This is Helifest

Helifest in the UK took place last weekend — and it was hot. This time it wasn’t just the vibe that made it hot; the weather was unusually warm as well. Even the rain, which is normally part of the event, skipped this year. No jumpers, no rubber boots — instead sun cream, parasols, finding shade, and constant drinking were crucial throughout the weekend. But Helifest was extraordinary in other aspects too.

After the record year of 2014, this year set a new record for the number of registered pilots: the previous record was 104, and this time 118 pilots signed up for the weekend. This includes both competition pilots and fun‑fly pilots. Consequently, the flight line was constantly busy, although on Sunday afternoon the heat defeated the excitement, and for roughly 10 consecutive minutes the flight line was completely empty.

Saturday was mostly cloudy with some bright spells and a light breeze, which resulted in spectacular flights and almost no crashes — unlike Sunday. On Sunday the weather broke the door down on the attendees: the mercury climbed into the high 30s (90+ Fahrenheit), the air stopped moving, and crashes followed crashes, even in the competition flights. Valentin Fiorese crashed his heli after only seconds of flight time, setting the record for the shortest flight of the weekend in the Freestyle round.

The zone‑format style competition finished with the following results:

Inters class

Craig Stubbs
Matt Dukes
Christopher Brain

Pro class

George Isaacs
Duncan Osbourn
Callum Henson

International

Kan Poonnoi
"Copter" Thanathep Hawiros
Nick Maxwell

Carl‑Henning Siebert took 4^th place, and after his crash in the Freestyle round, Valentin Fiorese finished in 5^th place. Ethan Williams finished 7^th.

Copter Thanathep Hawiros won the ad‑hoc indoor heli competition, although Fabian Kloß was very close behind him. This round was judged by the crowd. Finally Fabian has got the prize for the most entertaining flights of the event.

The indoor arena — sponsored by Goosky, Mikado, OMP Hobby and XLPower — is this year’s innovation, and it has been a great success. Pilots and spectators welcomed the arena, and the feedback has been almost exclusively positive. Hopefully the arena will return next year, although Grant Cooper highlighted that it is quite expensive to build and would not be possible without strong sponsorship.

George Isaacs is trying to untangle the heli in the arena

Helifest is definitely getting bigger, and not just in the UK — international interest is also increasing. Alongside pilots from Thailand, the United States, Germany, Switzerland, France, Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and more, several sponsoring companies were represented by their owners, such as Ralf Buxnowitz from Mikado, Frank Lee and Kelly Chen from Goosky, and Alex Liu from ManiaX — and the list doesn’t end there. This was also a first (and hopefully just the beginning): Tom Khosit Mongkholtai, the owner of Tom Motor‑RC from Thailand, attended as well.

Copter Thanathep Hawiros & Tom Khosit Mongkholthai

Surprisingly, this year Egodrift was represented by both leaders of the company: Vincent Offenbeck as usual, and — after many years — even Yutao Zou visited the event.

Several new models were introduced at Helifest. One of the stars was the brand‑new XLPower Stratos 200 tri‑blade. This model premiered at the event, and it was also announced that it will arrive in about a month.

Ra Kabun and the XL Power Stratos 200 tri-blade

The event ran like Swiss clockwork: no significant delays, almost no technical difficulties, a fantastic vibe, high precision, and a perfectly balanced programme. Two years ago Heli‑Shed rightfully complained about the toilet situation. Last year this was greatly improved, and we are glad to report that the situation remained just as good this year. Surprisingly, even on Saturday evening at 8 PM the portaloos were clean and fully usable — and there were no queues anywhere.

The raffle is also getting bigger; consequently, more and more tickets are sold, which is important to cover the costs of such a major event. This year more full kits were drawn, including SAB ilGoblin kits, micro helis, OMP M5s and Goosky RS5 models.