RC Heli Resource » 2009 Heli Invasion

Saturday’s turnout was huge. With 80 pilots registered by the close of registration on Friday, Saturday’s registration grew the total to over 130 pilots. This has to be one of – if not the largest event on the east coast. There were over 150 spectators, 27 RV’s and campers and a double row of cars lining the back of the field from one end to the other.

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Some highlights on Saturday included the noontime demos, the Curtis Youngblood Auto Rotation Clinic, a full-scale Hughes 500 fly over and simulated auto, a Dueling flight between an airplane flown by Nick Maxwell and a Heli flown by Curtis Youngblood, an evening Question and Answer Session where all of the pros in attendance were on hand to field questions by general pilots and spectators, a Heli Clinic put on by Bert Kammerer, and the grand finale u-neak DESIGNS/Hobby Hangar “Do It in the Dark” Night Fly Competition.

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I found the Auto Rotation Clinic with Curtis Youngblood very interesting to watch with the crowd participation. Curtis would discuss what was basically happening during a basic auto and then he would perform an auto to show the crowd an example. He did many different types of autos in varying difficulty levels and towards the end of the clinic he was basically taking requests from the crowd as to what type of auto he would do next and then he would describe in detail what he was doing while he was flying the heli.

There were many prizes that were raffled off at the end of the day and the raffle table was packed with more than $5,500.00 worth of prizes donated by a bunch of great vendors.

-Align T-Rex 700 Limited Edition – HeliWholesaler
-Hirobo SDX 50 – MRC/Hirobo
-JR x9303 Transmitter – Hobby Hangar
-Outrage Velocity 50 – Outrage R/C
-JR x9303 Radio – Heli Invasion
-Outrage G5 – HeliDirect
-Minauture Aircraft Furion 450 – RC Hobbies & More
-Align T-Rex 450 Super Pro – Hobby Hut
-Futaba 520 Gyro – ReadyHeli
-Mavrikk 600mm Blades – HeliProz
-Misc. Tools & Accessories – HeliProz
-Misc Tail Blade & Paddles – KBDD

The u-neak DESIGNS/Hobby Hangar “Do It in the Dark” Night Fly Competition was a fun-filled event with a gaggle of spectacular crashes with the two noteworthy ones being Curtis’s heli flying full speed into a tree and Jared’s heli disappearing full speed into the corn field. This setup for a host of people continuing the contest flying unfamilair OPM’s. All in all the competition was longer than expected but exciting nonetheless. Nobody seemed to care and the crowd stayed for the entire event. The ultimate honors went to Bert Kammerer who walked away with a worn out O.S. 55 and a $500.00 cash prize.

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If you haven’t been to this event or heard of it, you should definitely mark it on your calenders for next year. This is an event that Joe Coppela described as a “Mini IRCHA” and it is exactly that.

Here are some photos from Saturday’s festivities and stay tuned for videos coming soon. Friday pics can be seen at the following link. http://www.rcheliresource.com/event-photos-2009-heli-invasion-friday/

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EVENT PHOTOS: 2009 Heli Invasion – Friday

Earl McCoy — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 13:37:06 +0000

I had the opportunity to travel to Fredricksburg, VA to attend the 2009 Heli Invasion and the trip was well worth it. When I pulled into the field on Friday it was very evident this event was going large. People were everywhere and two rows of cars and RV’s lined the back of the field. Last years event had about 80 registered pilots and that number was surpassed by the end of the day on Friday. Friday turned out to be great day of fun, food, friends, and of course off the hook flying with many pros in attendance. Jarad Granzow, Marcus Kim, Bert Kammerer, Nick Maxwell, Curtis Youngblood, Henry Caldwell, and Justin Chi were all there to name a few.

The event was hosted again this year by the Fredricksburg Area R/C Club at Robbie Campbell Memorial R/C Field and the field was exceptionally well maintained with beautiful scenery in all directions. The skies were overcast with a little wind but nobody complained and flying was round the clock from one end of the flight line to the other. Joe Coppola and Clay Klemm shared the CD role and they were well organized keeping things moving with safety in mind all the time.

Hobby Hut, Hobby Hangar, and RC Hobbies and More were on hand with many great specials and deals for those in attendance. The were two food vendor stations on site keeping people well fed and hydrated. There was a raffle prize table with well over $5,500.00 worth of merchandise to raffle off for Saturday.

Many activities were scheduled for Saturday such as the Noontime Demos, The Curtis Youngblood Auto Clinic, a Dueling Heli/Airplane Demo by Nick Maxwell and Curtis Youngblood, a Question and Answer Session with the Pros, the u-neak Designs/Hobby Hangar “Do It in the Dark” Night Fly Competition with a $500.00 winner takes all cash prize.

Friday activities continued after dark with the fun-filled Blade MSR Races and many people partied well into the early morning hours. All in all, Friday looked to be a great success with an action packed Saturday still ahead.

Check out the photos below from Friday and stay tuned for more photos and videos as well.

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