Use an 18" length of kite string with a 2" fishing bobber attached to one end and a medium paper binder clip attached to the other. The string is attached to the heli skid with the binder clip. The object is to carry the ball suspended under the heli between several sets of quarter inch square balsa wood gates. The space between the gates decreases as you progress down the course. Start out at 2' and end up at 6". The gates are 2' high so that the pilot cannot drag the ball on the ground. Each gate that is successfully passed adds points to the pilots score. If the ball does not pass between the gates or if one of the gate sticks gets broken no points are awarded for that gate. To make it interesting for the more advanced fliers, attach a 6" plastic bowl to the ground with a long nail at the end of the course. All pilots except the novices are required to place the ball in the bowl and land their heli without pulling the ball from the bowl. To make things even more challenging set a time limit for completing the course. Novices get 6 minutes. Intermediates get 4 minutes and experts get 2 minutes. If the times are too long, shorten them for the next round.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Pick up a big white tie lock looped about the size of a softball and stapled to a 4 inch square block, with a prize name on the bottom. Novices are given so many min, intermediates less, and pro's about 30 seconds.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Heli - Lift off, fly out 60 feet or so, circle a pole, come back set down, return a couple of times all on timed basis.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Run 10 yards - Start the engine - Bring heli to 3 ft hover - Land and shutdown - Run back to start. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Six pads take off from one touch-down on the other 5 in any order and then return to the original starting circle. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Take off and Fly, Hover or Hop around a 50 ft diameter circle landing in the start / finish pad. The pilot MUST walk/run behind his/her heli and it will be OK to touch down before the finish. Done for time. The clock Will Not Stop for any premature landings [rest stops for the REAL beginners]. If a crash happens the pilot can carry the heli to complete the circle and landing on the pad. Short cuts, judges discretion, will be penalized 5, 10 or more seconds each.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

5 bottles 6 spots - Take off knock down the bottles in any order and return to the landing pad. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Take off and use the heli's skids to pick-up and move 2 hoop things from one side of a boundary to the other, the hoop things will be moved one at a time. Task is complete upon landing in the landing circle. Done for time. The hoop things will be 6 inch dia. wood circles with a wire-wrap attached to make about an 8 inch hoop. The boundary will be a line drawn on the ground.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Take off and use the heli's skids to pick-up and move 2 hoop things from one side of a boundary to the other, the hoop things will be moved one at a time. Task is complete upon landing in the landing circle. Done for time. 1) The hoops may be 6 inch dia or smaller and three hoop things will be moved. 2) The boundary will be a ribbon 4 ft above ground. Over the ribbon not under. 3) For each pick-up the pilot must complete a 360 degree pirouette BEFORE dropping the hoop thing. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Take off and fly 8 figure eight's around 2 pylons [painted on the ground] then return and land in the landing circle. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Takeoff from a pad complete: a Loop, a Roll, another Loop and then perform a 540 Stall Turn and then land on the pad. Done for time.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Done for Distance All scores will be normalized! The best score in each category will be awarded 1000 points all others will be given a percentage of 1000 directly proportional to their time VS the best time. E.G.: if the times are 50 seconds, 45s, 60s and 55s, the pilot with 45s would get 1000 pts; 50s = 900 pts; 55s=818 pts; and 60s=750 pts. The pilot with the highest total points wins.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

The club will put up $10 and each challenger will put up $1. Final Winner takes it all. Pilots can challenge more than once. Max. of 3 helis per heat. The winner of each heat will stay on the line to run against the new challengers [no $1 input]. If a Non-Winning pilot wants to run in additional heats he/she will be required to contribute an additional $1 challenge fee for each heat, up to a maximumof 3 heats per pilot {time permitting}.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

A small hoop made of pipe cleaners, let's say 20 or so placed in a 10 X 10 area. The pilot tries to pickup as many hoops as possible in a 2 or 3 minute time frame. Five points are awarded for each hoop and an extra 25 points if none are dropped.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Place 10 or so 2-liter bottles of soda half filled with water and try to knock down as many as possible in a 1 or 2 minute time-frame.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

Start from a pad. Knock a tennis ball off the top of a cone about three feet tall, then fly through the limbo thing, then fly a figure eight over two poles about ten feet tall and about twenty or thirty feet apart, and then back to the pad. The guy that did each obstacle successfully in the shortest amount of time wins. Any combination of these or whatever you can come up with works. The idea is to give everyone something different and challenging to do.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

The beauty of this one is that anyone who can hover for 15 seconds or more has a chance. Mark off a 10 X 10 (ft) section and sub-divide into 1 X 1 sections. A non participant can pick a # from one to 100 and keeps it a secret. Everybody has to hover for a minimum 15 secs. and then lands anywhere in the 10 X 10 square. After everybody is done, the judge says the magic # and if anyone has landed on the mystery square or the closest one wins.
by Jimmy D. Andrews

For two or more pilots - Start with helis on the ground, running. At the first signal, all helicopters ascend vertically as fast as possible. At the second signal, all helis descend as fast as possible. The first helicopter to land wins. This event is good for all types of models - from beginner's ships to pro-level 3D machines - competing head-to-head. Bigger, more powerful helicopters aren't necessarily an advantage as a hot rod copter will climb higher during the first phase and then have farther to descend.
by Eric Balay

Make a fitting to hold a plastic yogurt cup onto the helicopter skids (ie: cup attached to one side of a 14" cross piece with holes to affix to the skids with cable ties). Make a few of these to mount to competitors helicopters. Put 10 raisins in each cup (make sure the raisins are not too sticky). Each pilot must takeoff, perform one loop and one roll, and land. The pilot with the most raisins remaining in the cup wins.
by Eric Balay

String 2" crepe paper between two poles, at least 10 feet apart. Start with the crepe paper about 5 feet high. Pilots maneuver beneath the crepe paper. After each pilot attempts the limbo, lower the crepe paper and have everyone fly through again. If a pilot cuts the crepe paper, they are out. The winner is the last person to successfully fly under the limbo crepe paper. For intermediates - try the limbo nose-in. For experts - try the limbo while inverted, or pirouetting.
by Eric Balay

This is a timed event - the lowest elapsed time wins. Pilots must takeoff, perform two consecutive loops, two consecutive rolls, one 540 stall turn, and an engine off auto to a spot landing. Prepare the auto landing site with two circles - one 2' diameter circle and one 6' diameter circle. For landings within the 2' circle - add no extra seconds. For landings outside of the 2' circle but within the 6' circle - add 5 extra seconds. For landings outside of the 6' circle - add 10 extra seconds.
by Eric Balay

This is a timed event. The pilot will place his helicopter (with fuel tank empty), transmitter, fuel and any necessary starting equipment in the Heli Start Box. The pilot must stand in the Pilot Start Box, located approximately 100 feet from the Heli Start Box. At the start signal, the timer will begin. The pilot will run to the Heli Start Box, fuel and start the helicopter, take-off, fly past the pylon in the field (150 feet away), land the helicopter back in the Heli Start Box, shutdown the engine, and run back to the Pilot Start Box, at which point the timer will stop. The pilot who scores the lowest elapsed time wins. Electric powered helicopters will incur a 30 second penalty.
by Eric Balay