Pilot Profile - Dwight Schilling

Dwight Schilling with the Caliber 30FT.

1. Tell us about yourself, where you live, occupation, etc
I currently live in Carol Stream, IL and run an insurance business out of my home. I have been doing this for the last 20 years

2. How did you get started in RC helis? When did you start? What equipment got you started?
Helicopters have always interested me. When I started my career in the insurance industry in 1983 there were many hours during the daytime that needed to be filled with productive activity. When meeting with a client one afternoon, I saw a RC helicopter sitting on his dining room table and ask details about how they work. After a very short conversation the client offered to sell me the machine for a very cheap price. Not knowing if the price was good or bad I called the local hobby shop and was told that a Schluter Heli Boy and HP61 Gold Cup engine with a 4-channel Futaba radio was not worth too much. I offered $100 and that is the start of my RC helicopter history.

3. What do you think have been some of the greatest advances in RC helis?
There are several significant advances in recent years. Heading Lock Gyros and Governors. With the combination of these 2 items the average guy can get a "Perfect" setup in a couple flights compared with many gallons of fuel and time that was required in the past.

4. How many gallons would you burn in a year?
In an average year I burn between 75 to 80 gallons of fuel. In a year preparing for the Worlds that can go upward of 100.

5. What do you enjoy most about the hobby?
In this hobby I have met many nice people. It is the friendship that makes it enjoyable. Attending events and shows you meet many people having a good time all with different motivations.

6. What advice do you give to someone just starting out with RC Helis?
If you want to keep your wallet close to your backside…Buy a simulator! When you practice with a simulator you can save many hours of repairs not to mention the money saved from crashes.

7. Tell us about the setup of your primary machine and reasoning for it.
For the last 13 years my primary focus is flying FAI competition. The most important goal is to have a machine that will fly well in all conditions regardless of whether the wind is blowing or not. For this reason I spend a significant amount of time working on rotor head setup.

8. You've had a long association with Kyosho, have you been involved in the development of any of their machines?
I have been involved with Kyosho for 14 years. In that time there have been many ideas passed on to them that eventually became part of a machine. Many of the design changes between the Concept 60 and the Concept 60 SR and SR2 were made as the result of my recommendations to Kyosho. The 60 SR2 4-Stroke was developed and released as the result of the prototype testing and proof that I did showing them it was a viable market to accommodate.

Dwight's World Championship Caliber 90.

9. The Kyosho Caliber 30 seems to be doing quite well in the 30 size market, what's been the feedback you've had from Caliber 30 owners so far?
Kyosho hit a home run with the Caliber 30. Back in the days of the Concept 30 they did very well then struggled for years trying to come out with a good follow up machine until the Caliber series. Now they are doing well again in the 30 market.
The most common comment I hear is the autorotation bearing seems to fail too soon. Since I do not fly the 30 much I have not experienced this failure yet but it seems to be common.

10. The Caliber 60 has been very successful in the upper levels of FAI competition, please give us your thoughts on why it has done so well.
The Caliber 60/90 represents high quality with no cut corners. Everything on the machine is of the highest standards. When pilots look to fly in competition they want to use products that are made to high quality standards so in theory the only thing holding them back is their own ability. In keeping with this idea Kyosho has developed the Caliber 60/90 series.

11. While Kyosho now has a great entry level machine in the Caliber 30, and top shelf machines such as the Caliber 60-90 range, their mid range selection is very sparse. No machine for the popular 50 size market, and the Concept 60 range is starting to date. Does Kyosho have plans to address this issue in the near future?
At this time I do not know what plans that Kyosho has to address the middle of the road mainstream market. It will not surprise me to see something show up on my doorstep one day that is the new mid-market machine. There have been rumors for years floating around about a cheaper version of the Caliber 60/90 but I have never seen anything. Considering the competition, it would be prudent to have a good alternative for what is currently available and not just make a cheap machine to have something to sell. This may indicate waiting until they feel they have a good option. For the record there is a Caliber 50 machine that has never been imported to the US. It is literally a mini version of the Caliber 60.

12. Currently the focus in the United States appears to be on 3D flying as opposed to FAI style. What do you think the future holds for FAI style flying in the US?
Actually FAI flying in the US has never been real popular. The rest of the World is where FAI has always flourished. In Japan they do not fly much 3D as there focus is on FAI. In the US we will continue to have pilots that aspire to fly competition and improve on the precision type of flying rather than the more loose 3D style. There have been many well respected 3D pilots that tried competition and have commented on the difficulty of getting a precise setup. Many have improved their 3D as the result of what they learned. Even though there is a significant following for 3D flying you must keep in mind that most of the development of new products (currently) comes from the competition scene. The likely reasoning is that precision flying requires consistency and perfection therefore more stringent requirements are placed on equipment. That is not to say that 3D doesn't push the equipment harder but it is not as precise of a flying style.

13. What are your thoughts on what makes a good helicopter for FAI competition?
In one simple word "Setup". All the practicing in the world will not make up for a well setup machine. If you were to fly the machine of the top FAI pilots you would be surprised how well they fly without much effort. The greatest example of this is hovering in the wind. There is very little the pilot can do to stop the machine from moving around. With a properly setup machine the model is very stable and manageable. If a model has awkward tendencies in certain maneuvers working on setup can many times cure this.

14. Our hobby can be very trying at times, we all sometimes get runs of bad luck, give us an example of a frustrating run you had.
There have been many times through the years that things seemed to going well with equipment only to have some simple thing happen to cause a major crash. I had one machine flying very well this year right before the first contest only to have the gyro come unplugged in flight due to the double face tape de-laminating. It caused a major crash that should never have happened. How do you solve this? There is no way to anticipate this kind of failure no matter how much preparation or checking you do. About 1 week later I had servo fail on another machine and it too caused a crash. When these things happen you wonder if there is a way to eliminate it from happening again.

15. What would you describe as some of the highlights of your flying career?
The major highlight of my flying career was making the US Team in 1995 and finishing 5th at my first World Championships. It just proved that all the hard work would eventually pay off.

16. What are some of your short term, and long term goals for your flying?
My current short term goal is to finish in the top 10 at the 2003 Worlds. Long term it would be nice to make the team again in 2005.

17. Any closing comments?
I would like to encourage new people to try competition flying as it will teach them volumes about setting up helicopters that will be relatable to sport flying.