Well so far it's been interesting. I have progressed to the point where I have removed the training gear and I'm able to hold a hover for an entire tank of fuel. I'm begining to actually move the heli from side to side and forward and back. Also I've begun turning it to side-in and hovering, no nose-in yet but that will come with time.

I can say without doubt that the most important thing you can have is a friend who knows what he's doing to help you set up the heli. Rich Bono a fellow club member gets all the credit for setting up the different curves in transmitter such as throttle and pitch curves.

I had some down time with it because of bad assembly I think. I've had to replace the tail rotor belt because it was being slowly eaten away. I have also replaced quite a few of the screws with nuts and bolts and lock tight.

In the 2004 season I was begining to move the heli around quite a bit you could almost call it flying. Then I had a little accident it got away from me and I was too low to recover. Well it hit the ground and proceeded to beat itself to death. The damage wasn't all that bad so I will be repairing it so I can try again.

All in all so far it's been fun and soon I hope to be actually flying my first heli.

Below you will find a list of pros and cons about helicopters hope you enjoy it.

Good things about a heli

• They don't roll around in your vehicle on the way to the field.
• Less cleanup, after a fliying session, than an airplane.
• You can still hover them even when it's too dark to fly an airplane.
• Thier wings fold up (hopefully not in flight).
• Less experienced club members think your a pro.
• You need to buy new tools.
• You visit the hobby shop more often.
• You don't need a runway.

Not so good things about a heli

• High maintenance they kinda shake themselves to death.
• They have a mind of thier own they go wherever they please and it's your job to stop them.
• They want you to adorn them with all kinds of expensive goodies.
• You can't glue them back together after a crash.
• They throw thier own parts away for no good reason.
• You need to buy new tools.
• You visit the hobby shop more often.
• You have to learn a new language "Do you speak Helicopter?"