Skookum Robotics is ready to officially announce this coming Monday the addition of their new SK540 Flybarless Control Computer to compliment their very popular SK720.  The SK-720 is their “top of the line” unit that is designed for pilots from beginner to 3D expert. It replaces the tail gyro, mechanical flybar, and receiver on your R/C Helicopter, […]

Helicopter flying safety is a subject that is important to all of us, but is also a subject we rarely discuss either at the flying field or in magazine articles. Although helicopters have a large spinning rotor disk, this does not mean that helicopters are more dangerous than airplanes, or any other form of R/C, […]

In my previous blog on the pitch gauge I said the accuracy of the gauge is less important than its ease of use and the repeatability of the results. The reason I say accuracy is less important is because one of the requirements to use a pitch gauge with a flybar helicopter is that the […]

One of the newest 3-axis flybarless control systems is the Ace GT5 Flybarless Gyro System from Thunder Tiger. As you can see in the photo, one of its greatest features is the bright LED display, with a full icon based menu touch pad that is completely adjustable without the need of a computer or an […]

Even the most basic computer helicopter radio will allow you to adjust the pitch curve of the rotor blades once you have determined the high and low pitch end points. However, measuring these high and low end points requires the use of a pitch gauge. To put it another way, the pitch gauge enables you […]

The combination of highly efficient LiPo batteries and electric motors, together with improved micro electronics, have made the new “quad” line of helicopters a practical option for the average pilot, and the new Blade mQX from Horizon Hobby is the latest entry in this exciting field. The Blade mQX is fully assembled, with a 4-in-1 DSM2 […]

There is one that every flier either will, or already has, asked of themselves, although they might not even know it. And that question is: When should I remove the training gear from my helicopter? Over the years I have helped many people learn to fly helicopters, and it’s amazing how good they get and […]

This is the new OS-105HZ Helicopter Engine, with  DRS (Demand Regulator System), that was designed for precision aerobatic and 3D heli pilots to provide more power for their 90 size helicopters. As you know from my previous blogs, I’m running the OS90HZ in my Raptor 90G4, and it’s doing a great job. But I guess you […]

At the flying field the G4 has a presence all it’s own with its carbon structure, bright canopy and all metal flybarless head and tail rotor. While setting up for initial flight tests a crowd gathered like a giant inspection crew pointing out all its new design features and quality parts. There were even comments […]

Initial helicopter setup, for aerobatics and 3D flying, centers around having the servo arms and bellcranks square while the swashplate is level and the blades at zero pitch. Several after market tools have been around for some time to make this process both a little easier and more accurate. However, until now, we have never […]

I’ve never seen a helicopter kit come with its own servo control arms, but the Raptor 90 G4 does just that. Normally we install the servos of our choice and attach either stock control arms, or some after-market reinforced arms. Unfortunately both types of arms use splines to attach to the servo output shaft, which […]

It’s not very often I have a lot to say about the main gear of a helicopter, but this one is special and of a unique design that we have not seen in the past. The Raptor 90 uses a helical main gear that has several features. First of all it’s made of Delrin, which […]