In 1969/70, the Schlüter company presented the world's first truly practical radio-controlled model helicopter. A radio-controlled helicopter was effectively a completely new proposition; it had never existed, and had never really been considered possible until then. It all looked quite simple, and the basic problems seemed to have been solved. To some extent that was true, but only with the drastic compromises, one of which has been the omission of collective pitch control and the use of motor speed to control the upward and downward flight of the helicopter.
Suddenly everybody wanted to own a helicopter. But there was one obvious problem; the macine was not that easy to fly, and there were no teachers. How was the new enthusiast going to learn the skill? Who was capable of setting it up? Who could repair it? Even so, the enthusiasm was there. The market was wide open, and the model industry joined in the fray. The first kit boxes were grey, but soon they wee colourful and glossy; typed instruction sheets made way for printed booklets with copious illustrations, loose component packs thurned into factory-assembled sub-assemblies, and the advertisements assured us that everything was easy now. Works teams gave demonstrations to emphasise the simplicity, collective pitch rotor heads were developed and proclaimed to be the final solution, and the great helicopter boom was under way.