| IRCHA MEMBER CAPTURES WORLD SPEED RECORD |
NewsLover writes "
Ken is the 2nd American to set any FAI helicopter record! And the 1st to capture a FAI speed record. The record attempt was held at West Middlesex Pa. at the Hubbard Wingsnappers field back in October of 2005.... Ken just received the notice of the record recently. This record was set with an electric helicopter. As the morning went on, the weather kept getting worse and by 10 AM, the wind was blowing at an angle to the runway gusting from 15 to 25 knots!
Practice runs were made using a Raptor 50 so that the Altitude verification and official timers could practice. After everyone was content, the official runs began. I’m not sure if the wind was the culprit, or that the base loaded antenna on my receiver was a problem, but at a distance of 250 meters (820 ft) in both directions, I felt like there were radio hits.
Anyhow, between this and the wind gusting from an angle, I never did get out of Idle up 1 (2050rpm +10 degrees pitch). My best runs had been in Idle up 2 at 2200 RPM and 12 degrees of pitch.
The bottom line is that I left about 20 - 25 mph on the table. The heli has been over 100 MPH in level flight in perfect conditions. Hopefully this summer I can make another set of runs using what knowledge came from last years attempt and boost the record up to where it should be.
What made the heli fast? The same thing that makes all of our equipment work better, NEW TECHNOLOGY!! Lets face it, the batteries are getting better, speed control are better, gyros, radios, whatever it is, it is always improving. Hats off to all the manufacturers who are also working on new products!
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