It's been too long since I put out a newsletter, it's been a very busy time for me lately! Since the last newsletter we've had our nationals which I narrowly missed out on winning (damn that last auto!) and the first round of the JR/Galtech Masters F3C series. The nationals was a great event with a couple of visitors from Melbourne making the trip over. The weather for the first day was great, the second day was crap.

JR Challenge 2004
The second annual JR Challenge is on again on the weekend of March 6th and 7th. This is a great event and a hell of a lot of fun no matter if you're a rank beginner on trainer wheels or if you're a top dog. Find out more details on how this event is run at www.galtechmodels.com/jrchallenge/

Planks
Planks hate me, I think I have a plank curse. Well that's probably not true, I can fly someone else's plank with no trouble, however if I decide to purchase one for myself, it's doomed.
I brought a 90 sized Edge 540 last year to play with, the first day I had it it snapped it's wings in half during a circuit. Once repaired it decided it didn't like one of it's elevators and dispensed with that. I went cold on planks for a while.
Then a mate got a U-Can-Do 90 which he raved about and after flying it I could see why so I ordered one myself, built it up and we got it flying. What a wonderful plank, within an afternoon I had soloed on it and was doing knife edge flying and all sorts of craziness, it was great fun! Then, on the second day, the receiver decided to give up and now I have a rubbish bag full of balsa kindling. This is a Futaba 149DP, I've never ever had one go out. I'm done with planks…
For now.

Grounders
Prior to getting the plank going, I'd got my grounder (buggy) going. This is a serious piece of gear this one. The Zenoah 23cc petrol has got massive amounts of power in this chassis and on even slightly slippery grass it's all over the place, on dirt it's just about undriveable at full power! On tarseal, I've had smoke coming off the tires. However Darryll found out with his one that if you do prolonged tarseal burnouts the tires explode….
It goes for about half an hour on a tank of gas and the methanol buggies are scared of it. I've taken it to funflies and it's always a hit with the guys there when the rains come in.

Asia/Pacific F3C Open - May 5 to May 9
The first ever Asia/Pacific F3C open is being held in Bali in early May. Already it looks like an exciting event! Shigetada Taya (designer of the Raptor) will be the chief judge of the event. There will be a 3D workshop from Kazuya Yamaguchi and also displays by Todd Bennett and Jason Krause.
The Hong Kong team have already registered, I know the Aussies are going, and I definitely am. It should be a great warm up for those with aspirations of going to the 2005 World Champs in Spain next year.
Check out the website at http://www.iohc.or.id/

Moving to Australia
I've been offered a really good job in Melbourne, Australia which I've decided to take up so I'm moving to Australia in mid-March, after the JR Challenge. I will still continue to run Littlerotors as it is though, and I'm looking forward to flying with the Aussies which will hopefully develop my flying a bit.
The new job entails more than a bit of traveling so it may present me with opportunities to visit with the people I've corresponded with over the past few years. I'm still planning on traveling back to New Zealand for various helicopter events as well.

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:

Setting up your rotorhead
This is my attempt to explain a little about the complexities of head setup for F3C. Although this article is mainly oriented to F3C, the principles still apply to sport and 3D flying. Click here

Futaba 9Z WCII for Dummies - Setting up a Helicopter
The Futaba 9Z is an awesome piece of equipment although it can be intimidating at first! Here's how to setup a basic program for your model. Click here

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

Si