Introduction

[carey shurley]

Hey everybody, welcome to my advice column for gas helicopters!

2013 looks to be yet another good year for gas helicopters. I'm aware of at least two new gas powered models and several conversions in the works.

Gasoline/petrol prices have come down a bit but remain a bargain as compared to glow fuel. Gas helicopters may have their challenges but operating cost is NOT one of them. If you’re not flying gas helicopters, you’re STILL paying at least 10 times more for liquid fuel!

We started this forum in 2010 to provide some proven solutions for common build, setup and operational problems as well as keep track of current events in the gas helicopter world. I’ve been flying and working with model helicopters for about 36 years now and with gasoline powered helicopters for about 16 of those.

I can tell you, they’ve come a long way since the early models. I think the Dubro Shark which used an O&R gasoline motor may have been the very first gas powered helicopter. It didn’t work very well. I had a Dubro shark but by then they had abandoned that motor for glow power. Today’s gas powered models run and fly very well.

However when I look through the gasser topics on the various helicopter forums I still see a lot of the same problems over and over. There’s plenty of help with nitro and electric powered models but there aren’t as many pilots with the experience to properly setup and tune a gas helicopter. When people post questions, they often get conflicting answers and sometimes the posters get into squabbles.

As with most everything on your helicopter there's no single right way to do things, there are usually several different acceptable methods to solve or avoid problems. My intent is to provide information in one place about things that have proven to work consistently for me.

The bottom line?

lets get on with it!