Robinson R22/R44 in 1/48 scale

timemachinewells,
See my post in the General Discussions forum, or contact direct via my ID.

Hi Colin,
Yeah, that's a nice kit and I think you would enjoy building it !

P.S.: By the way, a bit off-topic here, but I hear our mutual friend George is back in Scotland. I was wondering if you had any news from him ? You can PM me via my email about that (click my ID) !!! (Francois in Canada)

Colin,
Good to hear you enjoyed the flight ... It's the smallest I ever flew except the Schweitzer, which was Hughes at the time. I think the hottest I ever pulled pitch on was an OH-6, although I had some front seat time in and AH1-G that was quite memorable ... 1968 ....

Midnightprowler,
The kit is produced by Legato - there is a photo of the parts and sprues in the 'Sprue Zone' on the Helikitnews web site.
MBT70
I, too, have flown the R22. A 45 minute flight with a mate of mine who owns a helicopter flying company. Controls are VERY light - thumb and forefinger only on the cyclic, and just think where you want to go and you're off!! On engine start-up, you think you have just started an old VW Beetle! Great fun and a marvellous experience.

I would like to know more about the kit, i built special hobie's 1/72 R-22, but have not seen the one you mention. Do you have any links?
Lee

I haven't built the kit, but I flew an R-22 once. It had the most simplistiuc controls I've ever seen on a helicopter in my life. The cyclic sits in between the pilot and copilot with a bar on a swivel at the top that goes right and left to each one like handlebars on a bicycle. The only thing on each end is a handlebar grip ... no throttle beeper, no commo button ... nothing. The collective is also double-teamed with a swivel bar behind the seats and a straight piece of pipe on the left side of each flyer. All it has is a motocycle throttle and a button for a friction brake to hold position.
The R-22 was very, very light on the controls and difficult to keep steady, especially in a hover or a crosswind. All the same, it has very good performance for a recip and I enjoyed trying one out.