but they aren 9t at the top of my list.<br><br> With that being said, I 9ll continue to fly them. There 9s a huge all electric event coming up in February at the University of Illinois Armory at which both Cindy and I will participate, but as I 9ve stated, they just aren 9t the most fun I can have. Understand, this is my opinion only, electric airplanes sell well, and there 9s a big following.<br><br> I made the following comment to one of Cindy 9s customers during the Christmas holiday season. cThere 9s a lot of hobby in this store for a lot of different people and personalities. We don 9t all like the same thing and that 9s what makes the hobby fun. d Now, with the above off my chest I 9ll make another comment.<br><br> I absolutely enjoy electric helicopters. I think electric helicopters are, for lack of better words, a blast. I realize most of us don 9t consider the Blade CX-2 much of a helicopter, but it is a method of introducing the hobby to a lot of people.<br><br> During the Christmas season I was doing about a dozen demos 9 a day. Add to that repairs and test flights, and if Horizon Hobby Distributors offered an award for most CX-2 flights during the month of December I 9d be in the top ten if not on the top of the list. 2 Besides my personal Blade CX-2, I also own a T-Rex 450 and the Gazaur Mars which I reviewed in last month 9s newsletter.<br><br> I only have one problem with the 450 class electric helicopter. They are small, which means they disappear quickly. I have to keep them both in pretty ctight d or they become a dot in a hurry.<br><br> I 9m not alone; this is a pretty common comment at Cindy 9s store. They are a lot of fun, but get small faster than we like. Due to the aforementioned, a lot of us, myself included, would like to have the larger 600 class electric helicopter, but the biggest hurdle is the incredible battery expense.<br><br> Well, I had an opportunity late this past November to, in part, work around part of this incredible expense. I had two customers who asked me to assemble and trim an electric Thunder Tiger, and Align T-Rex 600 respectively. I was excited about the projects, but I neither had a battery charger nor was I interested in the expense of purchasing a charger that could handle a 5000mah 6S Lithium battery pack.<br><br> The solution took some thought, but in the end was more than simple. I have two 5000mah 3S LiPo packs, and I also have an Accucycle Elite has the capacity to charge two 5000 3S pack simultaneously. From this all that was needed was a Deans connector wired is series, and some Velcro.<br><br> Currently a 5000mah 3S LiPo is less than half the cost of the 5000mah 6S pack required for a 600 class helicopter. Not only this, but one of the big issues is the expense that is occurred when one of these battery packs gets nicked when the heli succumbs to the inevitable pull of gravity. Yes, a 5000mah 3S pack is expensive, but most of us have chargers that can handle this capacity battery, and by wiring two of these in series a substantial amount of money can be saved.<br><br> Chargers, packs, repairs, it all adds up. I had a ball flying both of these helicopters! I have to admit, other than flying cheavy d they were both stable, smooth, (and not one bit noisy).<br><br> I really didn 9t want to deliver the T-Rex 600, but I knew that within a few minutes of flying the helicopter that brevity would overtake common sense, and unless I wanted to use up all my profit repairing the product I better get it on the ground and packaged for the customer. Think Spring; Mad Mac 3 Up and Coming Events 2008 January 8 th Club Meeting at Al 9s Hobby Feb 2 nd -Tri-Village R/Cers Swap - Wheaton, IL Site: Dupage County Fairgrounds. For Info: Larry Larsen PH:847-697-1518 after 6pm.<br><br> Vendor doors open 7:30am, door open to public at 9am. General admission $5. February 12 th Club Meeting at Al 9s Hobby Feb 23 rd - Fox Valley Aero Club Swap Meet - St Charles, IL Excel Gymnastics Bldg located at 3N800 Peck Rd.<br><br> For Info: James Toth PH:847-888-8890. 100 tables $15 each or $12 pre registration rate. $7 admission Set up 8am open to public 9am-3pm.<br><br> Mar 1 st 3 RVRC 14th Annual Swap Meet - Rockford, IL Site: Rockford Christian School Gym. For Info: Denis Bielick PH:815-732-4039 email: denis@inwave.com . See ad for more info.<br><br> Visit www.rvrcflyers.com. March 11 th Club Meeting at Al 9s Hobby April 8 th Club Meeting at Al 9s Hobby Northern Illinois RC Helicopter Assoc. AMA Charter No.<br><br> 2099 We are actively looking for new members to join our Radio Control Helicopter Club. All that is required is an interest in R/C helicopters, field permit, and a $20 membership fee. Please feel free to join us at one of our meetings to become a member or just for a visit.<br><br> We hope to see you at the next meeting. Our Club web page is: www.nircha.com and is maintained by Web Guy Mike Mazurkiewicz. Meetings are held the 2 nd Tuesday of every month, at 7:00pm, at Al 9s Hobby Shop, 121 North Addison Rd, Elmhurst, IL.<br><br> During the summer, the monthly meetings are held at the flying field, June, July, and August. Our Helicopter Forest Preserve Flying field is located on Grace St., in Addison (on the border with Lombard), and about one mile north of North Ave. Field permits can be obtained by calling 630-933-7200.<br><br> Club Officers President Cindy McFarlane 630-832-4908 Treasurer Charles Tittlebach 708-352-4915 Vice President Tony Loquercio 847-678-2833 Secretary Ron Bernson Membership Paul Girard 630-725-6533 Web Guy Mike Mazurkiewicz mmazurkiewicz@mskippym.com www.nircha.com Newsletter Larry Stevens lstevens@ksbhospital.com 815-631-1279 4

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