I am too darn old!

Ny first was a DeBro 505 w/ K&B .40 and Kraft 5 channel. Managed to hover it a little before "upgrading" to the pull-start, McCollough powered DuBro Hughes 300 which I actually flew and sold. Wish I hadn't sold it. Then on to a DuBro Shark and the list goes on down to the 6 that I currently have.

Wow, some interesting pictures and stories. Mine was JR Venture 30, and I crashed it before I even take off... more to follow...

Fly hard, Land safe

Mine was a Schluter scout 60. first flight lasted oh! 10 seconds. fixed it and learned on. good bird for the time. Peace, Al

Hirobo shuttle and then the xcell 60 pro.

Hirobo Shuttle Sceadu 50. Got it sometime in 2001, I think. It is still in the fleet and going strong. Currently getting ready to go FBL and put the mechanics into a Longranger fuselage.

Team ReadyHeli

My first helichopper was the ancient MFA Sport 500. It was a beast of aluminum and wood monstrocity. Looking at the swashplate now...it looks like something out of the stoneage. Mine was the fixed pitch version and it flew like a total PIG! Definately makes me appreciate what I have today.

Mine was the CX2! Nothing special about that.

Raptor 50 Titan SE

Schluter Superior (hangar queen)

The only photo I can find of this old thing.

I bought a Schluter Superior and huge box of parts when I was a kid at a local swap shop. I think I paid about $200 for it. I never flew it or did anything other than look at it and tinker (I was probably only 13 or so at the time, and the ONLY person at my RC club interested in helicopters) It had a Webra motor in it and was

First real helicopter was a Kalt Baron 30 with an OS .32. I flew it a little but crashed more. Ended up giving up on that. Bought an EVO 50 a few years ago (never flew it, just sold it)

Flying a Raptor 50 now for about two years. Starting to get to the field more regularly.

Chris. AMA 497715 IRCHA 3351

mine was a twister cp awesome little electric IMHO loved it to bits great battery life on a 1500ma lipo as well

Graupner Turbo Raven

ChrisMoore

What ever happened to your Schluter? I had 2 Superiors, a Heli-Star, a Mini-Boy, an SX81 and a Champion. I went on to an XCell pro and finally purchased a Shuttle in 1990. That bird taught me more than all the other helis together. It flew well and was cheap to fix, but I never crashed it. Parts wore out and I replaced them with upgrades, like the aluminum clutch bell and all metal swash. Anyway enough reminiscing. I stopped flying in 1994. I got into planes with my son in the late 90's and then last year he dragged me back to rotory flight! Wow what a difference. He has a Raptor Titan with a OS 50 Hyper. He is saving up for a Synergy N5. He flys with Matt and is progressing fast. We started in November and has only gone through a little over 4 gallons of fuel but is already started backwards flight... inverted. I am flying a Kinetic 50 I picked up for $100 in the box with an OS50H. It flys a lot like the Shuttle and is good enough for me. Thanks for the memories and may your landings always be skids down!
Doug S

Causality is the Root of all Life!

Shuttle ZX30, JR 5 channel radio, NO gyro, wood laminate blades, OS 35 motor.

I was very good at crashing it!

GMP Cricket, around 1986 ,still have it and still flying today

First heli

My first heli was a schluter superior that was built by a local hobby shop 5 years prior to my buying it in 1989. I went into the shop looking for parts to upgrade a rc plane I was building (a trainer, I had no rc experience.) The person who bought the superior originally paid for it in full and never picked it up. I bought it for $800 including an upgraded airtronics radio and learned to fly with it. I actually was a quick study on the heli because I had no "bad" rc habits, like the "plane guys".
The guy I bought it from owned Botown Hobbies in Saugus MA. His name was Richie and he taught me to fly with the small rc club that flew at Saugus High School every weekend. Does anyone remember that shop?
I put it up for consignment in a shop in Haverhill and the guy who owned the shop "disappeared"a few months later with all his inventory and my 'copter. Boy was I pissed. So much so that I quit flying for 20 years, and just recently started flying electrics in Saugus High, where I work. It came back like I never stopped flying!
....Good times....

Mine was a walkera electric heli. Never got that thing to fly. All i did was waited for parts from hong kong. I got it up for like 30 seconds and anything beyond 30 was pure luck and gratifying. That thing was the most unstable and very fragile bird (at the time I was learning) i've ever owned. A sense of rush everytime i got it off the ground though.

KALT Cyclone II
then a Schluter Champion.

Logo 600SE, Vario Bell 47g II Benzin, EC135 Benzin, BO 105 Benzin big, 500 3G,

my first helicopter

[quote]My first r/c helicopter was Graupner Bell212, which I still have in nearly new condition. I did repaint it, but that is it. I had one accident with it buy chopping throttle/collective and got a boom strike. Reason for repaint I would like to find another, new in the box to build and add modern electronics. It is a really good flying machine even though it does not aerobatics. I have some upgrade ideas that I would like to try.

I bought my first heli in the fall of 1973, a Graupner Bell 212,learned to hover,walk the dog, and forward flight. Only thing that happened to it is a boom strike, and I later added the recommeded longer main shaft and other items to improve it. I repaired it, and still have in in nearly new looking condition. Then the Kavan Jet Ranger,two terrible HeliBabies,one with collective, which was an improvement. Then to the Schluter Sx-81and my first heli radio. Now Im having fun.Then a Legend with no FlyBar and no electronics to back it up. Flew good and lots of aerobatics. There were several others, then the Kyosho Concept 30and computer radio several other Kyoshos, and the X-Cells and they are still my favorite.then there is the new stuff that is mostly improved versions of the past. The really big thing is of course the computer radio,gyros,and carbon blades. This changed everything. I don't believe in simulator games much. Get out of the house and go fly your machine, that is what will make a good flyer of you.I taught myself aerobatics with common sense and slowly at altitude, and only crashed once. That was because I tryed to loop a CONCEPT 30. Foam blades, not enough rpm, not a good heli for that and then? I ran out of altitude. Things sure came to a halt in a hurry. I have had crashes, trying to auto and bouncing,and being stupid.LOL

I think what helped me was I was already a accomplished fixed wing flier when I started with heli's so there was not the disorientation problem that I would have had. I also learned alot about flying from being a full sized pilot and that also helped understanding of aerodynamics.

My first heli was a Shutle ZX with a Enya Engine and a JR Max Computer radio that I bought used for $450.00

That thing teach me to hover and forward fly.

The Enya died, then I put a OS 32SX-H that last a lot until it was no so strong and then another new OS 32 SX-H. I later installed a Bell 222 Fuse.

I use that heli for many many years until I selled to a friend.

I have many pics of that heli in my gallery,

That heli was one of the best helis I have ever have. Hirobo Quality!!!

Isaac

Speed of light is greater than speed of sound. Some people seem very bright until U hear them speak

The GMP King Cobra with the OS61H...Wish I could find those old Pics!

Terry

In God We Trust

Mine was the old original blue canopied ARF Shuttle that came with the OS28FH engine. It used the old Gold Futaba heli radio with S-128 servos and a Kraft (or maybe it was GMP) gyro. I competed with it in the Novice class at the Canadian Nats in 1986.

This was followed by a Schluter Superior, Shuttle X, XX, ZX. ZXX, X-Cell 60, TSK 5-Star (took 1st in Expert Class at the Canadian Nats in the early 90's with it) and many others since then.

Here is a video a friend has posted of me with the Shuttle back in 1986.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xV1fPmI_XbM

Stay tuned to that channel, He is working on some videos from the FAI/F3C competition flights from the US nats that were held in Tri-Cities area of WA back in 1989.

Phil Noel