Vintage RC Helicopters - USA

  United States of America

From the Country that brought the world the 'man on the moon' it is interesting in many ways to delve into the first decade of RC helicopters 'American' style.  Development at the 'amateur' level was similar to that elsewhere in the world however, the first commercial success was along a different approach.  The first American helicopter, the Du-Bro Whirlybird 505 has over the years provoked argument over its 'helicopter' status.  However as it complies with the definition of a heavier than air machine that can hover and controllable move in all direction, there is no real argument.  Additionally, there is also no doubt that it was the first 'pod and boom' helicopter as can be seen from the photo's in the web site with the body removed.

Unfortunately, after Du-Bro, innovation seemed to have taken a back seat as the next generation of helicopters were what was later to be generally known as clones; Schlüter's Heli-Baby, Heli-Boy (Revolution models) and the Micro-Mold Lark (Cricket) followed by the Hirobo 'Falcon' range.  It was true that after getting established each helicopter manufacturer increasingly moved away from their 'clone' beginnings.

It is also of interest that Du-bro only made a few helicopter models and both American Helicopters and GMP suffered problems that brought them to an early end.