Sensui, Japanese FAI Team

These photos were taken a few years ago at the Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, Nevada. The machine was owned by Sensui, Japanese FAI team member, who performed flight demos during breaks in the action.

It was built by his father to be used as a camera mount for film work in Japan. A Zenoah G-62 on soft mounts provided amazing vertical climbouts and very smooth operation. All very industrial strength and bullet proof construction.

Monster Bell 47

So you think you've seen some large model helicopters, check this out. The machine next to this behemoth is a 60 size Bell 47. A twin cylinder 120cc engine is used for power, I believe it weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 80 lbs. Picture taken at a trade show in Germany.

Rollie Martel

Rollie with his beautiful Bell 222. Modeled as tribute to the late Don Hill, this is a replica of the full size Fletcher Challenge machine that Don flew.

Functional lights, operational retracts and paint work that must be seen to believed.

TSK 60 mechanics, OS 61 SFN for power and Futaba 9 Channel for guidance.

Danger Bay

Sequence is of a helicopter crash I performed for the Disney TV series Danger Bay.

We used two Jet Ranger models to simulate the full scale crashing into the water at the mouth of False Creek here in Vancouver.

The shots looked great but I think the most amusing part was having a team of coast guard divers recover the model after it sunk to the bottom of the river, it looked like a military rescue operation!

Camera Platform

I've seen lot's of model helicopters in the years I've been flying but this one really knocked my socks off!! Owned by Brett Nelson, he uses it as a camera platform to do TV commercials, feature film and assorted video shoots.

It uses a 72 cc chainsaw engine for power, weighs 35 pounds and has a payload capacity of 35lbs. 99% of the parts are custom made. I couldn't get over how well thought out and engineered the whole machine was. This ain't no model helicopter folks!! Brett can be reached at 360-945-0394