Latest in Scale Helicopters

R/C can be useful to keep model on smaller fields but otherwise free floght remains more chalanging as it callks for careful adjustment to teach your bird to fly. It takes it out of your hands. Otherwise it is like holding a model in your hands and making engine noises while waving it about in pretend flight. Every launch of a free flight is a new adventure while R/C just circling about and going through controled patterns at often considerable expense. Some overbuilt monstsities look dangerous flying at well over scale speeds. Perhaps I am just a ludite but some of you folks might try flying a rubber powered ROG.

One of the coolest parts of my job is getting to help bring helicopter products like the Blade Bell 206 to life. As someone who was involved with this project from the beginning, it's been awesome to see the community's reaction now that it's in pilots' hands.

What I love most is that it delivers a scale experience that normally comes with a much bigger price tag. The Bell 206 looks incredible in the air, is approachable for a wide range of pilots, and doesn't require the investment or complexity that many scale heli projects demand.

I'm curious...what's your favorite part of the Bell 206?

🚁 The scale appearance? 🚁 The flight performance? 🚁 The value? 🚁 Something else?

And for the scale heli crowd: what do you think is the toughest helicopter to beat in this price range?

#BladeHelicopters #Bell206 #RCHeli #ScaleHeli #Rotorhead #HorizonHobby #RCPilot

As the founder and principal software author behind RCUniverse (back in the day), I am excited to have you here to see what RCPilot is all about. I can share a few things:

- If you want to see what your RC World can be, change worlds using the menu by the logo up top and visit Scale Helicopters. We have lots of content there from the predecessor site, HeliStorm. It illustrates how phenomenal the platform can be when the folks commit to adding valuable content.

- This is NOT like Facebook in the sense that every contribution here gets analyzed by AI (subject to your final say) and cataloged by topic and, if applicable, product. This makes it possible for other members to easily find and benefit from the knowledge you shared. That said, we have a SHOTGUN SHARE feature that lets you share your posts with all of your favorite Facebook groups and forums.

- Unlike Facebook, we are not divided into little groups that spring up monthly. Trying to keep up with dozens of groups just ruins the community experience. Here, we are divided into "RC Worlds" but those divisions have proven to be useful over time. You can hope from one world to the next, but most of us are aligned with one primary discipline so that's likely where we will be.

- Our "build stories" are very cool. The link each chapter in your build journey into one story so that people can easily drill into a chapter to learn what they need while others maybe just follow along with every chapter.

- Our integrated "RCMarket" is the most advanced classified market software on the planet. Lots of security.

- There is a ton more here. Look around and please contribute. In this community, rank is achieved by the QUALITY of your contributions. There are no "Like" buttons. Instead, we have sentiment sliders that let you grade a post on 4 different criteria. That's meaningful feedback. Those whose posts earn high marks from the community, get status.

After much internal debate and input from the RC community, at large, I decided to rewrite the entire HeliStorm platform and integrate it with RCMarket.com and the functional elements of RCChecklist. The result is a community for all those who fly and all those who place a high value on being able to efficiently share and find things relative to our hobby.

On RCPilot, scale helis has a head start, so if you know someone who flies other RC stuff (or if you do), please feel free to contribute!

Hey Guys, most of you who know me understand that I despise the countless selling areas on Facebook and forums simply because they fragment an already small market. A week or so ago, I launched RCMarket.com, a central market for ALL RC stuff. The market is amazingly simple to use and it has powerful filters and mobile capabilities. Since I wrote the software, I can adapt it as needed to user feedback.

The Buy & Sell link here on HeliStorm now link to RCMarket. It's free so please use it! The only way a market works is if people use it!

I have 5 helicopters on my Jeti transmitter. Over the years, I have learned that I simply cannot remember the different functions I have assigned to different switches. I have Axons in three models and Futaba CGY’s in the others. I have three Pahl turbines, a Jako and a JetCat. One model has a Bambi bucket, one has a winch and water cannon, and another has retracts. 🤪

So, to keep my mind in a good place, I bought a Brother P-touch D410 (which lets you make micro-sized labels) and I labeled my transmitter as shown. I also take the extra time to use as consistent a setup as possible so the controls match the labels.

This is not revolutionary; it’s just practical!

After reviewing the candidate statements for those running for AMA President, I have concluded that Greg Stone offers the hobby the best alternative for growing beyond the current demographic of predominantly old men! I am one of them and I also read Model Aviation Magazine. As many who know me already understand, my focus in the hobby is expanded beyond our own little circle of cohorts. HeliStorm™ is a principal example of this. Of the three candidates, I believe Greg has the most focus on the innovative growth the AMA needs in its near-term strategic plan.

You can read Greg's statement here:

And yes Michael Kranitz, I am a certified LamaHead!

This is for anyone looking at the purchase of a Vario Lama. The smallest one is the Baby Lama (1:8) 600 size, next up is the Lama 1.8 (1:6.3) 800 size and finally the Starwood Lama (1:5). There is another that's labeled a 1:6 but it's actually a bit smaller than the Lama 1.8

Starwood RTF
Lama 1.8 Under Construction
Baby Lama RTF, just have the cabin removed to make some adjustments.

We lost a great member of the hobby this weekend. Rene Gotiear lost his battle with cancer.

Rene and I had a very frank conversation two weeks ago and even given the challenges, he had a great attitude. Rene recently got to fly his dream heli, the Mi-24 from HeliClassics after he and his wife, Rachel drove to my house to get it last year. He told me two weeks ago that he was thrilled that he finally got her off the ground (after wrestling with the programming). Thanks to Rusty Cahall who helped him through that (and I'm sure there were others). I am arranging with Rachel a special tribute to Rene that will take place at ScaleHeliStorm 2025 inside the National Museum of the United States Air Force. I'll have more details in the coming weeks.

Rene was a super kind, creative and bright man who brought a ton to the hobby. We will definitely miss him!

Hi heli people.

Ok, I'm looking for a new project and would like to get my hands on a Hirobo EC120B. It looks like they are very hard to find as Hirobo is a dying breed in the scale. world I found one for sale in Singapore, but they have doubled in price from $3300 Singapore dollars to now $7742. Are they a collectors item now? $7742 is a little crazy for a 60-90 size heli. If Hirobo are not making scale fuselage then they may not need the EC120B mold/plug anymore.

Any info would be great thanks.

Cheers

Well, after many years of toying around with having a MD500e with a 5 bladed head, the up's and downs of freight damage of my MD500 from Hong Kong( thanks to James Kong from jet tech for sorting that out great service) Shit blades from spinblades etc, the fleet is now complete with the new addition. NO more toys for me, I just want to fly now.
300KV from EgoDrift
680mm Witte blades
Funkey 700 size with Roban struts modified to get the correct MD500e stance.