Vintage RC Helicopter Magazine - Rotary Modeler Sept/Oct 1994 Issue

A trip down memory lane while looking through a vintage RC helicopter magazine. My very first RC helicopter from 1989, and looking back at our hobby through the pages of the September/October 1994 issue of RC Rotary Modeler RC helicopter magazine.
Some very accurate predictions regarding the state of our hobby today 26 years later in this issue of Rotary Modeler. Fun and interesting RC helicopter history relived with lots of old school RC helicopter technology, parts and of course what RC helicopters were on the market back in good old 1994.
1. My Miniature Aircraft X-Cell 40 Story:
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2. Helpful RC Helicopter eBooks:
www.rchelicopt...
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[@Rchelicopterfun]

Interested in getting into the hobby of RC helicopters but don't know where to start or don't have anyone to help you out? If so, please visit my website which I've built specifically to help people first understand the hobby & then successfully take it up: www.rchelicopterfun.com/

[@andrewguerra9128]

Do u do repairs?

[@andrewguerra9128]

And full setup with radio and heli

[@triskellian]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane! I remember this magazine in general.My brother and I started in fixed wing,beginning with control line around '81.Helis were far beyond our reach in those days.Years later,we started with cheap ready to fly quads and helis before going into CPs.Your E Books and videos sped up our self training;we thank you for that! Today, my brother has surpassed me in heli flying skill and I'm catching up.It's stunning today how inexpensively one can field an RC aircraft,especially helis and quads.We enjoy our hobby and cherish the good times in the past.The camaraderie with other fliers and watching the kids pick up on this beloved sport dose a heart good. The article regarding the future of RC flight was quite prophetic.It vexes me that government agencies want to regulate something they know very little about.The FAA,CAA, ect. have poor control over the industries they are regulating.Full scale air accidents still exist with grave consequences thrust on the public.Large ,heavy and noisy commercial drones operating while learning new tech grinds my gears! At any rate,we can hope for the best and pass along this great hobby to the newcomers.Kind regards from the USA!

[@TotlKaos]

I remember being so excited to buy Ray Hostetler's RC Heli book! That magazine brings back memories.. mostly dreaming of affording most of the stuff while I played with my little shuttle..

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yep, same here 🙂👍

[@jwc3104]

I remember buying that exact Rotary Modeler magazine. It was the most expensive hobby magazine at the time, but the only one that was dedicated to Helicopters. I started my hobby with a Hirobo Shuttle ZX in 1994. In 1995, I built a little box that takes a Kodak 35mm disposable camera, rigged up a servo to press the shutter and strapped it between the landing gear. It was my first RC Aerial Photography platform!!! I had to land after every shot to advance the film, but it worked! I got dozens of pictures of properties around the lake, my parent's home, schools and playgrounds. Trip down memory lane indeed.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Nice!

[@Craigs-corner]

I know and used to fly with Orren Haynes a few years ago when I lived near Atlanta, GA. I flew with a group of retired Lockheed employees that he was friends with for about 10 years. He doesn’t fly helicopters anymore, but he built his own custom, modern, single stick radio that would blow your mind. I’m going to email this video to him…he will get a kick out of it. He always complimented my flying, and was especially excited about my helicopters…very passionate and Uber intelligent man. Two other tidbits of interest…I have an all carbon frame TSK MyStar 30 with the later version 2 canopy, and an MA X-Cell 60 Graphite SE 98 Spec with Pro-II head and tail rotor…great video!

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@Craigs-corner - Awesome history there and very cool that you know and used to fly with Orren. He definitely had the pulse on the hobby and where it was heading; as you said "uber intelligent man." Nice you still have your TSK & MA. Happy flights! 👍🙂

[@RWJetfan]

Dont know how many of these magazines you have but that was absolutely amazing. I was born in 1989... 30years old now going on 31 and started flying helicopters in 2002. It's amazing what predictions came true and to see so many models from the past.... It was a totally different experience back then... even when I was flying my little JR venture 30 learning with a CSM 180 piezo gyro... and even to this day I still own a X-CELL 1005 gasser, Shuttle RG, Shuttle 2+2, a shuttle electric conversion with the Funkey Jetranger V2 fuselage, two Raptor 50's ,blade 230s, and a xk-as350 ....I had owned and sold many others but the ones I have now are close to my heart. This is truly a wonderful hobby and I'm sad for the future it may soon see. Nonetheless if you have any more of these Magazines I truly enjoyed this video and would love it if you made more of these videos. Subscribed...!!!

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Nice diversified choice of birds in your fleet. To answer your question, I actually think this is the only copy of RM I have left but I'm going to start looking around. All my old RC mags from the 80's & 90's likely got tossed out during our last move, but you never know what might show up in some dark dusty packing box. Finding this one tucked inside that folder was like striking gold :-) If I find more, I'll be sure to share a peek. Thanks for the sub & happy flights :-)

[@bostoncopter2498]

Love this hobby, been into it for many years Have flown and competed with the best in the world. 🚁

[@oscarmayor-cg6kz]

I had many of those magazine issues laying around the house. My first rc heli was a Kyosho Concept 30. Was fun trying to tech myself how to hover. The article is so cool. I recently started getting into fpv quad flying myself within the past 6 months. Great videos John! I just watched the one with the old helicopter toy from 1974. I absolutely loved that toy as a kid!!! I would love to find a working one today to give to my new grandson.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

A good number being sold on eBay. However, almost have to take out a second mortgage to get a working one 😄

[@johnharrison1429]

You triggered some happy memories. I'm going to have to go downstairs and dust something off this weekend. Keep up the great work, John.

[@LichaelMewis]

Thanks for sharing this John. I am in my 40s and I have been in the RC hobby since the 80s. I was just a teenager in the 90s but I always dreamt of getting a nitro helicopter and more importantantly, learning how to fly one. But I could not afford it back then. I also heard how hard they were to fly. So I just stuck with planes. Not until the 2010 era is when I finally got into helicopters, and they have been electric. No nitro heli's so far. Anyway I do miss the old days.

[@SteinBulgogi]

Hirobo Cup 94, I was there! Stan O. Nice and thanks😎

[@mboyer68]

Great video! I too have an addiction. Hello, my name is Mike and I'm an addict. It all started when I bought a blade 360 and I was hooked. 😂 Anyhow...thank you for taking the time to create, edit and post your videos!

[@tedean1]

John, thank you for taking us down memory lane. I was surprised there were no adds for the Schluters, but perhaps they were not that popular? I still have a few and am in the process if getting them upgraded with modern electronics. They are not invaluable, but irreplaceable. And Vario marches on, glad to see that. I love the scalers.

[@fabricer.9426]

Best RC thumbnail ever! 😉🤣

[@edgit69]

In the 90's I flew a Xcell 60 and others at Markham park in Fort Lauderdale fla and Mike Mas use to fly there and always came out with some swag to give away

[@Fran11784]

Very cool John, I began flying helis in 1984 and around 94 was getting out. Got back in around 2012. A whole new world. I see no mention of Schluter or Gorham, GMP in that magazine. I guess they were fading out around then.... Cheers

[@jcd13able]

I bought my gmp rebel in '94. Shortly after that they came out with the legend flybarless and after that it was over for gmp. I loved watching their factory flying videos with the 70's flute music :) It was great back then. New model every year so it seemed.

[@ian1352]

The advent of really small electric helicopters has made it even more accessible. There are many of us who have neither the money nor the space to fly even a 450 size. It also applies to other branches like cars.

[@kimkeam2094]

Still have my Kavan Jet Ranger powered with a Webra Blackhead .60. Still flies well but woefully underpowered. Would love to convert to electric but a bit intimidated as the gearing is not that easy to modify.

[@kevosrcadventures9019]

Page feels sticky...haha.. classic thank you Mr John for all your educational videos I'm just now getting in the hobby..

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Have fun

[@FalconWing1813]

I remember learning on my hirobo shuttle zx. I miss these helicopters and the flybars. I tried to fly a trex 450. It was all over the place. Twitchy and spastic. These big nitros were very stable and alot of fun. They don't make them like they used to, don't look the same, don't fly the same

[@Rchelicopterfun]

It's actually amazing how much you can "tame" the 450's (even smaller) down with the right setup and setting the FBL system with "soft" or "scale" cyclic response/agility.

[@FalconWing1813]

@@Rchelicopterfun Wow did not know that could be done. Is that something that could be done on a Blade 450? I tried to lower the head speed on mine. Are you setting alot of EXPO in the transmitter and flatting out the throttle pitch curve?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yes, you can tame any collective pitch heli down for learning on, much more than head speed changes: www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-helicopter-tips.html

[@Chuckitall72]

Hey John, I just had to comment here. I still have a Sundance gyro. Bought it when they first came out, But the JMW mechanical was so hard to beat. My first heli was a GMP Cricket, which tail boom striked every time I flew it. My first good flier was the Schluter Heliboy, then Superior, Champion, and Magic. Was then waiting for Walt Schonard to release his own design, Xcell 60. Best flying heli I ever owned(fly bar). I still have that original Heli, but every time I built another someone just had to have it. I must have built and sold three of them. And as soon as the Xcell Pro came out I had to have one. BTW, the original Xcell 60 had a YS 60 with the MAS U shaped tuned pipe. Nothing could touch it. Had a Quick Silver body on it. 15% nitro, Fox Long R/C plug($1.95) and it would last longer than a year. Oh, but I digress.

[@jcd13able]

I had the cricket's larger brother the rebel .45. Great heli and I learned a lot with it. I also had kalt enforcer .32zr. Single rate futaba gyro and on the rebel I only had futaba 4am radio. Later I got futaba 8uh heli radio and I still use it for all my aircraft. One of the best radios around, imo. Now it's converted to 2.4ghz.

[@leepering4440]

Cool blast from the past, keep up the good fight John or the hobby will disappear

[@75ajw]

Great peek back indeed. I remember many hours drooling over Tower Hobbies catalogues, 30 years ago. In some ways it's sad that the mechanical magic of collective pitch rotors and nitro engines has given way to a toy with four moving parts and a flight controller, and that the skills and rewards we gained feel less valid today. On the other hand, we wouldn't have got to where we are (for better or worse...) without those heady 80s and 90s and it was good to have been part of it.

[@rogerhartzell544]

I have been watching a lot of your videos and I have a question if you could help me out on. I have an older shuttle nitro helicopter. I’m trying to make it quiet as possible. It had a performance exhaust on it. I took it off and put the factory original on it did quiet it down, is there a special muffler I can get for it I hear people stuffing still, but I don’t want to blow my motor up. Any information you could give me I would so kindly appreciate it. It is a shuttle with a .50.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Nothing I know of other than converting it to electric. Nitro engines are noisy, there is no way around it.

[@ralf3329]

Great to see that old stuff.......... my first heli was a VARIO trainer with 10cc and i bought also a gyro with it............ The price in the past was horrible high, i think all together was 3000$.......... but so what, i love my hobby! ;-)))))

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for sharing

[@aussiedigger1441]

Wow Thanks for sharing! Atm I'm buying old flybarred nitro helicopters for a steal.

[@BF1GUN]

I remember the UK versions of these magazines from the early 90's. That shows how long I've been into RC Heli's and I still can't fly the damn things 😂 I wish they would incorporate the type of technology you get in drones. It would make it so much easier.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Where's the fun in "easy". That's what makes this hobby so fun, it's challenging and never gets boring because you can always improve your skill set. Anything worth doing isn't easy. I have never met a SINGLE PERSON who I can't teach to fly a collective pitch helicopter. It's very doable with the correct instruction, the correct setup, and practice. Get those three ingredients right, and anyone can learn to fly a CP heli without crashing it either. The feeling of accomplishment afterward is amazing and why we get hooked. There are GPS stabilization systems by the way for CP helicopters making them almost as mind numbing easy to fly as a GPS enabled drone; very few people use them thank god. That's just what our hobby needs, people with next to no skill flying 10HP+ collective pitch helicopters around that are as dangerous as a flying lawnmower. We will lose the access to our hobby overnight the moment that happens.

[@BF1GUN]

@@Rchelicopterfun I don't disagree with what you say and when I did have my first RC Heli (Hirobo ZX Shuttle) I was extremely mindful of how dangerous it could be if I lost control and it hit something or someone. Hence, I was very cautious and rarely flew unless the conditions were right. I did have training but a combination of poor weather, work and one instructor who crashed my heli!! meant the frequency to get out and practice was limited. I love the look of heli's but when drones came about I found something that gave me confidence that if a situation occurred whereby I lost orientation I knew it would not be lost and would return to home. Your concerns about irresponsible flyers are more relevant to the drone flyer who fails to calibrate the device, flies in prohibited locations and ignores all safety regulations. I am not one of those. My Inspire 1 cost £2500 and over £3000 with accessories. I have £25M public liability insurance, am CAA registered and belong to the BMFA. Having a GPS enabled heli would not turn me into an irresponsible flyer (I know you are not saying that) but it would open the hobby up much more. Irresponsible drone flyers, not heli flyers, will do more damage and harm to the hobby. Do you see a time when we will have GPS enabled heli's? Your video was very interesting, thanks for posting.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@Bazza Always good to know someone's background to give a more concise reply - much appreciated. I really don't see GPS autopiloted RC helicopters ever making it beyond a small niche part of the market; but I certainly don't have the intuitive insight that the author of that RM article had - I'm a dumbass by comparison. As of right now, GPS autopilot systems for collective pitch RC helicopters are mostly used in aerial imaging applications; but as you full well know with your Inspire, a multi-rotor platform is far superior for aerial imaging due to efficiency, size, safety, much less maintenance, and inherent stability. Very few people who used collective pitch for aerial imaging in the past are still using them. Most I know have all switched over to multi-rotor platforms. Some scale fliers use GPS autopilot systems, but not many because it's impossible to replicate the fluidity & inertia behavior of a full size helicopter in a model when it's being stabilized with robotic precision. Most of us scale guys& gals are trying to replicate full size helicopter behavior after all. That's a whole different skill set to learn and for some (me included), is even more fun to pull off than aerobatics is. Another reason why this hobby is so engaging because there are so many varied flying styles. Setting up a GSP autopilot system on a CP heli is also quite complex. I've only done a few (DJI Naza H and Wookong H), and it took the better part of two days to get them flying right to the point I was comfortable giving them back to my customers. They were both a total PIA to sort with a horrible programming interface. The main reason however I don't see GPS autopilot ever becoming big in the hobby is by following the money. The simple fact is, not many people want it. At least 80% of the people I've instructed over the years get into collective pitch because they love helicopters, want a similar control feeling, and most also want to eventually fly aerobatics, even if it's just light 3D or sport flying. For that type of ambition, they all know they have to learn off the bat the active piloting balancing act of hovering and orientation reversals. Moreover, most FBL systems have auto level these days and even "rescue" as well so both those technologies really helps some people when first starting (it also hurts others if they become too reliant on it), but it's still not hands off like a GPS autopilot system is. Even with auto level turned on, there is always going to be some active piloting involved and important skills are being built. Simulator time also is a massive training help aid now which of course is not weather restricted :-) There is not a single collective pitch RC heli pilot I know these days that doesn't have a simulator for practicing on. Sim's are truly the best training tool going in our hobby these days after the basic hover is learned, and they are so inexpensive. If of course you wanted to get a CP with GPS autopilot because you feel it would make the hobby fun again for your particular needs, please go ahead. The Spirit FBL system with the addition of their GPS module seems to be getting the most positive feedback these days, and is likely an order of magnitude more intuitive to setup than the DJI units are.

[@BF1GUN]

@@Rchelicopterfun Thanks, John, I appreciate your comprehensive reply, insight and opinion. My previous enquiries, some time back, echoed your comments around the complexity of integrating drone like technology within a heli setup and those that had been achieved used the DJI products you mentioned. Expensive to say the least. I'm not into the technical stuff I just like the various designs, the SAB Goblin 380 being one of my favourites, and would like to do just the basic flying. I'm not into 3D although I highly appreciate the skill of those that do fly 3D. I recently bought a Spektrum DX9 and RealFlight 9 and have started to practice flying the Blade 230S V2. Through a couple of the model clubs I've belonged to I have found that many get more fun out of building the planes and helis than they get from flying them. I'm not into the building part although I did assemble the Shuttle ZX I mentioned earlier. It was the instructor (7 times British champion) that I paid to trim it out that crashed it!! I'll pursue with RF9 for now before moving on to the real thing. I've already started to look for an instructor nearby. Thanks again for your replies, very helpful.

[@jalan4524]

I want buy the plans!

[@jimmyoverly3512]

Hi John. Thank you. English is not my first language.

[@AimoPamaus]

God damit that page looks sticky! :D

[@RattusSwedicus]

HMmmmmm . . Wonder why . . X)) ?

[@rcmc88]

Unfortunately John, the regulation has happened to the many because of the reckless few who put real aircraft at risk. I hate the controls now applied by the regulatory bodies but as a responsible flyer i know that it is necessary to keep the morons at bay from taking down a real aircraft.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yep. Mindless dron'ers & FPV'ers have undermined & destroyed in less than a decade, what we as the responsible RC aviation community have built while successfully & safely self governed over the past half + century. It's however a good sociological experiment why there will never be flying cars available to the masses.

[@yoyosfpv823]

Not all multi rotors(drones) have gps neither to two I built have a gps module and I honestly despise a gps on a freestyle/racing drone.. there are other ways of getting the altitude and speed

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Of course not all quads run with GPS. I was referencing heavy lift and aerial imaging multi-rotors since I believe that is what the author was envisioning of in terms of future wide spread popularity from that first paragraph I read. That is after all the main market for GPS enabled quads these days not to mention the vast majority of UAV sales is it not? Even in the little small town I live in, every Tom, Dick & Heather are flying DJI Mavics, Phantoms, or Echine EX4/similar camera quads, yet there is not one single person in town I know of that is flying racing quads; just as there are none flying CP helicopters or fixed wing for that matter.

[@yoyosfpv823]

John Salt true on aerial photography as well as heavy lift/agricultural but sometimes those don’t have gps installed they still have barometer, magnetometer and accelerometer based systems. It is still a very interesting article and prediction of where things could go

[@skoobenanya1556]

Ernie Huber

[@christophermarvin85]

I still have my Xl 60 costume in the basement. And Jr PCM 10-sxH on the fireplace mantle. I learned on non computer radio. And the radio are mint and working.

[@jcd13able]

I had a Kalt enforcer .30zr heli while everyone in the club flew concept 30's and 60's. The kyosho concept was the heli to have as it flew great and there were lots of parts for it. My kalt sprung to life once I installed nhp carbon blades on it. Hundred bucks for the pair of blades but all the shakes went out of the heli with those blades on. I did happen to ding couple of sets as well. After that I transitioned into electric helis and then later quit flying helis. Xcell helis were expensive and you needed some precision tools to put them together like dial indicator, etc. Once you got them dialed in they were the lexus of helis. Very smooth and especially the .60 was great at giving you lots of hang time at the end of an auto. Always wanted to have the .60 but being a teenager and not having money was tough, so I stayed with the .32 machines.

[@PLISNO]

Oh man, I miss the time when helicopters looked like helicopters.. having began flying RC helicopters in mid 90's I do hate today's Smack Down 3D type of flying, way too aggressive for my taste. I too began with an Xcell 30 (Super Tigre 36/JR MAX 66 radio) and it was my first Heli with an Hirobo Shuttle Z (with OS32/Futaba 7CH FM/148 servos/154 gyro) joining it soon, two Wonderfull machines but I really wanted to have an My Star 30, only if I had the money! Helicopters have always been an obsession in my life and today I am a full size helicopter pilot, flying S-76 in the offshore industry with almost 9000 flight hours in my log book, but looking to get back in the hobby almost 10 years after I have left. I still have lots of Rotory Modeller Magazine and Model Helicopter World and a Raptor 90 (that I sadly discovered that it doesn't have spares parts for it anymore!) and an Trex 450! Best regards from Brazil.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Awesome background & you share most of my thoughts as well about today's grossly overpowered nature of where the hobby has gone; at least in the main marketing stream along with all the drone noise.

[@PLISNO]

@@Rchelicopterfun yeah! I think that the drone stuff have made a huge shadow in the RC helicopter market and those major companies (ie Hirobo, Kalt, Miniature Aircraft, TSK, Schlüter, Robbe, Bergen...) unfortunately have all gone. I miss mid 90's/early 2000's style of flying, even 3D was nice and smooth, Mr Curtis Youngblood being the king of the world. I think Mr Mike Mas have already have retired from flying. Although I do appreciate how hard and difficult is to fly hard 3D and those crazy piroueting maneuvers this is not what I like to see.

[@jcd13able]

@@PLISNO Never had a drone and never want one either. I loved curti's y. futura 60. I had a video a friend gave me of him flying the futura in oregon I think. His flying was very smooth, big loops and awesome autos. I don't have that tape anymore. Don't like any of that new 3d smack down crap.

[@QuadDamageFPV]

A wonderful, nostalgic trip back to the 90s👍

[@billseay6399]

Hey Thanks really appreciate the information very helpful

[@dburton7929]

Had a GMP Cobra, purchased in 1984 and flew it for 12 years, good old bird. That was long before electric helis. Had a ball exhaust on that bird, same as the one you have there. Great times indeed. Lessons were a matter of trial and error.

[@jcd13able]

My first heli was a fixed pitch GMP Rebel .45 with an os heli engine. Learned to hover and fly forward flight with it. No autos and no loops. One interesting anectode was that I only learned about tail boom replacements when I switched to collective pitch helis. Yes, the rebel never bend nor break the boom and it fell from quite a height couple of times. Don't ask me how but the tail boom was always perfect after each crash.

[@TheCameraGuy0]

Thank you for sharing a piece of history for model helicopter. The author of that article had an amazing insight about the future of our hobby. I hope the author is still around and see his prediction 26 years ago was right on. I started my RC planes and helis around about 5 years after that article, I never had an insight like him when I started, amazing forecast!

[@josephgilliand4]

My first rc heli was a "Schluter Heli-Baby" .It wasn't just my first, it was THE FIRST rc heli kit. It used a .40 nitro engine, pine wood blades covered with kitchen shelf plastic.LOL Noone had even thought of a gyro yet, not even for the tail. You learned to take off at full throttle hell bent for forward speed so the tail slabs kept you from unrecoverable piroettes.:) We've come quite a ways in the last 50 years.

[@jcd13able]

My hats off to you guys flying w/o gyro. I never tried it and always put on a single rate gyro on my choppers.

[@scotabot7826]

If Quads/Drones had not come onto the scene, and it was just airplanes and helicopters, we would not be having this conversation. Years ago, when I first saw IDIOTS posting video of themselves flying at 2, 3, and 4,000 feet over crowded congested area's and in controlled airspace, with drones, I knew that the crap was going to hit the fan. The thing that the Faa need's to do is separate airplanes and helicopters that are flown line of sight, with drones that have cameras and are not flown by line of sight, . They are not the same!! They are two totally different things. I have been in this hobby for 45 years as well as FS pilot, and these damn drone idiots have really pissed me off!!!!!! Every model aircraft registered with the Faa, and every model with some type of transponder. Maybe when Hell freezes over!!!!!! I will not comply. That is about the stupidest thing I have heard. Typical government bureaucrats. I'm going to shut up before I really get pissed off!!!!! Oh no, look, it's the model airplane police!! How silly would that be? Ha Ha

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I agree 100% that's the elephant in the room that no one wants to acknowledge or talk about. Those "idiots" you mention represent a small portion of the good quad pilots out there, but there is no question in my mind, it was those actions that for the first time ever, put RC flight on the danger radar (almost literally) . Then of course the popularity of "drones" and all the people purchasing them, the click-bait fake news reports of "near misses" and the resultant hysteria along with every logical fallacy and fear mongering tactic in the book; to make registration policy seem noble to protect the masses from a threat that doesn't even exist. Even with the huge number of recreational drones/quads out there, there has not been a single reported death caused by a multi-rotor anywhere in the world since they came on the scene. In the past 6 decades, I believe there have been 5 or 6 deaths related to RC aircraft world wide. About 1 every decade making this hobby one of the safest and benign pastimes anyone can take up. I forget the name of the study, but I recall reading it's more likely to get killed by a meteorite than a recreational RC aircraft. These RC regulation laws of course have nothing to do with protecting the people as we all know. It's all about getting money and perhaps clearing the 0-400' AGL air space for commercial delivery drones which I personally think will never take off. It's like the promise of flying cars which I've been waiting for my whole life. Follow the money. What's more economical; delivering something with a flying autonomous device that has to overcome the pull of earth's gravity which is very inefficient, costly, maintenance intensive, weather dependent and has very limited range unless battery technology improves by at least an order of magnitude overnight? That, or delivering it by a self driving autonomous delivery van that can carry hundreds of pounds of product, has way better range, isn't restricted by weather, and could run all day long on a single battery charge using today's battery technology? In short, if the governments worldwide are using recreational RC regulation/restriction as a nefarious tool to clear out that airspace as many suggest, they are clearing it out for promotional ghosts only. I'm with you - I'll never register up here in Canada either. If few people register, there will be no money to fund these nonsensical registration programs and they'll have to be re-thought and redefined. If most people register however, then it will just get worse and more restricting over time. Once you give the feds an inch, they will run with it for miles. This latest BS with proposed transponders is proof of that. There is even talk of requiring registration for indoor RC flight in some countries now. We all know full well if it comes to that, there is one & only one reason governments are doing this - a lucrative cash grab for the government coffers. Now I'm pissed off too >:(

[@ColinMill1]

Hi John - Colin from CSM here. I found it funny to realise that magazine dates from just a few months before we set CSM up. I was writing stuff for "Model Helicopter World" here in the UK back then and, amusingly, autobalancers was one of the topics I ended up writing about as there was much interest in the idea over here at the time too. My guess is they didn't take off because they autobananced till the rotation was centred on the centre of the ball track. If this was thrown because, say, the main shaft was slightly bent then it made things slightly worse! They also wouldn't do anything for the 2f "nod" of two-blade heads etc. My only problem with nostalgia is that there are just too many ghosts there.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Howdy Colin, thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Very cool background. Interesting about the autobalancers short comings; I really appreciate that insight and thanks for sharing it. Yep, I think we all have those ghosts.

[@cmulder002]

still fly some "vintage" birds; got , rator 30v1, 50, 50v2, 60, 90, g4 , futura se, robbe eolo, ikarus eco 8 in long ranger fuse, esky king 1234 hb fp, lama coaxial, kyosio hyperfly. more modern include trex450 600n 700n. older are still on 35mhz futaba fc28, modern frsky tanaris (v1). older are fun to fly but require more preparation and maintenance; if i just want to fly i grab the 450 or 600n.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Nice assortment of machines. Great to hear some people are still keeping their older birds in flying condition. Nice!

[@cmulder002]

@@Rchelicopterfun Hands on mechanics are way more fun then changing settings on a computer screen. The feeling of accomplishment is just not there as much when i plug in a battery and flick a switch with my 450. Also the "smoke screen" the old ones can make on calm days and then rise out of the cloud never gets old :)

[@NielsHeusinkveld]

Does someone have all these old RC flight sims? Would make a fun video, good chance the PC ones all run in DosBox.

[@wamplertube]

12:33 Gave me cold chills. Glad I found a channel!

[@markrice23]

That's sticky page 🤣😂🤣 all her 80s hair spray perchance?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

LOL - perhaps...

[@bentfpv]

I´m still in this old world flying my 30 some Kalts, Hirobos and MA Xcells. I couldn´t care less about the strict idiotic rules coming to my country too, from the EU. Norway fought it off for a while but next time around everything from 250 grams have to be registered in a national registry?? Seriously KILLING the hobby. One thing´s for sure - the more crazy rules - the less people care! Fly safely! :-)

[@nickmiller9537]

I live in apopka, had a xcell almost exactly the same but with 720 size blades and a 4hp 2 stroke, custom made, absolutely hated the plastic gears, they were a nightmare before they came out with the upgrade.. used to do photography with an old pentax that had a constant timer every 20 seconds.. man blast from the past!!! Very sad day when I went to mini aircraft and they were throwing a BUNCH of stuff away after they closed

[@markholder6851]

Some really cool Helicopter's you have.

[@donelias1981]

Wow the ad you showed of RC Buyers Warehouse in Nashua, NH is where I use to by all my RC's they have since closed, but this was a great travel down memory lane.

[@davidrivero7943]

I was running nitro boats in the 80's & yes, Helicopters were way out of reach for many of us. Good peek back, Sir.

[@kh40yr]

1989?. A well worn First release Team Associated RC-10, still winning races with it in 89. At the end it had bits of Kyosho and Schumacher, and other hop ups to make it fast. Still have it. 1994?,,Was flying a Carl Goldberg Eagle II trainer with a Magnum 46, that I built myself. Was sold in the hobby shop after a year of flying, and that dough went into a first release deluxe kit (with Dynamite .12) losi GTX in 95-96. I raced that little 2wd 1/10 scale Nitro truck until 2006, when Losi quit making them finally. A 10 year run for that little truck, and Losi sold A BUNCH!.

[@mrkattm]

I know this is an Old video but that makes my comment even more germane. I still have and fly my kyosho nexus 30, I have had other helis but I keep coming back to my first. Over the years I have collected a ton of spare parts, for a while you could bulk buy full kyosho nexus 30 helis for pennies per lbs on ebay and boy did I. I could build at least a dozen fresh helicopters from the parts that I have (almost) although the main gear is/was rare even back then. I have been toying with converting one of them to electric, any thoughts ?

[@1983dmd]

I vividly remember the ad for the Kavan Jet Ranger helicopter in my R/C magazine back in those days....Soooo expensive, I was 15 in the seventies , and never imagined I would be able to own one in the future !!!

[@juliedominesey9009]

Last helicopter I flew was a hot excell 46 with a hatori pipe and carbon fiber blades from the Czech Republic .. I was infamous for hitting the auto switch at full throttle 50 mph , 50 degree bank turn pulling high gs .. and then landing it . I was so intrigued by the science that my helicopter could do things that would cause a full size helicopter to rip itself apart .. move forward to now .. I’ve got real flight 8 and I am having trouble justifying the move to real helicopters again because I can fly the hell out of all the flybar machines but the electrics and flybarless machines don’t autorotate worth a shit !! Tried everything messing with the programming and it ain’t the same I can’t get the flybarless machines to autorotate the same which was my whole joy of flying helis in the first place .. not sawing at the sticks , not super 3 d ridiculous tik toks , but fast hard loops , fast hard banking turns , hammerhead stall turns ... and then in the middle of anyone of those things I’d pop the switch .. the new machines can’t seem to handle that

[@LichaelMewis]

12:40 and our country is being destroyed right before our eyes. Just incredible and beyond sad.

[@derpreue3947]

Cool , both thumbs up! Mike Mass and Robert Gorham forefathers of RC Helicopter Hobby - I salute you!

[@mytubehkjt]

Beautiful. I can almost smell the nitro.

[@richardspiegel6131]

I will add to my podcast. Nice Video. HoudiniRCHeli Podcast

[@yeetcannon1693]

Great video. While I'm older, I never paid too much attention to the rc heli world so its nice to see some original material. Great collection of helis as well Mr. Salt. Happy flying.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks 👍

[@shiladityahaldar5241]

Please share a soft copy of this mag if there is any....

[@Appolloscott]

Thanks for the trip back in time and add my finger to yours Sir. History will view what government is doing to our hobby as one of the biggest mistakes of the 21st Century.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Yep - It's sad.

[@timothyschoonard5272]

Tim Schoonard here. That this not bring back memories

[@chadman2275]

We will fly or die and never let this wonderful harmless passtime be criminalized by greedy state and federal legislation.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Absolutely! Well said.

[@edwinthomas618]

if you have that xcell you must have ordered from Ronlunds. great video. i use to buy Rotary Mag. memories. Curtis Youngblood fuel was amazing. Ive had every helicopter model...i started in 2004 with a shuttle gy401 gyro. lol. thanks for sharing

[@Rchelicopterfun]

@Edwin Thomas, I'm located in Canada. Sunset RC just south of Edmonton Alberta was my Miniature Aircraft dealer back in the day. 🙂

[@johnjosey5184]

These government bodies only have to look at the insurance company's we heve used for eternity to see what risk we aeromodelers are. You dont get the cover we get for the pennies we pay if we're really that high a risk. On a lighter note, i still have my x-cell pro in the optima fusalage that i used in F3C here in the UK back in the 90's. You brought back a lot of wonderfull memories with the x-cell advert, so thank you for that 👍

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Excellent point on RC aircraft club insurance and how inexpensive it is - yep, we are a low risk bunch of blokes. 🙂👍

[@federicosagun4615]

prediction is correct. Fpv is born

[@BayonasRCWorld]

Yes yes yes! Same year 1989 when I got into helis as well. However I went with GMP Cricket and then later Kyosho Concept heli series (30DX, SR etc.) Later Thunder Tiger Raptor series and of course scale helis. Now I am into Align helis and living it.

[@scottfirman]

I have a low hours Kyosho Helicopter that I got from a guy that said it had only been hovered a few times before being stored. Sadly they didnt clean the engine do its sticky with old fuel. I need to disassemble it and clean it. No doubt the bearings are probably in need of replacing as the cages usually rust over time. I already rebuilt one engine. It's an OS if I remember correctly. It came with a spare canopy. I had a guy send me a ton of spare parts for it for $60.

[@spalkin]

There were guys flying inverted at the 1978 NATS. Ernie Huber came before Mas. Huber flew the models in Capricorn One. I had a Kavan Jet Ranger Collective/ Super Tigre .61 powered heli. Completely different approach to design compared with the helis that came later.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Thanks for the info

[@jcd13able]

But was that switched or switchless? Hmmm...

[@StacemanFPV]

FPV prediction... awesome! Dude definitely had some insight

[@andrewguerra9128]

I just got a trex 450 it needs to be setup so is there any one I can send it to other than hobbytown?

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I have a collective pitch RC helicopter setup eBook ( www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-helicopter-tips.html ) that will show you how to setup collective pitch RC helicopters properly so you'll never have to rely on someone else to do it. Setup is after all very much flying style dependent, so the best person to setup any heli is yourself. 🙂

[@nicksrc908]

That was cool. Someone will be looking back 24 years to our day, and think the exact same things. Now I have study and write a test online, to fly my Bebop2 Parrot drone legally, as of June 2020.

[@timmytfpv7316]

The good ol days my first build was a raptor 30 then 60 i loved it loved the sound and smell of nitro choppers then moved to trex 500 for a while got tired of people always complaining where i wanted to fly so i got into fpv fell in love with that id love a heli again but its so hard to find a place to fly. i had all those magz brings back great memories ! Thanks

[@fpvMazerolle2607]

Um fly fpv acro and say a monkey can fly them 😅😅

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I have (I'm a MAAC RC helicopter instructor); and I'll tell ya right now partner, a quad is much easier to fly than a collective pitch heli. However, I was talking about GPS quads when I made that statement. Figured that was fairly self-explanatory considering I said GPS right before monkey, but I guess some people only like hearing what they choose to.

[@victorparks5378]

Great trip down memory lane ...and the predictions of Mr. Haynes.

[@angrydragon1977]

Sticky page lmao😂

[@Rchelicopterfun]

😄

[@rogermiller6049]

That guy was spot on with his predictions lol.

[@alessdre]

Rc helicopter looks are disappearing. Is being more difficult to find parts.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

Are you referencing vintage heli equipment or current? If current, I have to respectfully disagree with parts being hard to find. More online shops now than ever selling parts for Align, Blade, SAB, Mikado, OXY, OMP, etc. Lots of aftermarket stuff too.

[@alessdre]

@@Rchelicopterfun maybe the traditional helis with flybar, I had some job to find a tail servo and gyro, almost all the sellers are selling only flybarless and has no more options of fuselage like some years ago. I stayed apart from the hobby for 5 years and the number of store has decreased and accessories also.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

As almost all RC helicopters are now flybarless, stand alone tail gyro's have certainly diminished in number, no question about that. There are still a few good examples out there however such as the Futaba GY440 or Spartan Quark. A fairly good number of Chinese "knockoffs" as well. Glad you found something that worked in the end. Tail servos are the same regardless of FB or FBL so there should really be not much issue getting tail specific servos. There are more dedicated fast tail servos now than ever it seems. Brick & mortar hobby shops have certainly diminished in number over the past decade, but that isn't just related to the world of RC. Scale has somewhat transitioned. With more and more odd sized sport and acro specific helis with tilted and extended/large dia booms and such, there are less fuselages that will fit off the shelf mechanics. There are still some however such as Funkey and Roban for example, but the smaller size fuselages for 250's to 450's have certainly diminished. There are however, more scale specific helicopters now which come with specialized mechanics for scale. Roban specifically with their super scale packages is by far the most popular, but even little ready to fly scale micros like the XK K123 & K124 are quite popular right now. Keep in mind too you experienced RC helicopters highest level of peak popularity between 2004 and 2014. So many game changing technologies all came on board during that decade which boosted interest to an all time high that I doubt we will ever experience again. Now things have settled back down but it's still more popular than it ever was back in the 80's & 90's (at least from my recollection).

[@alessdre]

@@Rchelicopterfun I agree with you, maybe I started in the hobby in the years of more popularity of the hobby. I have one md500 450 also like one of the yours 😁 kzbin.info/www/bejne/f4aWaZ5pm8hlj9U, in my next trip to Brazil I plain to bring it here to join with my recent trex600. I'm more hopeful knowing the hobby it's not in extinction and planning to invest more in models.

[@fklotaloi]

Mr. Salt r u from Canada 🇨🇦, Ontario? Thanks.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

BC 🇨🇦

[@fklotaloi]

@@Rchelicopterfun , Frm Ontario , Toronto . Nice to hear u r frm Canada 🇨🇦. Could not imagine . I thought US. Could u pls help me finding good lipo online, mostly small? U knw Banggood doesn't send to us. Maybe Canada 🇨🇦 is too scared to allow lipo in the border. Amazon. Canada 🇨🇦 is also very poor to have them. Thanks.

[@Rchelicopterfun]

I order most of my LiPo packs these days from Rotor Quest, located right in your back yard (North York). They pretty much have the best pricing in Canada (at least on larger LiPo's). I don't know about small ones. They carry Gens-Ace, Pulse Ultra, & Tattu. On most holiday weekends, they usually have good sales as well so you can get another 10 to 20% off. A number of people I know from your area also get their LiPo's from Buddy RC in Columbus Ohio (they drive down to get them). Their Glacier LiPo's are really good and good value too. Of course, you can't drive down anymore with the borders being closed, but when this pandemic is behind us, might be worth considering if the pack/s you are needing are not carried at RotorQuest, check if Buddy has them.

[@carycosgrove8898]

Nice Daytona 👍

[@2strokeme64]

That's quite a prediction! He was dead on with the fpv surge. It's unfortunate that some "multicopter" pilots get lumped in with the morons who buy a phantom and take pictures of their neighbors wife tho. I fly LOS planes, helis but also love my fpv quads, it's all a ton of fun and ultimately we're all in this together.