I have been busy for the past few weeks, building two more Miniature Aircraft helicopters to add to my fleet. The first one, is my F3C contest helicopter. A Whiplash 730E.

I got it build and set up a couple of weeks before this blog post, and I have about a dozen flights on it so far. In true Miniature aircraft form, it flies great. It takes saddle packs, which I was never a huge fan of.

I usually prefer stick packs on a slide in tray, but Miniature aircraft did the saddle pack mounting system right....and I have changed my mind about saddle packs now. They are SO easy to put in and take out, and only takes a few seconds to do.

Another feature I love about all of my Miniature aircraft helicopters, is the layout for installing the electronics. They thought of EVERYTHING when it comes to installing the speed control, receiver battery, governor.......and so on.

They must have been thinking of Kontronik when they designed the ESC mount, because there are holes pre-cut into the tray, to accommodate the mounting tabs on the Kontronik ESC, and they even supplied blind nuts to press into the holes to fasten the speed control to the tray. Just Brilliant thinking.

I also couldn`t help but notice how quiet and smooth the drive train is, and there is almost no gear noise at all. The canopy is also large enough to house my Kontronik 170A Hvi speed control, without having to modify, cut or damage the canopy. yet it still has very nice lines, and a streamlined look.

The Whiplash 730 E is a well built, well thought out design, and it flies like a dream. It weighs just over 8 pounds without the batteries and just over 12 pounds with the batteries in it. But it does not feel like a 12 pound helicopter in the air. It`s quite snappy in 3D flight, but settles in good for doing F3C flying. Kind of a perfect balance between the two worlds.

The next helicopter in my arsenal, is my Miniature Aircraft Fury 57. This little machine is a lot like the Fury 55 of years past, but better. Jut like the Whiplashes, it has plenty of electronic mounting options to fit any needs.

They added a gyro tray to the front of the helicopter, which eliminates the need for the upgrade tray that was available for the Fury 55 way back when. Plus there is a gyro tray on the rear of the frames as well, if you prefer the gyro on the back. I prefer mine to be on the front, under the canopy so the oil from the exhaust is blocked from getting on the gyro as much as it can with the gyro on the rear....Just my own preference.

The Fury 57 is belt drive, just like the Fury 55 was, and the tail rotor is on the left side of the tail box. I like that they added a bottom plate to the kit too, which comes with the kit now instead of being an upgrade.

They also slotted the mounting holes in the landing gear struts, to force the landing gear to break on the outsides of the frames when you crash. The slotted holes, along with the bottom plate will help save the frames in a crash.

I`m very happy to be flying Miniature Aircraft helicopters again, I hope to be with them for a long time.