Bye bye little Ergo
Simon Lockington

I first got into flying Radio Controlled Helicopters in about September of 2000 when I purchased an old and decrepid Hirobo Shuttle. It needed a lot of work done before it was ever going to fly. I went along to my local club and met some of the fliers there, one of which was Darryll who was flying a JR Ergo 46 who said he'd help get the Shuttle going and teach me how to fly.

During the disassembly of the Shuttle, one of Darryll's friends was trying to sell his Ergo 46 as he was going overseas. Even though I'd not even flown a heli yet, I decided to buy the Ergo anyway given that the Shuttle didn't hold too much promise (it was OLD).

The little Ergo packed in with it's brothers the Vigor and Z230 on it's last trip.

My first flights were taken with that heli, down at the river bed with the trainer wheels on. I spent tank after tank down there following it round until I got enough skill to put it where I wanted and keep it there. Infact on my second tank I got so engrossed in the action I forgot all about fuel level and the engine just stopped in 2-3 foot hover and settled down on the trainer wheels.

After a month or two and I was off the trainer wheels and doing the usual hovering steps. Put it over there, move it here, then to there etc. I started working on the other orientations as well such as side on hovering etc.

By this time, the Shuttle had been made airworthy. I'd flown it a couple of times but decided it just didn't compare and so decided to sell it.

I sold my TX6 radio and got a Futaba Super 7 and continued on with that. A number of crashes later (due to dumb thumbs) I decided learning nose in was required. I'd just started really when I came across a good deal on a Futaba Super 8 and a GY 501 heading hold gyro. It was now that I actually started to make some good progress on my flying skills. Learning nose in with a heading hold gyro was much easier than the CSM 180 I'd been using till then.

After this, it was into Fast Forward Flight, then loops, then inverted, followed by rolls and autorotations. The little Ergo did it all.

It had it's problems, the odd shake would show up now which would sometimes take awhile before the source of the problem was identified. Installing the OS 50 was perhaps one of the best things to ever happen to the Ergo, it smoothed it right out and the power seemed unending!

With the OS 50, the Ergo was a real rocket ship, as nimble as any heli I've seen which made it a blast to fly.

The Ergo has moved on now to teach someone else how to fly. This will be it's third student. Even though it's done a huge amount of work, it's kind of like grandpa's axe. About the only original components on it are the fuel tank and the head.

Next week the Ergo's replacement will arrive, the new JR Voyager 50. The Voyager has got big shoes to fill, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it goes.