I just returned home from an amazing time in Muncie, Indiana. IRCHA 2017. There were not as many pilots registered this year, as I remember being the last time (2013) I was there. But it was still a LOT of fun.

There was lots of cool stuff to look at, and there was a new helicopter brand on display too. XL Power was the name of the company. Their helicopter looks really nice too, and it flew great during their demo flights.

During the noon demos on Friday and Saturday, all of the flight teams put on a fantastic show, and instead of the "one" competition this year, they had a special competition for non-spnosored pilots only.

They had a chance to get on the stage, and showcase their skills. Man did they ever. These guys were killing it out there. I didn`t hear who won the competition, but I would have hated being on the judging panel. That had to be a very tough decision to make.

I did two demos with Team Gaui. One on Friday, and one of Saturday. I never get nervous doing a demo flight, but Friday...I was a bundle of nerves. The owner of Gaui, was sitting out on center stage with the team...and she was sitting right next to me.

I got over it as soon as my helicopter started spooling up though. The flight was supposed to be a tandem with one of my team mates, both of us flying NX7s.

His muffler came loose about 12 seconds into the flight, and I had to do the whole routine myself. Saturday`s demo was awesome. We got my team mate`s muffler sorted, and we did the routine we had planned.

At the end of our flight, we both did some inverted grass cutting with our helicopters just a meter or so apart.
Unfortunately, @Crash Heligod gave my helicopter a slap, and it dug in deeply into the grass. (Needless to say, the crowd went wild over that...lol).

But as Bony Fingers was slapping, @HeliGod Father was there to wrap his holy arms around my NX7, saving it from certain destruction.

The only damage was one bent pitch arm, loss of both pitch links, a broken servo arm, and slight damage to the swash plate. No other damage to the airframe, and none of the blades were hurt.

Gaui gave me the parts to repair it right after our Power Hour was over, but I have not had the energy to repair it yet.

I also came home with the new Scorpion Tribunus 200A ECS, and the newly released Scorpion HKII 4525-520 motor. I did forget to get a Vlink 2 from Georges, so I have to wait til it gets here before I can set the ESC up.

I had a wonderful time, and I`m already making my plans to be there next year.

EDIT: Almost forgot to post the link to the photos I took at the event.

http://www.geenatucker.com/event-photos/index.php/IRCHA 2017