heli enabled, not maxed, even trying to use custom spawns.  tried using both in game chat command and console.  no error inc onsole/logs.  shows up on infopanel for about 3 secs but never shows the heli at all.  tried even default command

Do you have any other plugins related to helicopters? It sounds like there may be some sort of conflict. If I had to guess, something is killing the helicopter immediately after it spawns. If you do have any other helicopter-related plugins, try removing them and seeing if it still doesn't show up.

I would also appreciate if I could get your config for HeliControl, just to ensure nothing is off about it. 

Thanks!