It sure has been quite a while since my last newsletter, and you could be forgiven for thinking I’d just left the building and forgot to turn the lights out.

Well not quite, the last newsletter was the follow up Synergy article which generated quite a storm of interest. That was seven months ago now. Most of the points I made in that article have since been proven, and thankfully, some have been addressed. It’ll be interesting to see how things pan out now for the N9 now that Jason Krause has moved onto Align exclusively. Although Matt Botos has now taken on the role of Chief Designer.

Since that newsletter I’ve done a fair bit of F3C flying and I was lucky enough to win both the New Zealand and Australian National Championships over the Christmas/New Year period. However after that my 14MZ developed a fault and I had to send it back to Japan. I was on a three month forced abstinence from flying!

Eventually the 14MZ did come back and I started getting back into flying. However that three month time off period did make me realize that there really was other things to do with my time than spend all of it working on helicopters! As such I’ve taken a more relaxed view on the hobby with the emphasis on enjoying it more.

Work has been very busy for me this year and I’ve also been traveling a lot (stories included in this newsletter), so the helis had to take a back seat for a while.

But now I’m back. I’ve got a little Raptor again for cheap, easy fun. The Vigor, as always, is still trucking along, the one of the Sylphides is running VERY well while it’s twin brother is waiting on some replacement bits. The T-Rex is somewhere, it’s broken ofcourse, but it’s somewhere around here.

WHAT’S HAPPENED IN SEVEN MONTHS?
The rise and rise of Spread Spectrum has developed into a major driving force of our hobby now. The Spektrum DX7 has revolutionized frequency control at many of the fields I’ve been at lately, and the announcements from Futaba and JR on their own home grown spectrum products due to be release will only accelerate that further.

The T-Rex 600 Nitro has made an appearance and given notice to ALL of the incumbent nitro manufacturers to pick up their game, address the pricing of many of their products and start developing products that we actually WANT to buy. If I were an executive at JR, Miniature Aircraft, Hirobo and to a much lesser extent, Thunder Tiger, I’d be taking a long hard look at product lines and cull off some of the dead wood there.

Curtis hasn’t been napping in the hot Texas sun either, he’s released his governor and about to release a new gyro which you can just tell won’t be a bad one. In addition to releasing updates to his Muscle Pipe and Radix range.

I had a play with a Hirobo Lepton late last year and holy crap what a machine! I’m not sure what the setup of this thing was but it seriously had better power to weight than my Vigor! Although once you actually added up how much the thing cost, it would have been the same as a new Vibe I reckon too. However it has been the only ‘small’ electric that I’ve flown where I’ve thought “wow you can actually DO stuff with this!”.

As far as Littlerotors goes, you might have noticed Google ads have now appeared on it. This is an effort to try and offset the hosting and other running costs of the site now that it has grown to the size it has.

NEW REVIEWS
I have lined up a number of new products to review in the near future and am just waiting for them to arrive. I’m really trying to concentrate on providing impartial reviews (if it sucks, I’ll say so) from a regular pilot’s point of view rather than what you might read in some magazines where nothing is ever bad. Unfortunately getting stuff to review can be hard sometimes!

VIDEO
Another development will be the addition of video articles to accompany the written articles. So you can expect to see on some future product reviews, actual video of the flying product with commentary while I try and set it up.

NEW SETUP TUTORIALS
I’ve also spent some time updating some of the content that’s gotten out of date (ie “What you need/Getting Started” section) and the Setup section. I’ve also created a Tutorial section on how to set your machine up now too, based on a Raptor 50.

MARKET
When you post items for sale in the Marketplace you can now upload multiple pictures of your item for potential purchasers to look at. Click Here

USER PRODUCT REVIEWS
One feature that the site has had for a while is the ability to post your own feedback about a given product. Go online now and post feedback on products you’ve had experience with, or suggest new products to review. Click Here

Pilot Locator
The Pilot Locator has continued to grow in popularity since the last newsletter with it still rating second most popular section of littlerotors.com. Make sure your details are up-to-date! The pilot locator can be found at www.littlerotors.com/findapilot/

Market
The Buy/Sell Market has been growing also. It should be noted that this section will accept postings from all over the world, not just New Zealand. List your items free of charge! See the market at www.littlerotors.com/market/

Articles this issue are:

Building the Raptor 50 Titan
I needed to get a little 50 to play with and the little Raptor Titan seemed like the best remedy for that need! The Titan is the latest incarnation of the best selling Raptor 50 from Thunder Tiger!  Click here

Tutorial: How to setup your helicopter
I always get asked to check out the setup of people's machines, normally they're Raptors, so I've compiled a an article on how to setup your Raptor (or any machine - the principles are the same) to get the most out of it. New guys should really read this! There's two articles, a Helicopter Setup one and also a Radio Setup one.

Updated 'Getting Started' articles
I've started updating some of the content that I wrote when I first started this site (back in 2001). Some of the content had become outdated, so I've gone through the 'What you need' articles and updated them. Click here.

Toronto, Canada - Feb 2007
Work sent me on another trip to Toronto, in the height of winter, while it was definately cold, I went to an NBA game, Niagara Falls and ofcourse, Tim Horton's... Click here.
Wisconsin, USA - Feb 2007
On the way home from Toronto I stopped in Wisconsin, America's Dairyland, to see my uncle. Click here.
Manila, The Philippines - May 2007
Off on another work trip, this time to Manila, The Philippines where the traffic is ridiculous, the humidity is intense, and Barry Manilow rules supreme. Click here.
Hong Kong - May 2007
On the way back from Manila and on the way to Denver, I stopped in Hong Kong for a day or so of shopping, and getting screwed over by dodgy Indian watch dealers... Click here.
Denver, Colorado USA - May 2007
After Hong Kong I spent a week in the Mile High city of Denver for training. Click here.

Feel free to contact me at simon@littlerotors.com at any time.

Si