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Vintage RC Helicopters - TSK
Originally the company was founded in 1960 by Takaichi Tomiya and was called Tohkoh Seiki Corporation, specialising in making camera parts for Pentax, Ricoh etc. With their experience in high quality small components, in 1978 they moved into making high specification upgrade parts for RC helicopters, Kalt helicopters in particular, and were linked with WCP (World Creative Products) for marketing their products. In 1985 with experience gained in the upgrade market they started to produce their own helicopter kits called the Kaiser and Kaiser S. In a similar manner to Kalt, TSK helicopters were not supplied with a rotor head so that the purchaser could fit the head that was best suited for their requirement. Following on from these initial models were the Super Kaiser II, Kaiser Ace, Black Star, Black Star-DL (Dual linkage) and Five Star 30. In 1992, TSK stopped producing camera parts and moved into different premises to concentrate on helicopter production; changing the company name to TSK Co Ltd. With the change in premises there was a drive to increase the world wide TSK market share with the result that whilst the TSK range had been available in the USA from first introduction it was not until this 'push' in 1992 that they were finally imported into the UK by Andy Gray.
As noted in the brochure above, the model range still included the Black Star, Kaiser Ace and Black Star-RS (option variant?) as well as their newer counterparts. Over the next few years their 'high quality, lower price' Mystar series was introduced in two sizes, 30 and 60 followed by the 46 which was basically a 60 with a smaller engine. The 60 was then further developed with Carbon shaft drive followed by the GS version with 24cc petrol engine. In 1997 the 'agricultural' TSK GS62 was developed that used a 62cc petrol engine. This was followed by the Acrostar which was then updated in 2000 to the V2 model however, at this point TSK came to an abrupt stop. TSK helicopters were very expensive compared to other makes, which was not surprising as they incorporated all the experience gained in the 'upgrade' market and their 'standard' fit was the equivalent to other manufacturers models including all their optional extra's. They were well respected for quality so if you were looking for a helicopter at the top end of the performance scale with a high level of reliability then TSK could deliver. However, as parts were expensive, to repair after an accident would also cost a lot more than other makes so for pilots at the lower end of the experience scale, a TSK was an expensive choice. TSK performed very well in the FAI F3C World Championships with Shigetada Taya flying a TSK Kaiser taking first place in the fist competition in 1985 and Iyobe also flying a Kaiser taking first in 1987. Taya moved on to Kalt to design their Omega range and after that went on to design his own helicopter (Imperio 60) followed by the Thunder Tiger Raptor range. Lyobe went on to found the 'Quick' company and it is interesting to note that it was Quick that took over when TSK folded who subsequently started to produce 'hybrid' TSK helicopters with a significant Quick content before producing a full TSK 'clone' as their own make helicopter. The end of TSK had a certain 'symmetry' in that a company that started out making upgrades for another make of helicopter who then went on to produce their own models ended up being taken over by another upgrade company who also ended up producing their own models. TSK Timeline
TSK Jaz Ranger (1991)
F3C body for the TSK 60 size models. Top of Page (VRHC - Vintage Radio controlled HeliCopters) |
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