World Scenic Flights by HeliGraphix

The interesting news is we have made a first appointment with a sound studio for just after Christmas. We do have quite an idea what the final composition should sound like, but it will be hard to transfer this "vision" to the minds of musicians. It's also a matter of cost and time; but anyway, let's just see how the music question develops as this will be one of the key factors determining the release date of the WSF movie!

Below's part two of our WSF Q&A series:

12) How much time did it take to prepare the WSF?
Frankly speaking, we have lost the overview. But it's certainly beyond description!

13) To how many countries have you been in total?
The current WSF project comprises pretty much exactly 30 countries worldwide. Personally I have been to 40+ countries in my life.

14) Why is there a 35/72 MHz aerial on your heli when you fly robbe/Futaba's 2.4 GHz FASST system?
Before the consecutive WSF trip we flew 35 and 72 MHz, throughout the trip we used 2.4 GHz only. We figured it might look a little silly if within one and the same movie the long aerial keeps coming and going and therefore kept the long aerial just for the looks.

15) Do you fly Kontronik or Schulze equipment?
We fly Kontronik equipment in nearly all of our machines. A detailed answer why and when we use Schulze ESCs can be found in the post about the Grand Canyon flights (use search function on top left to find it quickly).



16) How about the performance of the Three Dee MP-XL?
It's a Henseleit. What else could we say?!

17) How many transmitters did you have?
One only. It's made by robbe/Futaba so why would you want a spare?!

18) How does the FASST system work?
Brilliant under any possible and impossible conditions worldwide. It's safe to use on earth (except for very few exotic types of HeliGraphix stunts, e.g. where the heli loops around a bridge)! We'll talk about it in more detail in an upcoming ROTOR article.

19) How about the batteries?
After we got the replacement FlightPower packs from Rainer Hacker (Hacker Motor GmbH) there were no further issues. It remains a mystery what caused the ballooning of all the other packs; maybe a combination of their "age" (40 cycles isn't really old, is it?!), low air pressure during transport, fast changing climatic conditions, operation in high-altitude areas (Nepal!), transport when in uncharged condition. But like said before, nothing's really sure at this point of time.

20) Have you heard of Matt Harding's dancing video?
The idea of the WSF was born independently of Matt Harding's dancing video (also see HG Q&A #148). In fact, we first heard about him through a comment to our New Zealand Scenic Flights video! It was shot pretty much at the same time that Matt's first dancing video appeared.
To surprise you a little, we tried to contact Matt Harding well in time before the WSF trip for doing a "crossover"; it would have been very cool to have him dance while the heli comes in. The same scene could have been shown with different focus in both his and our movie. Unfortunately, he never responded to our detailed emails – what to make of this is up to you!

21) Have you been fully sponsored?
No. A significant part has been privately funded.

22) Will you continue to travel with the helis and do a WSF II?
Yes and no. The WSF is a project in progress as long as we are into model helicopters. We will continue to shoot footage when visiting new countries and maybe come up with a revised WSF video every now and then.

23) What do you look forward to the most now?
Flying I/C helicopters! :-) Electric models are smooth and nice, but then --- they are nice … ;-)

Another interesting note for those of you who have worried about how to archive this documentation: This blog will most likely be reedited and be available as a "book" in PDF format. Yes, there will be a hardcover version, too, but only for ourselves as the cost for such a high-quality printing with big pictures is high (if you really want one, too, let us know).

We wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2008!