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MANSFIELD - Helicopters have been flying maneuvers and hovering over West Mansfield the last six weeks. But the buzz - about the new Elm Street field for radio-controlled model helicopters - has been heard mostly by the pilots.

The helicopter-only field opposite 408 Elm St. was launched last month by the New England Heli Crew, a new club for radio-controlled model helicopter hobbyists.

The club, which leases the field from a private landowner, has 30 members, President Jeremy Waltzer said.

Although radio-controlled model aircraft have been around for decades, the hobby has reached new heights locally lately.

Besides the new helicopter club and airfield, Waltzer opened RC Hover's Hobby Stop, which sells radio-controlled model aircraft, boats and vehicles, three weeks ago in Foxfield Plaza on Central Street in Foxboro. Waltzer, of Foxboro, had been a member of the Lazy Loopers Flying Club in Wrentham.

That group held its summer meeting last Saturday.

Last Sunday, the South Shore Radio Control Club held its second annual Light Wings Fun Fly at the Bridgewater State Correctional Facility in Bridgewater.

The event attracted a variety of electric- and gasoline-powered model aircraft. The club's president is Mansfield resident Chris D'Arpino.

Enthusiasts say that advances in the electric technology are making the hobby more accessible to newcomers.

The new Mansfield helicopter airfield also helps, by promoting camaraderie.

"You can fly everywhere, but it's nice to come here. You want to be with people who share your hobby," Franklin resident Raja Bortcosh said while guiding an Xcell Gasser in Mansfield on Saturday.

"It's just like going golfing with your buddies. Except when you go golfing, it costs more,"

Woonsocket, R.I., resident Keith Strother said a new helicopter can cost $500 to $1,000. Bigger models can cost around $1,500.

Strother on Saturday flew for the first time an electric copter that he bought last week. The South Shore Radio Control Club's D'Arpino said a $14 battery pack will "last me at least this whole year."

"I still have a battery pack I got a year-and-a-half ago," D'Arpino said.

D'Arpino said many of the new model aircraft come pretty much "ready to fly."

However, "for me, part of the joy is building them," D'Arpino said.

Bortcosh said one of his helicopters runs on a gasoline-oil mix.

The aircraft gets 3 hours of flying per gallon, and runs on regular gasoline.

"If you don't crash, it doesn't cost you much at all," said Bortcosh, who belongs to the Lazy Loopers. "If you crash a lot, that's when it costs you."

Mansfield native Larry Wallace said his wife bought him a $200 electric helicopter for his birthday last February. "I can fly it in my yard," said Wallace, who now lives in Taunton.

"Last night, when the kids went inside, I went out flying in my neighborhood."

Wallace came out to the Elm Street field Saturday for the first time. He and his 2-year-old daughter, Rebecca, watched the helicopters together.

Waltzer and others say helicopters and radio-controlled planes need separate flying sites, ideally. Airplanes need long runways due to their wings, Waltzer said. Helicopters, on the other hand, take off and land vertically.

The Mansfield site is 1,000 feet by 6,000 feet, Waltzer said.

"It's rare to find a site that big, especially in New England, because it's so 'treed,' and because there's so much development going on," he said.

Bortcosh had his XCell Gasser in the air Saturday afternoon.

"I just dance around the sky with it," Bortcosh said.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.