My sister Grace and I started our adventure to Muncie Indiana on 8-7-23, to attend IRCHA 2023. we took two cars, and communicated with each other via our phones for the entire trip.....I`m glad we both have unlimited talk and text.

We stopped a few times for gas and refreshments, and also at a couple of highway rest areas, to just get out of the cars for a few minutes. The trip up to Muncie was very smooth, and relatively traffic free, and we were able to make good time. We stopped to get a hotel room in Williamstown ( I think that`s the name of the town) Kentucky, and turned in for the night. 

The next morning, we got up and loaded the helicopters back into our cars, and went for breakfast at a nearby Cracker Barrel.....Their biscuit benny is fantastic, BTW. After breakfast we topped off the gas tanks, and got back on the road. We arrived at the AMA headquarters at around 16:30 on 8-8-23, and began setting up our camp.

IRCHA was officially kicked off with the National Anthem, with JC Zankl flying our beloved American Flag around the flight line from one of his vintage helicopters..... It gives me chills every time he does that. Thank you JC, for doing that for us. I for one REALLY appreciate it.

Day one and two were a little slow, and there was not too much going on. It was mostly just a meet and greet for everyone to catch up with each other and just hang out. After that, it started picking up as more and more people started to show up.

Miniature Aircraft was there in force, and we had a lot of fun doing demos, and showcasing the new Interceptor as well as the new Sukara rotor head and swash plate.

Although IRCHA 2023 was not as large as previous years, I still call it a success. I had a great time, caught up with a lot of old friends, and made a lot of new ones too.

I also got to do demo flights for Miniature Aircraft, Kontronik Drives, and Helidirect on Friday and Saturday. Plus I competed in Battle of the Brands again this year. I didn`t do as well as I did last time though. I was asked to do it a day before the contest, and I didn`t have any musik, or a routine. So I had to get Leroy to play a hip-hoppy song foe, and wing it....LOL I had a great time though.

But I`m going to be ready for them next year. I`m going to have musik and a routine worked up.......just in case...LOL.

Miniature Aircraft has been working on a new gas powered 600/620mm helicopter, the Interceptor. They were kind enough to send me a pre release prototype for testing a couple of months ago, and I have really been enjoying it a lot.

The Interceptor is designed around the OS GT-15II gasoline engine, which is actually a .90 size engine. The OS GT-15II doesn`t have quite enough power to support a .90/700 size helicopter, but it`s a perfect match for the Interceptor.

The Interceptor has a belt driven tail, and a large 30mm diameter carbon fiber tail boom which eliminates the need for tail boom supports. This gives the Interceptor a very clean and sleek look, and leaves fewer parts to break in a crash.

The tail rotor is unique, in that it may be installed on the left side of the tail boom like the Fury 57, or on the right side of the tail boom like conventional RC helicopters. I think that`s really cool and innovative.

The Interceptor is roughly based on the Fury 57, and they do share quite a few parts. So if you have a Fury 57, and plan to get an Interceptor, you won`t need to worry about having too many different parts for the two helicopters.

The canopies, however, are not interchangeable between the Fury 57 and the Interceptor. The canopy colour choices for the Interceptor will be Yellow (the one I have) red, blue, orange, green, pink, and American Flag theme. 

The landing gear for the Interceptor have been redesigned from the design which come with the Fury 57, and can also be mounted on the Fury 57 with a couple of mounting plates.

The Interceptor is pretty light for a 600/620 helicopter with a .90 size engine as well. Mine weighs in at 9.5 pounds, with a full tank of gas and the receiver battery installed.

It`s a fun little helicopter to fly, and I have been putting a lot of miles on it since I received it. I am still in the engine break in process, because it flies for a long time on a tank of gas. Even on the factory rich needle settings, I`m getting almost 20 minutes of flying per tank. I have to run an entire gallon of gas through it before I can start tuning for power or doing any 3D with it, and it`s taking quite a while to get through this first gallon.

Once I get the engine broken in and tuned so I can really start flying it, I will start posting flight videos on my youtube channel  (https://www.youtube.com/@GeenaTucker )

My personal setup is as follows:

Bavarian Demon AXON FBL

Xpert R2 cyclic servos

Xpert R2T rudder servo

Aerospire Multigov Pro  governor

KBDD 620mm Extreme Edition main blades

KBDD 96mm CF tail blades

Jeti DS16 II radio system

I am both honored and thrilled to announce that I will be flying for HeliDirect for the foreseeable future. I was approached by Sean a few weeks ago, and invited to join their amazing family. I graciously accepted, and I was placed on the team officially as of July 18, 2022. I`m really looking forward to working with them at all the events, and I`m very excited for this wonderful opportunity. I want to send out a huge thank you to the folks at HeliDirect, for having me as part of their family. :)

This past weekend, March 18-20, 2022, I attended the AMPS Heli Smack Fest as a participant in the F3C Sportsman Class. There were four of us competing in Sportsman, and 7or so for advanced class. The competition in sportsman was fierce, with Brian Byrdsong taking first place, and myself taking second place. Aside from the contest, there was open flying for the funfly on the East/West runway of the field, and night flying under the construction lights.

I was competing with my Miniature Aircraft Whiplash 730E, equipped with:

Kontronik cool Kosmik 170A HVi speed control

Kontronik Pyro 750-56 motor

Xpert KD1 servos

Bavarian Demon AXON

Pulse Ultra 6s 5000mAh 70C batteries.... X2 for 12s

Funtech 730mm FAI main blades

Rail 116 tail blades

My transmitter of choice is Jeti DS-16v2

Below, is a photo of me flying in on of our last rounds for the contest, with Jeff Biter calling for me. It was extremely windy

during the contest, but we all toughed it out and flew our hearts out.

Until then though, it`s going to be practice....practice .....practice.

I never thought that I would be a competition pilot, but  I`m really enjoying competing in F3C. It is so much harder than it looks, and I think that`s why I like it so much. I`ve always been the type who loves a challenge, and the harder the challenge, the more I like it.

F3C has given me all of that and more. It gives me something to work for, and it`s just a lot of fun. Instead of going to the field and doing fast 3D flying, I`m getting used to flying slowly, and precisely. Which is very difficult...especially with windy conditions.

I`m definitely not at the master level, (I compete in sportsman class right now) but I`m progressing nicely, and maybe by next year I can moved up to the next class.

 I have competed in three contests to date, with the Helicopter Nats in Muncie Indiana being my second contest. I placed 7th of 10 at the Nats, and I`m very pleased with that. I was up against some very good pilots, so 7th, was a real accomplishment. I earned 2nd place finishes in the other two contests, first one was in Homestead Florida and my second contest was in Tampa Florida.

The helicopter I compete with is my Miniature Aircraft Whiplash 730E, which has been set up strictly for contest flying. So it will no longer see any 3D or hard flying. I don`t want to take a chance of crashing it, because it takes forever to get them set up and tuned for F3C competition.

I have my Whiplash Nitro, and Fury 57 for when the 3D bug hits me, so there is no reason to risk damage to my contest helicopter. However, with that being said. Miniature Aircraft did present to me another Whiplash 730 kit,(which I am VERY grateful for) to have as a backup to my main contest helicopter.

Once I get it build, set up and tuned.....it will also be reserved for F3C.