© 2010. Issue 233 Sept 02 2010

Competition Winner
Congratulations this week go to Kev Greenway winning with the caption "Fred Flintstone would be so proud of these authentic replica Stone Age model aircraft wheels".

Well done Kev, please get in touch so we can arrange the details!

Weekly Competition £10 prize

Camping is all part of the fun when you go away for a weekends flying. Getting the airbed back into it's box is usually impossible though. Here was one such fight at the end of the BMFA Nationals weekend... At least I think that's what it was? Deadline for your caption is Wednesday September 8th. Please send your entries to:
editor2 AT modelhelicopters.co.uk
Entries addressed to anything else won't be seen! Please use 'editor2'.

New items this week
This week has been a "new helicopter kits" week! We've got several new helicopters in stock to tell you about.

First, the Rave 90 ENV Nitro Flybarred helicopter kits have arrived. These kits are very keenly priced, and coming from the Curtis Youngblood stable are sure to be an outstanding model to fly. Suitable for FAI flying (as used by Nick Maxwell and Curtis himself in the US Nationals), 3D flying, where Nick Maxwell won the 3D Masters this year with this model, and also general sports flying. A superb all-rounder!

All the pre-orders have been despatched to those early adopters, and we also have further kits in stock, so if you want a versatile 90 size heli - buy yours today!

The next new model to arrive this week is the X-Cell Furion 6, which is a 6S to 10S 50 sized electric model. This has the very high quality that you come to expect from Miniature Aircraft and with blistering performance too. Bobby Watts used this to great effect at IRCHA this year!

Next we have some new models from GAUI. We are a new stockist of GAUI products and we believe their latest range of model helicopters will become quite popular as they have stepped up their game considerably in terms of model quality.

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The first kit is the GAUI X5 which runs on 6S LiPos around 4200 to 5000 in size. It swings 500mm to 530mm main blades which puts it in roughly the same sphere as the Trex550. The differences here are the component quality, where the Trex550 metal parts are cast and polished, the GAUI uses fully CNC machined parts. So while this adds to the cost slightly, it adds to the quality significantly.

Reports from the field are extremely favourable for this model. There are also some new canopy colour schemes coming for this kit soon.

Next is an unbelievably priced model in the Trex500 size market. The GAUI Hurricane 425 basic kit comes with blades and a CNC anodized aluminium swashplate and guide for some excellent 3D performance for a crazy price! Take the gear out of your Trex500 and try one of these for the princely sum of £60! No, that's not a typo!!

The next model is the GAUI Hurricane 255 kit, which uses 255mm main blades. The tail unit on this model comes with Integrated CNC Tail Gear Case, Arc Tail Pitch Lever with double bearings, Frictionless Tail Pitch Slider, New Tail Output Shaft with CNC Pulley, New Tail Rotor Yoke and New Tail Grips which produce the precision needed for the best tail control.

Lastly from GAUI we have the brand new GAUI 330X-S Quad Flyer. This Quadrocopter is gaining quite a reputation in FPV (First Person View) and Camera ship use, as well as industrial use.

It is small and agile, while capable of lifting up to 700g of payload, making it ideal for camera use. The kit comes with four Scorpion motors, all the needed controllers and a GU344 three axis stabilisation system which makes it a breeze to fly.

Next we have the new Align 70 amp Brushless ESC (RCE-BL70G), which is used on the Trex550 and is also suitable for use on the Trex500

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This ESC features the new large sized high efficiency heatsink to help keep it cool when the going gets hot.

And here we have a special Scorpion motor, the Next D HK4035-560, which sports the NextD brand name as it is produced specifically to fit the new Rave 90 ENV electric helicopter.

And now we're back to GAUI with this insanely cute micro pitch guage for 100 to 400 class helicopters. It is made out of carbon fibre and measures up to fifteen degrees of pitch. Superb!

Finally

We have two LiPos from GAUI which are ideal for use in the quadrocopter or the little 255 model. There are 2S and 3S variants of this low cost 800 mAh LiPo to choose from.

That's it

Well, the BMFA Nationals has been and gone, and the weather was extremely unkind to us. The wind howled all weekend, averaging around 25mph in general, with several very heavy rain showers thrown in for good measure! This didn't stop the helicopter guys flying though (well, not totally anyway!), and all four of the AHA run competitions were flown and completed successfully. F3C, Sportsmans, Scale and 3D helicopter competitions were watched by record crowds, which makes the organising of them very worthwhile.

Some pictures and at least one video have already made it online from the weekend! I'm sure there are more out there if you search a bit.

This Sunday 5th sees the Park Hall Heli Club Scale day taking place from 10:00 am to early evening, with trophies, a raffle and refreshments. If this sounds like your cup of tea, set your satnav to DE7 6HR and follow the signs.

The weather forecast for this weekend is beautiful, with sunshine and low wind conditions forecast for the entire weekend, so get out there and fly.

Until next time, have a week!