Not only am I grateful for another fantastic video but also some significant advancements in what has been a passion of mine (and countless others). Thanks yet again.

I guess we all owe you a big thanks, for all the great fun we get to have with these helis today. Thanks a lot for your undying enthusiasm, and honesty. Great vids too. -Grais.

Amazing video. About 12-13 years ago, I was in middle school and we had a technology show, and the guys showed up with some kind of Draganflyer (4 motors) from Japan and it was nuts! I wanted one so bad, but they were stupid expensive. It is truly amazing for me to see how far things have come and how far they can still go given the rapid tech charge! Again, loved the video!

I just want to thank you for this video. I purchased a Skylark EH-1 back in 83 along with the first front wheel drive car both made by Ishimasa. Brings back lots of memories. Back then there were no brushless motors and the EH-1 came with two Mabuchi 550 motors. Eventually Ishimasa came out with a 12 volt 1100mah battery. It was awesome for its time.

Loved watching this video. It brought back so many memories. I remember Condor Hobbies. My father actually purchased my Skylark EH-1 in Japan on a business trip for me when I was a kid. Today I'm flying a Blade MSRX--what an amazing difference in technology from 1980 to 2013!!

That is amazing, historical, and just so cool. Us pioneers really bled to move the technology forward. The money to even get a heli, trimming it, crashing it, before ever being able to fly them! Waiting months for parts. And then overnight the lipos changed it all. Now we can buy really neat little helis at wal mart! But anyway thanks a lot:)

I always enjoy your video clips. However, this is the best one! Thank you Mr. Dave Herbert.

Just to thank you for the effort of putting this video toghether, good job guys!

Great video Dave! Thanks for posting. LOL at the pool incident at the end. I thought you were going to jump in to save it!

Cool, what a blast from the past. I considered getting this bird around '82, but instead went nitro with the American R/C Mantis, cause I had a K&B .40 lying around. The Skylark looks pretty stable (tailwise) especially since it doesn't have a gyro, my Mantis would spin like a top sometimes. Thanks for the memories.....

Thanks Dave for this historical rc vid. My how far we've come. And it's at least partially thanks to you. Thanks for inventing ETRM!

Thanks for sharing your videos I enjoy watching them as I am still learning about RCs.

wow you amaze me. thats some nice vintage video you shared with us. thanks

I bought one of those from Condor Models back in the 80s. What a pita it was BUT FUN!!!!! I wish I still had one. I would mod it with the brushless motors and lipos I have now on my newer choppers.

wow thats the first rc heli i cant believe and that's really cool i love it

Nice history vid. I sure could use those SUPER SKIDS that are on that heli!

Thanks for the great video - it's hard to believe how far electrics have come, and how affordable they now are! Could it do 3d? haha

i love to watch ur vids on history

Dave, Well done! I noticed on your demo for the ETRM that you spinned the tail first (like your recommendation for the CP2). Jeff

Awesome video

Mind blowing! And I've always wanted one since around 1980 when I got to fly inside a 'crop-duster' Bell (think M.A.S.H) heli near our rubber plantation in Kerala, India. I wonder how much this electric costed then! I am now an avid R/C heli hobbyist and am now training on a JR Venture .30.

nice work!

i do envy ur daughter, who has a dad can show her all about the rc.

FANTASTIC VIDEO!!! OLD SKOOL COOL:)

Some can, my little (indoor) co-axial was blown into the pool by a sudden gust. Took some grabbing as the rotors were jerking intermitantly (although throttle was cut on the Tx) cut me on the wrist. Dried it with wife's hair drier, and it's still flying 1 year later.

wow lol fabulous video :D i loved it , how long did it take for the battery to die down on you as soon as you take off. and the end, i thoght u were going to take off lol but it sunk lol, glad u managed to save it in time, wouldnt want that baby to go down !! once again maytee great vid 5*!!! love it!, and once again, thanks for inventing the E.T.R.M. i love it! and i got my heli up and running again

great vid thanks:-) I used to fly an old cricket I think it was, wooden frame if I recall no gyro back then...........bloody hard to do!:-)

I recently bought one of these on Ebay. Hope to restore it and fly!

he means people in the future will look back at our time and think that

I guess I should have mentioned that I had Skylark. I used to fly it out at Mile's square once in a while tethered to a battery. Its amazing what you can get today for $100 People just getting into the hobby have no clue how easy they have it. Back then my students came to me with a real knowledge and understanding of how their machine worked nowadays my students come to me with nothing but marketing hype and disinformation, most don't know the difference between a mosfet and a rheostat.

Thanks for this great video! Did the tail rotor motor give you much more authority? I noticed the second crash it still had the belt driven tail rotor; what about the first crash of the movie? Love your cool comment: it says NO DUMPING :-D The sound effects are hilarious!

The first that I ever saw (and bought) was a Kalt Whisperer. That must have been around 1980.

Well, whomever was on the other side of the phone was very helpful back then. I can't remember his name but it was always the same person. I never used the rheosat speed control. I purchased an electronic unit from Jomar at the time (Joe Utasi). Dodn't use a gyro back then. I usually tethered mine. I also got stuck a few times with a dead car battery and had to get a jump to get the car started. In fact,

Hi Dave great video but you should correct your title. This was the first commercial electric. Quite a few of us scratch builders were home brewing electrics back in the late 70's. I was probably one of the first people to scratch build a composite helicopter using scrap PC board material for the frame. I was probably also one of the first to use lead weights to correct tail heavy rotor blades.

its funny to see that you used your air bags back then too! they're pretty cool, what are they, where do you get them and do they change the flight at all? thanks

Great old video truly enjoyed it what you would of done for a lipo flight pack and piezo hobbyking gyro in those days eh?

hi great video iam from the uk i have an old MFA 500 SPORT helicopter it runs on nitro but i want to make it clean and run it on electric do you know want i need to run it on and how thanks i have a 12 volt battery that i use to start it up with its only the size of a scooter [ moped ] battery is this good to power the chopper many thanks

Do you still have this cool helicopter? Would you sent me some pictures of it? I want to rebuild one from scratch and need any information I can get.

hey there mr. herbert i was wondering if you have any old bdu's or acu's i collect them and love them.....i kniw you were in the military and would love to take some off your hands!

coolpunksy, the battery used to fly this was a 12v CAR battery hence the tether to transfer the power to the heli.

Hehe nice try on the water.. just to bad it sank;) how old are these videos?

I wonder if you took a reproduction one, made of 80% carbon fiber parts (metal main and taoil heads) and put some new tech in it (brushless motors/ESC's, digital servos, new ETRMs, etc).... Would it fly better? It would certainly be lighter with nearly 80% CF parts. What a thing that would be to see fly. -Miles

the picco z just got served by size

@shebotnov sure you can get a 700 size gasser you can fly for 30 min easy

wow, one question, like when the mechanical speed controll burned out or when the belt slipped, it loses controll right? are the crashes hard? is is hard to repair? thanks

i wonder if you put in one of these gyro,li-pombrushless motos and modern electronic how it will flight?Great video give us the noobs knoeledge and you vets memento

@shebotnov not really an issue as 1 gallon of gas will fly the heli for HOURS these small 2 strokes sip fuel gas would have to get to over $30 usd it make it not worth it and if you havent been out lately gas has drop over 60 cents in some places since the summer

Wow dude, nice vid, I always was curious of electric heli heritage. That tether must have been a bitch though and only 2 minutes on batteries. Daaamn lol

dave i want one!!!!!

cool to see the helis of those days again . so yr daughter looks my age and loves heli's ? woow , she married ?)))

i think he means, does it fly now?

Great vid again Dave Ill redo this comment as you had a blonde moment and deleted last one ( we all have em ) I was wondering at the time given the fact it was the first of its kind and a bit of a handfull to grasp, did you ever imagine that this concept would take off and evolve into the technologically advanced machines we have before us today ?

So is this the first RC heli full stop or the first electric rc heli?

Which implies there was something before this? What was it and when?

what would u guys recomind as a heli netx step up from the blade mcx300

Cool!

i wasn't looking well when i was writing this....it is knowledge,li-po,brushless,motors, sorry for my bad english! I guess it doesn't worth it,now you can set up a nice kit of a 500 real 3d heli

hey, i had it too! my first heli ever.... mine never flew ... :( regards

Was it collective or fixed pitch?

poor helicopter it drowned hahahahaha.... good video dave

you should do a heli that uses an aux. power source like this one ore the vectron

Blade 400 is not bad, but need to replace the servos, they are the worst, dont' center then it's all over the place. Plus no gyro, but get what you pay for. Thought you could hover inverted on the sim lol

How much did these cost in 1980?

when was this video made?

you should have made the background music retro!

yep, i had one, my reciever short circuted after in flight my fingers flicked the 'dip switches' and now only 1 motor works, and a new reciever for this costs £40! thats over $80 no thanks. il stick to my sabre.

IS UR DAGHTER AN RC LOVER LIKE U

Belt CP v2 RTF

dave and his patented orange floats.. who would of thought they would make it to 2009... dave your patent officeis calling... hint hint .. lol

and this heli ...fly ? :))

a bit unstable ay? XD

nop, it was more than 20 years ago ... i broke it atthe very first flight!!!

i hav a rc helicopter its just very simle its made out of plastic and polistyrean

kooooool

yup lol

then get a 500 or some cheap in between heli, but cp pro is garbage. Good Align 450 pro is just out, but better know how to set it up, and trim it up, cuz it's crazy heli, 3D READY, not like most shit

@NightFlyyer i dont really reccomend HoneyBee its not a helicopter its a shit you better just buy Trex 450 or KDS 450 They the best 450 helicopters ever made

jpeel132, bladecp is crap for a first heli, be better off getting a coax like CX3 or a sim, either is better than cp pro

buy a cookie and eat it ....

when randy grabbed it, inspected it an sent her on her way that was awesome lol.