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MANSFIELD - When the 6-year-old was given the controls to the prototype helicopter on Saturday, he calmly took command and made the aircraft fly like he had been piloting most of his young life.

Which he had.

The the helicopter he was flying was a radio-controlled model - and was only one of four in existence.

His name is Justin Chi (pronounce Ghi) of Dumont, N.J., and he has been flying radio-controlled helicopters since he was 3. He turned to helicopters, because he found them more challenging then flying radio-controlled airplanes, according to his parents. He had been flying the planes for a full year before he switched to the helicopters.

Considered one of the best in the world at the age of 6 - Chi was excited with anticipation, waiting to fly the prototype and couldn't be bothered answering questions being posed to him by adults. But when he put a specially built harness over his shoulders that allows his to hold a dual-stick controller for the helicopter, he was all business.

As he brought the helicopter from its take-off position to flips and turns and flying upside down, Chi demonstrated a skill that many adults said they had never mastered as they watched in awe.

Chi is one of 85 registered world-class pilots that descended on Mansfield as part of an event sponsored by New England Heli Crew, a member of the only helicopter-only club in New England, according to club member Tom Day of Needham.

The year-old club has 55 members with abilities that range from beginner to advanced. Day said the club is set up so anyone asking questions will always get help from others.

Many of the world-class pilots attending the Mansfield event this weekend are from all over the country from Los Angeles, New York, New Jersey, and throughout the South.

Day said he was looking for a hobby he could share with his son, but after a year, his son moved on to golf, but Day was hooked onto helicopters.

Plainville Police Dispatcher Bruce Barton, a radio-controlled-helicopter hobbyist, said it was a natural for him to pick up the small helicopters.

He was an Army crew chief who worked on Hueys and Cobras when he was stationed in Germany for three years during the Vietnam war. He has a customized helicopter that is hand-painted and adorned with the logos of the Plainville Police Department.

While a bit older then 6-year-old Chi, Nick Maxwell a meteorology student at Indiana University Perdue Fort Wayne, was able to do gravity-defying feats with his radio-controlled helicopter.

Like Chi, Maxwell started off with airplanes and quickly moved to the challenges of the rotor-driven craft. Maxwell, a college freshman, said he flies in many competitions and tries get in two to three practice flights a day. The helicopter that he flies started off as a kit model, but with all the customized components he added, and believes the current value of the helicopter to be $3,000.

When asked if he ever thought of putting one of his helicopters into a nasty storm cell that he chases, he said that he hadn't, and then said it might be something to consider to get a camera and instruments inside weather for up-to-date information.

The three day radio helicopter event concludes today. The entrance to the helicopter field can be found across the street from 408 Elm St. in Mansfield. There are signs along School Street and Elm Street to the field, and the entrance to the field has a large bright sign pointing to the event.