Ito, using PRODRONE's PDH-02C, won the 2018 FAI/F3C RC Helicopter Japan Championship, the pinnacle of RC helisports.

PRODRONE Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, President and CEO: Masakazu Kono, hereinafter referred to as PRODRONE) is providing the F3C competition model ``PDH-02C'' to seven athletes, including Hiroki Ito (affiliated with TKK Works). One of them, Ito, achieved a stunning victory at the 43rd FAI/F3C RC Helicopter Japan Championship (Sponsor: Japan Model Aviation Federation, Official: Japan Aviation Association) held in Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture from October 4th to 7th, 2018.

Winner Hiroki Ito and PRODRONE's PDH-02C (Photo provided by Radio Control Technology)

In the FAI/F3C RC Helicopter Japan Championship, the pinnacle of the RC heli sports world, Japan's top-level athletes who practice daily compete to show off their flying skills by operating aircraft equipped with cutting-edge technology. This year's Japan Championship was attended by 106 players from all over Japan, including 41 top players (8 seeded players) who had won the regional qualifiers held in Rokkasho across the country, and a heated battle took place over three days. Ito passed the qualifying round in first place with stable flight from beginning to end. In the final round, he showed off his amazing flight and won the championship.

Ito's comment: The body has a simple design with no waste, so I was able to get smooth flight characteristics without any quirks, and I also like the paint design. Regarding the layout of the drive system, a large pulley attached directly to the mast reduces the load on the tail drive and has a simple structure with no skipped teeth, making it unlikely to cause mechanical trouble. In addition, the adhesive frame, which is a feature, uses a thick carbon pipe instead of the conventional cross member, increasing the contact area with the frame surface, creating a simple yet lightweight and highly rigid aircraft, which I feel improves operability. Overall, the aircraft itself is in good condition, so it took less time to set it up, and I was able to concentrate on improving the precision of my performance. The PDH-02C is an aircraft that gives you confidence that you can aim for even better flight.

Kunii, who won third place at this year's Japan Championship, is also the development manager of PRODRONE. PRODRONE employs many of Japan's top professional flyers, including Kunii, and is involved in day-to-day drone development work. Because the engineers themselves are top flyers, they are able to directly feed back what they feel while operating the drone to the development of the drone, which is a major driving force behind the development of drones that cannot be imitated by other companies.

Comment from Mr. Kunii (PRODRONE Development Manager): I believe that we have created an aircraft with high potential by incorporating a design concept that takes into consideration the light weight, center of gravity position, and tail retention to suit the low-rotation, compact performance that has become a trend in recent years. I would like everyone to experience the great flying performance of the PDH-02C.

PRODRONE will actively apply the cutting-edge technology created by such a development team to the development of drone bodies and take on the challenge of technology that will support the future.

From left: Masatoshi Iso (2nd place), Hiroki Ito (1st place), Shinya Kunii (3rd place)

[TEAM PRODRONE] From left: Kazuhiro Sugama (24th), Naoki Horii (14th), Yukihiro Kumagai (28th), Daiki Ukai (17th), Hiroki Ito (1st), Shinya Kunii (3rd), Nobu Moriyasu (10th)

■What is “FAI/F3C RC Helicopter”?

"FAI/F3C RC Helicopter" is the pinnacle of RC helicopter sports. Flyers who have practiced extensively will compete to see how perfect their flying techniques are using aircraft equipped with cutting-edge technology. In addition, all aviation sports, including those involving actual aircraft, are conducted based on the competition regulations set by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI). The Japan Championship, which determines the national champion, is held every year, and the World Championship is held once every two years. The next World Championship is scheduled to be held in Europe next year in 2019.

■Contact information regarding this matter

Responsible

: Sales Department Matsunaga

Email

:press@prodrone.com

Location

: 16th floor, Sakatane Sakae Building, 2-4 Shinei-cho, Naka-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 460-0004