1980s RC Helicopters - Vintage 1986 GMP RC Helicopter Promo

[@Jaymz007]

Great flashback / nostalgia Shuttle was my first RC Helicopter, back in 92. It flew really nice and was great to learn on. I gave up RC for a lot of years, other than racing offroad once in a while through the years. Flash forward to 2012 and when I bought an Align 400 type (generic brand) electric model...WOW what a difference. Had a lot of fun with that thing.

[@mill383]

Thank you for posting this, and bring to life the magazine pages of my youth. Every month, there would be a photo of Robert Gorham flying his GMP. I went the Schluter route. Heli-Star and Champion.

[@marksmith3745]

I ran Dr. J's west coast hobbies in the 80' s .We were a GMP dealer and we flew the skids off all the GMP line. Great times for sure

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Very cool 👍 🙂

[@mcnut1]

The Cricket was a sales success beyond belief for John and Robert Gorham. However, at the flying fields it was a disaster. By far, most people who bought the kit, just gave up on it. My first heli was a Cricket (1981). I learned the basics on it, I will give it that much, with a lot of crashing and no gyro. Other pilots who bought the Kalt Baron 20, progressed much faster. The Kalt Baron 20 with its collective pitch, was superior to the Cricket in every way. I even managed to fly mine inverted. That was a big deal at the time. JR radio with inverted switch, anyone remember? :-) For people who stayed with it, and then bought a GMP Competitor, it was like going to heaven. The Competitor rotor head was head and shoulders above its contemporary, the Schluter Heli-Boy. Yes, I had one of them too. Still do. Fun times. Thank you John, for posting this video. Greetings from Surrey, BC.

[@APWPaint]

I had a cricket!!! Never could keep the engine cool enough to fly very long but back then it was super cool!

[@paulnelson5314]

Had many Hirobo Shuttles, a Kyosho Concept 30, even a Nexxus in the ‘90s. Now have assorted glow, gas and electric machines. At one point I had fourteen flyable helis

[@memcrew1]

That’s a lot of birds.

[@Xplanker]

Shuttle pilot here. It was my first helicopter that got me addicted. I self taught myself to set it up and fly because there was no helicopter pilots close enough to help me

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yes indeed. Same story with my first heli, a Miniature Aircraft X-Cell 40. People have no idea these days what successfully getting into the hobby used to involve. 🙂

[@Xplanker]

@Rchelicopterfun Yes, for sure! But you and I know. I was so proud of myself when I could hover and then fly a circuit, and I'm sure you as well. There was huge satisfaction in that for me. It made me very happy

[@Rchelicopterfun]

YES! A feeling & process like no other! Total engagement in the entire process, which of course resulted in the life long heli addiction 👍

[@RCCopterLove]

These RC helicopters of the 80's seem to fly flawlessly (in this video). But I have heard that they were everything but easy to fly compared to todays flybarless helis. In 1986 I was 26 years old and was dreaming of flying RC helis but it took me almost 40 years until I finally started flying collective pitch helis in 2021 with 61 years! I can't turn the clock back but I am happy that I finally started - with your help and advise @John Salt. It's the best hobby ever!!

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@RCCopterLove-helis4ever - I find flybared helicopters not much more difficult to fly than flybarless. The biggest game changer help back in 1989 when I got into the hobby, was putting in a mechanical tail gyro which did make them much more manageable. I tried without a tail gyro at first (being young & stupid and trying to save money), and found it impossible to even hover as the tail was whipping all over the place and thus constantly changing orientations. Pretty much ready to give up at that stage and almost sold the heli. Only after I fit a mechanical tail gryo (the Futaba FP-G154 to be exact), did the learning curve become enjoyable. No idea if these GMP examples shown in this promo video were running mechanical tail gyros or not, but I suspect they had to be as I didn't see much tail movement which would certainly be the case without one, even for a pro-pilot of the day. I actually still have that flybared Miniature Aircraft X-Cell 40 from 1989 that I started with, and fly it on occasion. My observation is a well setup flybared machined is just as stable in a hover as any FBL unit I currently fly. The caveat there is they (the helicopters) have to be fairly large for that good flybared hover stability (especially if windy) and no question flybared machines don't track on rails or respond as crisply as the flybarless ones. If you ever get a chance to fly an older flybared machine, I would take advantage of the opportunity so you can feel the differences first hand. It's not as dramatic of a difference as many make it out to be, especially at lower flying speeds and while hovering, but no question - the feel when flying at speed and during aerobatics is substantially different and way more locked in. Yep, it's a great hobby isn't it! 👍

[@ChefCrash1]

Thank you for this. Bought my GMP Cobra in 1985 and still have it and enough parts to build another:).

[@mark78063]

Great flash back video. I started with a cobra than upgraded to a king cobra. I than went to a Kalt baron alfa 2 after they closed. My local hobby shop still has a GMP legend hanging up. I started flying helicopters in the early to mid 80's.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for sharing 👍

[@Drd4all]

Boy oh boy have these come a long way or what ? Very nice video, a good snaphot of simpler and calmer times

[@anusblaster8671]

Pretty cool how they did that without modern electronics. Would quite like something like that just for retro value. I would probably smash it so will leave them for collectors, but who knows, sometimes people find forgotten things in sheds.

[@Mediamarked]

Nice! As a kid, I used to go to my uncle's "landing" sites, picking up the parts. As an early FPV pilot, I like the crash resistance of my quads, and mourn the loss of skill due to flying camera platforms available to the consumer crowd..

[@simonsmith3060]

Bob Gorham made it look easy, I saw him fly in 1982 in Pasadena at a trade show. He flew the Cricket flawlessly. My skills with my Cricket were less than his, by a huge margin.

[@michael5825]

Love the vids man just mad I just now found your channel

[@shanemichaels8289]

This is like it’s been put on the showcase on the price is right

[@JMHTruck32005]

I still have my GMP Competitor....

[@simonsutherland814]

Classic style, I have a question for all comers; I am flying a14-year-old KDS 450 Heli, no flight controller just a basic Gyro, still flies great, however, I can't bind the KDS K-8X receiver to My TX16s mk1 running OpenTX 4n1, Suggestions on a good easy to bind receiver Please. Cheers Simon New Zealand

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Any 6ch or higher RX with a protocol you like. Be that Spektrum DSM, FrSky, Futaba etc. A few I would gravitate toward (if I didn't want telemetry) would be: - Lemon DSMP 7-Ch (DSMX DSM2 protocol). - RadioMaster R86 6ch (FrSky D8 protocol). - RadioMaster R86V2 6ch (FrSky D8 & Futaba S-FHSS protocol). - Orange R615X (DSMX DSM2 protocol). That of course just scratches the surface; with over a 100 protocols to choose from, you have an endless choice of small 6 to 7 channel RX's to choose from. For most making this decision, it comes down to what protocol/s you already use & trust and then stick with that/them.

[@simonsutherland814]

@@Rchelicopterfun thank you very much such great advice, I'll get shopping. Thanks again for provoding such great content. 👍🏻

[@ToddMcF2002]

So John how tempted are you to find one of these vintage kits for a build?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I still have my Miniature Aircraft X-Cell 40 that I got in 1989. That is enough vintage for me :) Still flies great and admit, I miss the simplicity of the hobby from those days.

[@panchovilla3493]

China joins the group😂