The 1st Production Electric RC Helicopter. The Skylark EH-1

Thanks kindly. Yes …
Thanks kindly. Yes etrms have little turning power to the left. Now that "toothed" belts are on the scene, it is much more reliable. But more expensive to fix, with a tail boom strike or rotor blade strike, since they are collective pitch tail rotors on belts. We're getting there now.

oh my god!! your …
oh my god!! your daughter is sooo adorable!! it must had been a joy having her help you build them..its so interesting seeing how the first belt drive rotors evolved, its funny, the belt drives are now better than the etrm.

Yep, your so right …
Yep, your so right about the hype. Well I still have my Skylark. I lived in SJC for 40 years and was the founder of the Skynauts of Saddleback valley and the Capistrano Aeromasters special effects team. We got crowded out when Mile square closed and everybody came to use our sites. Now I have plenty of room. Check out my latest Fishing video for a laugh. It should be up in a few hours.

I guess I should …
I guess I should have mentioned that I had Skylark. I used to fly it out at Mile's square once in a while tethered to a battery. Its amazing what you can get today for $100
People just getting into the hobby have no clue how easy they have it. Back then my students came to me with a real knowledge and understanding of how their machine worked nowadays my students come to me with nothing but marketing hype and disinformation, most don't know the difference between a mosfet and a rheostat.

Yes, your right, …
Yes, your right, lots experimented as you can see from my other videos, I have too, including inventing the etrm, including building a heli almost completely made out of wood. I even built my own speed controllers with Victor Kmosek of Victor engineering for that project that I sold to Kyosho. I believe I mentioned it was the first commercial heli in the video and also the description. It was a given. You know what I meant. That is why it was called the EH-1. We were all pioneers in those days.

Hi Dave great video …
Hi Dave great video but you should correct your title. This was the first commercial electric. Quite a few of us scratch builders were home brewing electrics back in the late 70's. I was probably one of the first people to scratch build a composite helicopter using scrap PC board material for the frame. I was probably also one of the first to use lead weights to correct tail heavy rotor blades.

Yes, it became …
Yes, it became uncontrollable when belts slipped or the motors quit in flight because the speed controller found a dead spot. It was not too hard to repair, as it was all aluminum. I never crashed it too much, so never had and major problems, except for buying extra blades.

wow, one question, …
wow, one question, like when the mechanical speed controll burned out or when the belt slipped, it loses controll right? are the crashes hard? is is hard to repair?

thanks

LOL! I hadn't …
LOL! I hadn't noticed, some make take it as a Freudian slip though lol, funny as I was typing this my kids saw a commercial for the new airhogs stinger they were saying "Daddy You dont have that one yet!" I'll Take That as A hint lol;) ps, the hoverlite sure doesnt fly, but it crashes marvelously, you should have seen them scatter at the ball field, it was like a runaway lawnmower!

Thanks very kindly. …
Thanks very kindly. I appreciate that. Thanks for that last music video. That was great. That really makes me look bad in my video, "How to play with yourself in Mr. Herbert's Science class." I appreciate your comments.

amazing how far …
amazing how far weve come, i have 5 havocs (picos) im thinking of collecting the minis there are so many different bodystyles! thanks for your educating and entertaining vids!

Fixed pitch.
Fixed pitch.

Was it collective …
Was it collective or fixed pitch?

Ha ha. She was a …
Ha ha. She was a big help in those days of heli building. Thanks.

wow your daughter …
wow your daughter is like an engineer or a mechanic lol nice

i think he means, …
i think he means, does it fly now?

Come on, cant you …
Come on, cant you see it fly in the video?

and this heli … …
and this heli …fly ? :))

Bell 47. I have a …
Bell 47. I have a JR Voyager .50. I've heard that Ventures aren't made anymore. My mate who owns a hobby shop says the Voyager parts have changed hands so are still accessable. I hope the same for Venture. So you'll have to take smaller learning steps and keep it in one piece. As for this pioneer, no gyro must have been murder. We have our passion today thanks to these early days.

Yep, the early days …
Yep, the early days. We have certainly come a long way.

Thanks and good …
Thanks and good luck with your machine.

Mind blowing! And …
Mind blowing! And I've always wanted one since around 1980 when I got to fly inside a 'crop-duster' Bell (think M.A.S.H) heli near our rubber plantation in Kerala, India. I wonder how much this electric costed then! I am now an avid R/C heli hobbyist and am now training on a JR Venture .30.

Thanks very much.
Thanks very much.

wow thats the first …
wow thats the first rc heli i cant believe
and that's really cool i love it

Thanks kindly. Well …
Thanks kindly. Well nowadays they are much more reliable and fly longer, so go get one and study my 9 heli tips first.