Vintage RC Helicopters - RC helicopters 1975

RC Helicopter History - 1975

January 75

First UK magazine review of the MM Lark by RCM&E Jan 1975

February 75

The Morley Bell 47G was further modified for 1975 to have a 'flapping' rotor head though still of fixed pitch design.

First UK Advert for a Dub-Ro helicopter; though many Dub-Ro machines had already been sold in the UK !!!

Nürnburg 1975.

Another good show with a number of new machines presented for the first time. Marketed by Graupner the HB manufactured Bell 47G showed a completely new direction in that the majority of the components were made from plastic and it was assembled like a big 'Airfix' kit. Kalt had their latest model the Hughes 500 for flatbed mechanics and also their 'Flying Box' trainer fuselage; the idea being you learnt with the basic 'box' machine then transferred the mechanics into the Hughes shell when you progressed. Schlüter's Heli-Baby finally introduced a year later than Dieter had hoped but this delay had allowed him to ensure an adequate production capability, which was to be needed as it proved to be very popular. Also 433Mhz radio and the hope that the UK would be able to get this higher level frequency as the CB radio problem was slowly by surely getting worse.

March 75

Magazine article.

As can be seen from the article there was an increasing impetus to improve the reactions of RC helicopters, no longer was it necessary to have ultra stable learning machines and many more pilots were beginning to push the boundaries in a search for aerobatic capability.

April 75

Sywell Expo 75.

In addition to the models shown at Nürnburg, Irvine engines displayed the new model from Kavan, the Alouette II.

With RC helicopters becoming more popular the interest in autogyro's also showed a marked upturn and the Bob Brown designed DB Autogyro being the first UK full kit.

Advert for the Schlüter Gazelle.

The latest advert showed a marked a change in direction for Schlüter with the standard fitment now the 'Expert' collective head and not the basic fixed pitch head. This was brought about by the introduction of the Heli-Baby which provided a more suitable model to train on such that it was considered that 'Tyro' pilots would now go for this model first, before moving up to one of the more expensive scale models and so for these types only experienced pilots would need to be catered for in the future.

May 75

First UK advert for the Graupner bell 47G.

June 75

July 75

Model shops and adverts.

'40' powered Lark looping; first in UK???

Odiham July 1975.

Second year at RAF Odiham and an even better turnout (reputed to have been the largest gather of helicopters worldwide at that time) with still a handful of own designs showing that experimenting had not yet stopped. Check out the names in the positions and the usual suspects with a certain Len Mount making an appearance. Note that Geoff came last with the '40' powered Lark... not perhaps too unexpected as without a gyro it was reported to be somewhat of a 'beast' in hovering and slow manoeuvres.

AMA Nationals - no details held.

August 75

No info on this month.

September 75

Graupner Challenge Trophy.

Second Graupner event and held in Switzerland with two UK entries for Nigel Brackley with a Lark (the semi-scale model??) and William Patterson with a DS-22; the competition eventually being won by Mike Bosch from Germany with a Kavan JetRanger. Of interest is the reference to the Swiss made Alouette II produced in small quantities by Paul Mueller since 1973.

The first German helicopter championships was also held at Braunfels with the results being: 1st - Michael Bosch with a Kavan JetRanger / 2nd - Dieter Schlüter with Schlüter Gazelle / 3rd - Heinz Elsässer with Schlüter Gazelle. No pictures or other info currently held.

First look UK magazine on the Schlüter Heli-Baby.