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This month we will take a look at the Swiss Hirobo Cup that
was held recently near Bern Switzerland. Switzerland is a country
with 6.9 million people in an area about the size of the state
of Rhode Island. Most of the country is is at 1000 feet above
sea level. The Alps dominate the southern portion of the country.
In Switzerland, they speak four different languages (74% Germanic
origin, 20% French, 4% Italian & 1% Romansch). But most R/C
modelers speak some English and know what's a swashplate and
what's a gyro. When I visited the Hirobo Cup I was greeted by
Peter Frey, the event sponsor and Swiss Hirobo Importer. Due
to the poor weather that Saturday and Sunday, only 20+ pilots
came. However, all three members of the 1999 Swiss FAI team were
there to show their support for the hobby in the rain and blowing
wind. Every brand of helicopter was there, so it was not a Hirobo
only event. Instead of watching a lot of flying, I ended up enjoyed
their outdoor char broil steak and grilled bratwurst.
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| Wearing the red and
blue Swiss team jackets are the Swiss Hirobo Cup winners. From
the left to the right, they are Patrick Kessler (2nd), Stefen
Meier (1st), and Daniel Graber (3rd). Stefan flies an X-Cell |
There were many maneuvers allowed in the Swiss Hirobo Cup.
Beginners and experts compete against each other. Each pilot
is allowed to choose his own maneuver. The beginner can pick
simpler maneuvers and the advanced pilots can pick more difficult
maneuvers. Sure, the advanced pilots could pick easier stuff
to do, but then that would be embarrassing. At the end, all three
Swiss team members placed top three. Due to the poor weather,
only three rounds were flown. The awards were quite nice. Peter's
father is in the watch business, so many Swatches were given
out. Unlike the current fun fly system in the USA, all pilots
are guaranteed a prize. The first place winner gets the first
pick. Other prizes include Futaba GY-501 gyros, many different
types of servos, Hirobo chairs, and other goodies. I like this
system much better, because every registered pilot get to walk
home with something. There were about 20 Swatches to pick from,
so even the last guy can get a watch. Five, six years ago in
the USA, every fun fly also worked this way
 Swatches
anyone?
Another interesting thing I noticed is the European hold many,
smaller fun flies. If one picks up a copy of the German ROTOR
magazine, one will notice that are always more than one helicopter
event in Europe each weekend. People tend not to travel very
far. The fun flies tend to be more local and attract local crowds
within few hundred kilometers only. A lot of fun flies are also
sponsored by the companies. That's a great idea The Schluter
Cup was very popular in the US ten years ago, unfortunately it
has been discontinued. But it is still very popular in Europe
and held in each European country every year. Unfortunately the
Hirobo will also be discontinued in the USA this year. In Europe,
there are about ten different Hirobo Cups because there are many
countries. The Graupner company also holds ten Graupner Cups
in Germany alone, each year. Graupner sponsors the event at different
cities through out Germany.
(Editor's note - of course the number of US events has risen
dramatically in the past several years while the number of sponsors
has decidedly not - hence the fewer prizes per event. And generally
speaking, we have to travel a LOT further between events than
the Europeans and have far fewer flying sites paid for by government
entities).
Peter says in Switzerland, he sponsors two Hirobo pilots.
They are Daniel Grabber and Patrick Kessler. Both are in the
Swiss F3C FAI team. For people who have followed the F3C circuit,
Daniel grabber has been in the limelight since the first F3C
World Championship in 1985. He has represented Switzerland in
every World Championship and has been sponsored by many different
helicopter companies. Daniel and Patrick are currently flying
Hirobo Eagle 99WCs. This is the version that Hashimoto, current
F3C World Champion, is flying. The 99 WC Eagle has a few improvements
over the older Eagle 98 EX II or Eagle 98 WC. The main differences
between the Eagle 98 EX II and the 99 WC are: the main rotor
head is anodized in blue, bigger thrust bearings are used, CNC
metal landing gear rails are employed, and the fiberglass vertical
fin is mounted on rubber dampers to reduce resonating.
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Patrick and Daniel fly
the latest Eagle 99 WC |
The SSR V (Super Sharp Response) metal main rotor head and
metal tail rotor gearboxes come prebuilt. These are two of the
most important sub-systems on any helicopter. The underslung
teetering Eagle rotor head is what gives the model such a pleasant
feel in hover. It is something that you have to try to appreciate.
I have the SSR IV rotor head on an Eagle 98 EX II and it flies
very nice. (Underslung means the centerline of the blade feathering
axis is below the teetering pivot of the rotor. For example,
the full-size Bell Jet Ranger and Bell Huey have a underslung
design similar to the Eagle rotor head. A floating axle design,
as in the Shuttle, X-Cell and Futura has no undersling. Part
of the reason for the precision handling in hover is the teetering
motion has no mechanical slop. The whole rotor head pivots on
two large bearings. The flapping restraint is provided by two
rubber dampers. The stock SSR IV head has the 60 degree (durometer)
hardness rubber. An optional 70 hardness rubber damper (0404-674)
is available.
 The
Eagle WC  Blue
Head on Patrick's Eagle
The Eagle uses stacked carbon graphite sideframes. The assembly
provides a light weight and rigid framework. Servos are mounted
directly to the carbon frames. A switch plate is provided to
mount the receiver switch conveniently on the bottom. Push-pull
is used on all the controls. If money is not an issue, then the
Eagle is truly an excellent model.
Peter says the sponsoring system in Switzerland is very different
from the USA. In Swiss, he only sponsors people who have qualified
on the F3C team. If a pilot fell out of the F3C next year, then
his sponsorship will be discontinued. The Swiss team selection
is based purely on the National F3C annual contest. The top three
winners become the team members to represent Switzerland in the
next World Championship. What happens if Daniel came in fourth
in the Nation this year? Peter says, then most likely Daniel's
son who is also a top pilot will be on the team. He smiled.
Another interesting fact is each Hirobo sponsored pilot gets
three top of the line Eagle 99 WC model, about $2500 each. But
they have to return the old Eagle 98 EX that they were flying.
In the future if another better model come out, then they will
get three new ones, but have to return the three Eagle 99 WC.
They are also given a budget of X thousands of Swiss franc or
free spare parts. So they can crash and get free parts. Peter
says if they want some free Shuttle or Hirobo 46 size models,
they can get them for free, too. However, Peter says they don't
want them, all these FAI pilots want are the top of the line
60-size Eagles. They take their F3C practice seriously.
Europeans use radio and engines that are made in Japan like
we do. JR and Futaba are the most popular in Europe and OS is
the most popular engine there. Very few YS engines are used in
Europe, in fact there is no YS distributor in Switzerland. Peter
says Europe is made up of many countries, and each country has
a Hirobo distributor. The Swiss distributor can only distribute
in Switzerland. He is discouraged to sell outside of his country.
He says it is difficult to sell outside of the country because
every country has different sales tax. For example, Switzerland
is not part of the European economic community so their sales
tax is only 7 percent, but neighboring Germany is part of the
European economic community so Germany has a 16 percent sales
tax. Whew, you think we have a high sales tax! Furthermore, mail
order exists in Europe, but is not popular. Most modelers go
to their local hobby shops. Therefore, the two major European
RC helicopter magazines (ROTOR and Helico) do not have many mail
order ads in them. European modelers do not enjoy the deep discounts
that American modelers enjoy. Again, we should consider ourselves
lucky to have much lower street price than in Europe. For example,
an OS 61 SX WC engine can cost over $300 in Europe. The distributors
also discourage shops to compete against each other on prices.
Peter says the 12.5% nitro fuel he uses cost $40 a gallon. A
gallon of Coolpower 15% heli fuel is also $40. A gallon of Coolpower
30% is $50 to $60 in Switzerland. Peter says he burns 200 gallons
a year. Wow, that is $8000 for the fuel alone.
(Editor's note - and again, this is why it's not easy for
sponsors to keep doling out prizes - we PAY the same for engines
and radios etc. here, but the dealer makes only a fraction as
much profit due to fierce competition and lower prices. )
It's worth noting that the US dollar has recently risen against
most European currency. One US dollar today is worth 2.1 German
DM. A year ago, one US dollar was only worth 1.7 DM. Today, one
US dollar is worth 1.6 Swiss franc. What this means is we can
buy the same product from European manufacturers at a lower cost
than a year ago. For example, a year ago, as a tourist you would
pay more than $1000 to buy a Robbe Millennium in Germany. Today,
you can get one for around US $850. Don't start booking the next
flight to Europe, because you are not likely to save any money.
You have to fly there, then find the hobby shop and find one
that has a good price, then when you come back, the US custom
only allows you to bring back up to US $400 without custom duty.
And, it is not worth lugging a big box 4000 miles.
Here is another interesting fact. Do you know that all Swiss
men are required to put in 365 days of military service to the
country. You can divide the 365 days into any small number of
chunks from when you are 20 up to 50 years old. Everyone is issued
a Sig automatic rifle and a sealed box of ammo and you get to
take them home. So every man has an automatic rifle at home.
When you reach 50, you can either turn in the gun or keep as
a souvenir. Peter says the crime rate is very low and almost
non-existent in Switzerland. People don't go bananas and take
their rifle and go rob a bank or go settle a dispute. I felt
very safe when walking on the street there. The countryside is
famous for their sereneness and tranquility. The cities are bustling
and filled with watch stores and banks. The statistic says there
is a bank for every 1000 Swiss inhabitants. The part that I have
enjoyed the most whenever I go visit Switzerland, I always rent
a car and drive on the twisty alpine mountain road. The people
there obey traffic laws and you will love driving through the
Alps. I encourage everyone to visit the country and if you are
lucky, convince your spouse to go to one of the RC helicopter
events in the summer with you and you will see that the Europeans
enjoy the hobby as much as we do. Most of them take their hobby
seriously and they are willing to spend lots of money to get
the best and nothing but the best equipment. Finally, you will
notice that 3-D has just started to take off in Europe.
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| The new Hirobo 60-size
Freya helicopter. It is an inexpensive model priced at under
$700 in the U.S., made mostly with glass filled nylon molded
parts. The main rotor and sideframes and tail gearbox are all
molded. It comes with a split main gear constant drive tail rotor
system, and cut out 3-D plastic fins. It will be available in
the USA soon. |
See you next month!
 The
Freya Head  Molded
"3-D" Freya tail fins
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