On December 8-9-10, 2023, The Orlando Radio Controlled Helicopter Society (TORCHS) held their annual Winter Bash. The Winter Bash is a radio controlled helicopter fun fly that should be on every RC helicopter pilot`s calendar.

It`s a fairly large event, which took the place of an event we called OHB...the Orlando Helicopter Blowout. This year, there were a little over 100 registered pilots, and at least that many spectators.

My main sponsor, Miniature Aircraft, traveled all the way from Germany to attend the event. I had such a wonderful time hanging out with Judith and Josef, and the entire team that weekend. We flew our helicopters, promoted the Miniature Aircraft brand, and just enjoyed the event during the days. But our fun did not stop there. In the evenings, we all went out to have dinner at some nice area restaurants.

So come on out to the TORCHS Winter Bash next December, and have a great time with us. I`m already planning for it. I hope to see you all there.

As always...... Safe and happy flying to everyone. :)

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Fall Heli Classic and F3C contest at triple Creek RC club. Triple Creek is located in Riverview Florida and it is a very nice field.

The turnout was pretty good with somewhere around 40 registered pilots showing up for the fun fly and general flying. The F3C contest was my focus as it has been for the past couple years. There were about 8 of us competing. 5 flying P and F schedule with myself and two others competing in Sportsman class.

I didn`t do nearly as well as I could have done with my contest model, but I did well enough to secure first place. I have won Sportsman a few times now, and I fell that it`s time to say goodby to Sportsman class and move up to advanced class. The next contest is at AMPS flying field in Miami, Florida in March, so I have lots of work to do to get ready for the advanced class.

Miniature Aircraft. HeliDirect, KBDD International, Bavarian Demon, Pulse Battery, Xpert Servos, Kontronik Drives.

My sister Grace and I started our adventure to Muncie Indiana on 8-7-23, to attend IRCHA 2023. we took two cars, and communicated with each other via our phones for the entire trip.....I`m glad we both have unlimited talk and text.

We stopped a few times for gas and refreshments, and also at a couple of highway rest areas, to just get out of the cars for a few minutes. The trip up to Muncie was very smooth, and relatively traffic free, and we were able to make good time. We stopped to get a hotel room in Williamstown ( I think that`s the name of the town) Kentucky, and turned in for the night. 

The next morning, we got up and loaded the helicopters back into our cars, and went for breakfast at a nearby Cracker Barrel.....Their biscuit benny is fantastic, BTW. After breakfast we topped off the gas tanks, and got back on the road. We arrived at the AMA headquarters at around 16:30 on 8-8-23, and began setting up our camp.

IRCHA was officially kicked off with the National Anthem, with JC Zankl flying our beloved American Flag around the flight line from one of his vintage helicopters..... It gives me chills every time he does that. Thank you JC, for doing that for us. I for one REALLY appreciate it.

Day one and two were a little slow, and there was not too much going on. It was mostly just a meet and greet for everyone to catch up with each other and just hang out. After that, it started picking up as more and more people started to show up.

Miniature Aircraft was there in force, and we had a lot of fun doing demos, and showcasing the new Interceptor as well as the new Sukara rotor head and swash plate.

Although IRCHA 2023 was not as large as previous years, I still call it a success. I had a great time, caught up with a lot of old friends, and made a lot of new ones too.

I also got to do demo flights for Miniature Aircraft, Kontronik Drives, and Helidirect on Friday and Saturday. Plus I competed in Battle of the Brands again this year. I didn`t do as well as I did last time though. I was asked to do it a day before the contest, and I didn`t have any musik, or a routine. So I had to get Leroy to play a hip-hoppy song foe, and wing it....LOL I had a great time though.

But I`m going to be ready for them next year. I`m going to have musik and a routine worked up.......just in case...LOL.

Miniature Aircraft has been working on a new gas powered 600/620mm helicopter, the Interceptor. They were kind enough to send me a pre release prototype for testing a couple of months ago, and I have really been enjoying it a lot.

The Interceptor is designed around the OS GT-15II gasoline engine, which is actually a .90 size engine. The OS GT-15II doesn`t have quite enough power to support a .90/700 size helicopter, but it`s a perfect match for the Interceptor.

The Interceptor has a belt driven tail, and a large 30mm diameter carbon fiber tail boom which eliminates the need for tail boom supports. This gives the Interceptor a very clean and sleek look, and leaves fewer parts to break in a crash.

The tail rotor is unique, in that it may be installed on the left side of the tail boom like the Fury 57, or on the right side of the tail boom like conventional RC helicopters. I think that`s really cool and innovative.

The Interceptor is roughly based on the Fury 57, and they do share quite a few parts. So if you have a Fury 57, and plan to get an Interceptor, you won`t need to worry about having too many different parts for the two helicopters.

The canopies, however, are not interchangeable between the Fury 57 and the Interceptor. The canopy colour choices for the Interceptor will be Yellow (the one I have) red, blue, orange, green, pink, and American Flag theme. 

The landing gear for the Interceptor have been redesigned from the design which come with the Fury 57, and can also be mounted on the Fury 57 with a couple of mounting plates.

The Interceptor is pretty light for a 600/620 helicopter with a .90 size engine as well. Mine weighs in at 9.5 pounds, with a full tank of gas and the receiver battery installed.

It`s a fun little helicopter to fly, and I have been putting a lot of miles on it since I received it. I am still in the engine break in process, because it flies for a long time on a tank of gas. Even on the factory rich needle settings, I`m getting almost 20 minutes of flying per tank. I have to run an entire gallon of gas through it before I can start tuning for power or doing any 3D with it, and it`s taking quite a while to get through this first gallon.

Once I get the engine broken in and tuned so I can really start flying it, I will start posting flight videos on my youtube channel  (https://www.youtube.com/@GeenaTucker )

My personal setup is as follows:

Bavarian Demon AXON FBL

Xpert R2 cyclic servos

Xpert R2T rudder servo

Aerospire Multigov Pro  governor

KBDD 620mm Extreme Edition main blades

KBDD 96mm CF tail blades

Jeti DS16 II radio system

I am both honored and thrilled to announce that I will be flying for HeliDirect for the foreseeable future. I was approached by Sean a few weeks ago, and invited to join their amazing family. I graciously accepted, and I was placed on the team officially as of July 18, 2022. I`m really looking forward to working with them at all the events, and I`m very excited for this wonderful opportunity. I want to send out a huge thank you to the folks at HeliDirect, for having me as part of their family. :)