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Xcell Pro.

What a helicopter, smooth as silk, slick as you like. No end of power from the YS 61. One of the best helicopters I have ever flown. I got hold of this second hand from Andy Best, but before he had it, it used to belong to a famous british flyer called Mark.

When I first got hold of it, there were many engine problems, and my auto's got really good, because everytime I tried it, it cut out at about 100 feet. But the one time I didn't make the runway, teh tube drive came apart in the boom, so I had to get a new one. Whilst I was waiting for this to arrive, I took the engine out and went right through it, and stripped the carb, cleaned it out with fuel, and put it all back together. Then I fitted the new tube drive when it arrived, then went to fly it. An entire tank of fuel, doing loops, rolls and 540's, and not even a hint of a cough from the engine. Then, about a month later, the tail gears let go at about 300 feet. By the time the ground had come up to meet it, it was inverted falling like a brick. Damage amounted to no more than a new set of tail gears, undercarriage, main blades, and a canopy facelift. Not bad considering what it had just been through.

So, I got all the bits to fix it and pout it back together. Many thanks to my friend Shane for painting the canopy up for me.

Below, it can be seen in all its glory, in Jersey during the filming of "Attack of the Moki". Check out the paint job. Smart, Eh.

Unfortunately, it no longer looks like this. One day, I did what I had been doing with my Raptor 60 for a couple of days...pirouetting flips. And it did them brilliantly, until one went wrong. The first half of it went Ok, but once inverted, it wouldn't go back the right way up again, and was coming down. I tried everything I could to get it out, but ince I had it pointing forwards, it was just too low, and she went in about 30 degrees from the vertical. I'm sure you can imagine the after effect of impact at this angle, flat out in idle-up 2. There were not many straight bits left. 2 weeks later, it is still not completely stripped down, as I have been doing other things. I now have to decide which to do, fix it, which could cost lots, or buy something like a Fury instead, which might actually be cheaper. Either way, it was fun while it lasted.