby at Joe Nall, and it would be great to see more helicopters flying there.
Here’s a question that I would like to pose to fellow heli pilots. What would it take for you to attend Joe Nall Week? Think about it; the powers that be are listening!
Don’t worry. If you don’t want to mix it up with airplane pilots, there is always the Heli Extravaganza, held at the same location in September!
SOURCES:
Triple Tree Aerodrome
www.tripletreeaerodrome.com
Synergy R/C Helicopters
www.synergyrc-helicopters.com
Miracle Strip RC Modelers
www.miraclestriprc.webs.com
International Radio Controlled Helicopter Association (IRCHA)
www.ircha.org
