Mark Smith

How frustrating is it to need a part only to be told you have to wait weeks or months to get it? Like you, I hate that, which is why Heliworkshop stocks THOUSANDS of parts so you don’t have to wait at a critical point in your build or repair.

At Heliworkshop, we are the only “stocking” Vario dealer in the USA with a strong emphasis on getting the parts or kits you need as soon as possible. Vario has a 5000+ parts inventory. Although it is impossible to maintain all 5000+ parts in our stock, we do our best to fill orders and ship in stock parts within 24 hours. If we don’t have the parts you need in stock, we simply add them to our weekly orders that ship from the German warehouse. Either way, we are always working to make sure you get what you need quickly.

Next time you think about kits, parts, service or just critical help with your Vario model, remember that we are builders with more than 30 years of experience building and flying Vario and other brands of model helicopters. We know what you need because we’ve been there!

…Coming soon from XXL Helicopter…
206L V2

This helicopter in kit form will be available and ready for pre orders very soon. The kit is primarily designed in the electric version for the experienced builder. Turbine version would be special order after customer consultation. It has been upgraded with improvements since version one was introduced many years ago. The 407 will be available next since it shares parts of the same mold. For more info use below email link.

For USA info@heliworkshop.com
Europe helifantenmaus@aol.com

Scale 1/3.5
Rotor 3.3 meter
20 mm main shaft
Scale rotor head
Semi scale tail rotor
Scale exterior parts included
Electric dome mechanics
Functional doors
Removable tail boom, less than 5 minutes, no tools needed

Check out the video of a version 1 from several years ago

I’ve used a few different flybarless systems over the years and some have been better than others. What I have discovered is that a pilot is looking for a “feel” and “connection “ to the helicopter. Each manufacturer has their unique methods to achieve this “connection “ and some are better than others. My choice is The Bavarian Demon which was developed for both 3D and scale applications. My point: when you find the FBL system that works for you, stick with it because it’s the best FBL system that works for YOU. Here’s an older video with with a test flight after setting up the Demon 3SX. Helicopter is 8ft long 1100mm metal blades and 46lbs. It was upgraded to the Demon Axon for the Jeti telemetry features prior to sale.

Military nomenclature stencils..

I had been searching for a company that could produce custom stencils in a very small scale that would work on models from 1/7 - 1/4 I finally found a company that was able to produce them. These are made from Mylar and are reusable. The price was quoted based on the quantity and I got 14 different ones which was about 110.00$ including shipping. These will work great on some military models we’re working on.

What’s in the boxes?
From Helidirect, Fusuno scale fuselages are now available. If you’re familiar with the marvel craft brand, you’re going to like these. The first shipment of fuselages are in stock and I’m sure these are going to move quick so check them out. I ordered the painted 407 in the PHI scheme, the 407 in primer and the AS350 in primer. Shipping was fast (2) days and they were well packed. The overall quality of the fuselages is really good, you just don’t see this often. They include panel lines and small details you don’t find in fuselages of this size. They also feature opening doors, landing gear, wood work ,windows and will fit many existing 550-700 size mechanics. These kits are in a different class and simply can’t be compared to similar size fuselages. The 407 and AS 350 will get rivet detail added and beautiful one of a kind paint schemes and will be offered for sale.

Functional Water Tank (Over The Top)

One of several new products from Heliworkshop OTT collection 2023 The tanks are sized to fit 1/7.5 - 1/5.5 UH 1 Huey series helicopters. They are going into final testing very soon and will be available in static unpainted up to functional plug and play. The smaller size will hold up to approximately 40 oz of water and the larger about 90 oz. Servos are installed in the tank and are water proofed. The tanks can have either 1 or 2 individual water compartments for one large drop or one large and one small secondary drop. I’ve experimented with water/milk mix which gives a good visual effect with the water drop against bright sunny days, looks very nice. Hopefully I can get some good video soon. One of the test helicopters is the Roban 412 with tall landing gear. I will provide a update regarding pricing once testing is complete

1/4 scale (8ft) Bell 407 Electric 12s 11000 MAH (8 mins flight) kontronik Kosmik 200 Hacker 195KV motor. 1250 MM metal blades 850 head speed. The authentic sound is due to the combination of blade size and head speed. The flights were for setup/check prior to digital camo paint scheme. This will be transformed into an attack helicopter with twin 134 mini guns and rocket launchers animated pilot and door gunner. It will be ready early spring 2023 and will be available for sale @heliworkshop.com

The BIG Chinook will be coming soon.
Mark Smith and Kirsten Zodtner attended the Jets and Props event in Donauwörth Germany where Vario showed their new project - a Chinook with 2,3m rotor disc. This project was started in Holland with Theo van Houten. Theo created this detailed model helicopter and he supplied interested modelers in limited quantity. Theo searched for a partner to develop a product to make it accessible to even more people in the future.
Vario will do this development within the next year. Besides the new mechanics, Vario will also create adapted heads for this model. The mechanics will be for electric mainly, but Vario will also foresee the potential installation of a turbine for people who are interested. For the electric version the goal is to stay below 25kg (55lbs)
It is not yet decided if the model will have all the rivets like Theo van Houten supplied the fuselage in the past. It is 1/7.5 about 7 1/2 feet electric and turbine version. The new mechanics and rotor heads will be going under testing for several months so we’re looking at about 12 months before the complete kit is ready. If you own the smaller Vario chinook then you know how smooth and well they fly. Expect the same flight characteristics but much larger.