Flite Fest 2017 in review.

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Maybe the forum can produce 'autograph cards' for future FFs.

Just in case. :)

Edit:
And somebody get TimmyP a taco! :D
 
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Awesome event despite the rain! The team worked hard to get the mud under control and I'm sure that took their focus off of the schedule , trash service, and sound system setup.

To make the ingress smoother a unique registration printout could have been sent via email and printed out ahead of time to put on the dash or windshield so that volunteers could have quickly verified registration.

I know that shipments of everything was coming in late but pilot badges could have been reserved for the people that pre-registered as incentive to pre-register. I can't imagine trying to plan an event with 500 people registered and 2000 show up.

Carnival/Fair food can wear on you after a few days so the rotary club breakfast was AWESOME and much welcomed! I really wish they were there every day of the event with the egg and sausage sandwiches, coffee, and donuts but I only saw them Saturday. There should be more food like they served.

As many have said the sound system could have been more distributed instead of cranking the volume louder at the center because anyone near the center was blown out and everyone on the fringes couldn't make out the announcements. There was a double whammy here because the schedule wasn't always followed so people were depending on the announcements that they couldn't always hear or understand and the announcements didn't always offer much prep time (again only a problem since the schedule wasn't always followed).

Sorry to say this Josh Bixler, but I honestly didn't feel the smoke systems on the paramotors had any value because the smoke just lingered.

The go-pro broadcast on the paramotor was a great idea and really cool!

We lost power a few times in one of the build tents because the plugs were set up so that someone could easily step on the cord near the outlet and inadvertently unplug it. Adding cable strain relief would be useful to avoid this problem.

Hopefully that provides some useful feedback!
 

BEEMANS

NEVER FLY WITHOUT IT
Why this will be my last Flight Fest

I arrived on Wednesday hoping to get a spot fairly close to the build tent. Registration was a mess no one knew what was going on. I tried to get to a camping spot that was when I got my truck stuck. The truck was pulled out with the tractor and the driver told me to set up at the top end of the field in between RV's. After all that I setup my Pavilion I went to the volunteer's meeting which I missed because it was moved (this was the reason I was there on Wednesday). Thursday I came in early and watched the inlet road for the RV section become more muddy for about 3 hours. So around 8:30 to 9am (with the first break in the rain) I decided with the state of the field, the fact I was staying in a hotel, and the distance from where I was setup I was not going to walk about 300yrds thru a muddy field to the concessions and to the build tent. So I left before 10am and barely got out thru the exit at the RV road it was a total mud for about 35 to 40yrds. That's my 2017 Flite Fest.

Now leaving was my choice but there is another perspective that needs to be considered and that is Flite Test's decisions.
1) Flite Test chooses the location and considering 2015 a change should have been made.
2) There is now a Flite Fest West & soon South what do those locations look like? Are they in a bean field? Can they handle rain prior to the event?

Everyone who attends the event in Malvern is in Flite Test's backyard (their home). I would like to be treated as well as the events in the West and the South. This is with the assumption that any rented fields with the West & South events would be chosen on the basis that they can handle rain. I spent about 3 weeks of free time getting ready Had a couple of really good builds drafted and printed up to build at the event and once again I was not going thru a mud field for how many days? So this is the reason I will not be back to Flite Fest until the location is changed.

Please Flite Test find a location that can handle the rain.
 
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PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Sadly unless you have a direct line to Mother Nature it seems this would be your last FF. It does not matter where it was held if the rain happens as it did weeks before with above normal rainfalls saturating everything and then two solid days of rain during the event there simply is nothing that can be done that was not done.

ANY other place would have suffered the same failures with so many vehicles driving over water logged fields. The camping area was so saturated the only other thing that could have MAYBE helped would have been so sink trash pumps every 50 feet and literally suck the water out of the ground near surface level and pipe it somewhere down stream.

Planning for or trying to battle Mother Nature is always a loss. What was done and how it did eventually help you would have had to stay to see. The battle to make as much of the event livable was handled amazingly well (from a construction worker knowledge level) considering it was mainly volunteers with little to no experience and shear will of top down delegation of tasks to accomplish what was done.

I am truly sorry you did not stick it out and get to enjoy the good parts of the experience my friend.
 

Timmy P

Member
I arrived on Wednesday hoping to get a spot fairly close to the build tent. Registration was a mess no one knew what was going on. I tried to get to a camping spot that was when I got my truck stuck. The truck was pulled out with the tractor and the driver told me to set up at the top end of the field in between RV's. After all that I setup my Pavilion I went to the volunteer's meeting which I missed because it was moved (this was the reason I was there on Wednesday). Thursday I came in early and watched the inlet road for the RV section become more muddy for about 3 hours. So around 8:30 to 9am (with the first break in the rain) I decided with the state of the field, the fact I was staying in a hotel, and the distance from where I was setup I was not going to walk about 300yrds thru a muddy field to the concessions and to the build tent. So I left before 10am and barely got out thru the exit at the RV road it was a total mud for about 35 to 40yrds. That's my 2017 Flite Fest.

Now leaving was my choice but there is another perspective that needs to be considered and that is Flite Test's decisions.
1) Flite Test chooses the location and considering 2015 a change should have been made.
2) There is now a Flite Fest West & soon South what do those locations look like? Are they in a bean field? Can they handle rain prior to the event?

Everyone who attends the event in Malvern is in Flite Test's backyard (their home). I would like to be treated as well as the events in the West and the South. This is with the assumption that any rented fields with the West & South events would be chosen on the basis that they can handle rain. I spent about 3 weeks of free time getting ready Had a couple of really good builds drafted and printed up to build at the event and once again I was not going thru a mud field for how many days? So this is the reason I will not be back to Flite Fest until the location is changed.

Please Flite Test find a location that can handle the rain.


This reminds me of my absolute favorite part of Flite Fest East... THE LOCATION! Fury field is beautifully manicured. Has amazing scenery. A complete lack of "concrete jungle". And the fact that we get to sleep on an active airfield for a week is just THEE coolest thing in the world! I would rather tromp through mud for 5 days straight than camp on a blistering hot Parking Lot for just a single day.. I come to disconect from the innercity lifestyle. I love the fact that Im forced to be barefoot most of the time. I love that sprint has no coverage out there and Im forced to disconnect. Its just total bliss for me. And I let Austin know . how much I appreciate them and their property, and they let us just tear it to hell just so we can have a good time... If I lived in CA I personaly would skip the West event and fly into the East event.. FFw was a not so beautiful property.. It was kind of far from it lol..
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
I arrived on Wednesday hoping to get a spot fairly close to the build tent. Registration was a mess no one knew what was going on. I tried to get to a camping spot that was when I got my truck stuck. The truck was pulled out with the tractor and the driver told me to set up at the top end of the field in between RV's. After all that I setup my Pavilion I went to the volunteer's meeting which I missed because it was moved (this was the reason I was there on Wednesday). Thursday I came in early and watched the inlet road for the RV section become more muddy for about 3 hours. So around 8:30 to 9am (with the first break in the rain) I decided with the state of the field, the fact I was staying in a hotel, and the distance from where I was setup I was not going to walk about 300yrds thru a muddy field to the concessions and to the build tent. So I left before 10am and barely got out thru the exit at the RV road it was a total mud for about 35 to 40yrds. That's my 2017 Flite Fest.

Now leaving was my choice but there is another perspective that needs to be considered and that is Flite Test's decisions.
1) Flite Test chooses the location and considering 2015 a change should have been made.
2) There is now a Flite Fest West & soon South what do those locations look like? Are they in a bean field? Can they handle rain prior to the event?

Everyone who attends the event in Malvern is in Flite Test's backyard (their home). I would like to be treated as well as the events in the West and the South. This is with the assumption that any rented fields with the West & South events would be chosen on the basis that they can handle rain. I spent about 3 weeks of free time getting ready Had a couple of really good builds drafted and printed up to build at the event and once again I was not going thru a mud field for how many days? So this is the reason I will not be back to Flite Fest until the location is changed.

Please Flite Test find a location that can handle the rain.

I'm truly sad to hear you say that, but it's understandable. Thursday morning was rough . . .

. . . But Friday was good, and Saturday and Sunday were amazing.

I agree, there were some rather nasty rough patches but I think you're tossing the baby out with the bathwater on this one. Every FTFF is a challenge, the weather being a core element to contend with. 2014 was disorganized and overwhelmed. 2015 was saturated and underprepared. 2016 was a dustbowl and blazing hot.

All of them were amazing events in their own right.

I truly am sorry you missed the cool parts of 2017.
 

qwijibo

Active member
I can only speak for myself, but as a first time attendee, I absolutely loved it!

I attended from about 9am-6pm Friday and Saturday. Friday morning was still very muddy, and that made the parking situation difficult, but you can’t control the weather. Just put on a pair of boots (or sneakers you don’t care about) and go enjoy yourself!
Even though things were a bit chaotic because of the weather, I think they did a great job.

To anyone who’s never attended FF, you definitely should. Having not flown at a club or event before, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect, but it went smooth. The whole flying process was super simple, just walk up to the flight line with a spotter (or grab a volunteer if you need one) and go fly! It was also nice having a mix of skill levels all flying together, from experts to first time flyers…it helped remove the intimidation factor when flying in a large group like that.

I did have some interference problems (right side by the 3D area). I dropped signal a few times on Saturday and lost a mini-arrow because of it, but I was using an old no-name DSM2 park flyer receiver…maybe not the best choice for a crowded environment like that.

Long story short, had a great time and plan to be back next year!
 

Tench745

Master member
I overheard a conversation with one of the tractor drivers; he had been saying that 2015 actually was better as far as mud because they began spreading hay as soon as they heard a rainy forecast. This year they waited until the rain was letting up and the mud was much worse for it. I wasn't there in 2015, but if what he said was true then that would be an advisable precaution in future.

I, for one, really appreciate everyone's input on this thread.

The range of experiences people have had gives me the encouragement that to some extend the event is what you make of it, and even if one year wasn't great for you, the next could be better. For those who had bad experiences or have decided not to return, don't feel bad about it. I loved the event, but I don't really feel the need to return either.
I'm not a social person by nature; conversation is often physically exhausting for me. So going to an event that is about the people you meet really wasn't my cup of tea. I relate to planes a lot better than people. The cool projects and combats, etc made the social aspect much more manageable for my personality.
I'm glad I went, but I don't know if I need to go back. If I lived closer I'd probably go for a day or two, but driving 6 hours both ways for two days wouldn't make a whole lot of sense.
Everyone has their own needs, and while I may not return, I want everyone else who goes to future events to have the benefit of our experiences.
Beemans, thank you for your story and I wish you luck in finding an event that meets your needs.
 

qwijibo

Active member
...to some extend the event is what you make of it...

I think you hit the nail on the head there. This was my first time at FF and I wasn't sure exactly what to expect, but even with the issues, I felt it was well worth it. Part of what I liked most was the casual nature of everything. My advice...just go with the flow, don't expect perfection, and you'll have a great time.

P.S. - If you can't have a good time eating Corn Dogs and flying RC planes in a group, then you need help! (just kidding) ;)
 
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rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I had an absolutely awesome time! I was lucky enough to get to my campsite and my tent setup on Wednesday afternoon between bouts of rain, and I had prepared by packing 3 pairs of boots and two extra large tarps (that I ended up not needing). Yes things were muddy and soggy on Thursday especially, but being part of the volunteer crew I got to be part of the fun group challenge of 'how to make things better'.

Honestly, I highly recommend everyone join the volunteer crew - you'll get double your fun from the event experience, meet even more great people, and (perhaps) have your whole perspective on the event changed. Instead of looking at things and saying "I wish they would" it becomes more of a "How do we do it, and who do I talk to to get some help starting". It can be a whole different way of experiencing the event.

Many of my favorite memories from this year were helping noob fliers on flite line duty and making new friends - a young couple who were both transitioning from quads to their first fixed wing, father and son buddy boxers who discovered neither of them could fly enough to run the 'master' box (I took both of them up for several flying sessions), chatting with fellow volunteers about the cool planes and projects we helped hand launch, setup, or just gape at... and that's in addition to the wonderful time meeting friends I hadn't seen since last year - or hadn't got to meet in person before at all!

Really, there is a reason Flite Test has been so succesfull. It's not the foam board. Its not the pre-built kits. It's because the heart of Flite Test is service, and everyone can join in and be a part of that.
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
I think FliteTest is probably the most accepting group of folk I have ever met.

I think this makes us a particularly diverse community.

As our community grows, the casual nature and family reunion atmosphere will fade. Diversity such as ours is powerful but it also stresses the infrastructure. This is a growing pain and, based on what I read here, one we are experiencing.

Our community will continue to grow or it will begin to die. There is a skirmish going on to embrace the big, pro venue feel or to preserve the family reunion feel of FF. FT needs to strike a balance or our community will not be able to grow.

Growing we are and grow we must. That is not an option. The option is how we grow and what we grow into.

IMO the best venue for FF is one that is professionally planned out but retains the feel of the family reunion. Hard to do. I think we see successes and failures here from FF2017.

Disclaimer: I don't attend in-person group functions so I am simply a spectator of FF.

I think the more money at these events, the more likely we are to need security in the build tent. I think that as FF has split into 2 or 3 events, the events will tend to be smaller and more like a family reunion.
 

Tmarter

New member
My only complaint is that I didn't have enough money to buy all of the stuffs and things :(

I had an absolute blast at FFE '17. First time I've been able to make it to one. Met so many awesome people, made lots of new connections, ran into guys from my local chapter at the FPV tent... and I'm so glad I volunteered. Didn't feel like work at all, and it was awesome working with Andrew, Chris Thomas from MultiGP, and Joe Scully from FPV Racing Events. Super organized and extremely smooth flow of heats and races.

Regarding Tench745's comment on the poor dissemenation of info and the schedule throughout Flite Fest, it's honestly a pretty difficult task to get though to 5000+ and notify them of whats going on, with so much land, even a PA system wouldn't be enough...and having a bunch of people running around to notify everyone isn't exactly practical...

HOWEVER...i think that if Flite Test had a Discord server for people to stay in touch with, and they joined it ahead of time before the event...people could check the app on their phones, tablets, laptops etc and get notified immediately about anything and everything pertaining to the event...like, the current day's news (ex: it could notify people that busses would ferry people if it turns into a mud pit), vendor announcements, races, builds, etc.... or they could even get an important notification if something big is going on, like the Paradigm show. It could even work as a lost and found. I think that would work incredibly well for future Flite Fests. Hopefully someone important reads this and takes it into consideration, haha.
 
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JimCR120

Got Lobstah?
Site Moderator
1st time & definitely returning!

This was my first ever Flite Fest and had I known it was going to be so wet and muddy I would have happily come anyway. And though the conditions and circumstanes weren't going to keep me from enjoying my time with the people I do see room for improvement that should make the experience more pleasant. However, there is a benefit to adversity. It does allow us to see character. When life squeezes you everyone gets to see what you're full of.

Communication
I would recommend seeking to wire up the whole flight line and tent areas so that announcements reach more people. If there was only one thing to be improved, I think communication is number 1. In the Navy we always taught that communication is the lifeblood of any organization.

Participation
Looking at the numbers of volunteers and the jobs we had going on I think things went fairly well but there were some areas and some times that I would like to have seen a bit more. There is joy in service. If you didn't volunteer, please consider it for the next FF. If you did volunteer, consider how the work you did could have been done better for a better experience.

Cooperation
Nobody wants their fun spoiled but if there is a procedure to follow, please just follow it and don't be "that guy" who makes things difficult for those trying to do a good job.

Solicitation
I liked seeing the vendors that were there but I expected more. Where was Hobby King? I think they (and others) missed an opportunity to connect with potential customers. I was hoping to buy an Excalibur on the spot.

I liked the food vendors, especially the BBQ pork though I found one of their slogans inappropriate. I let them know how I felt about both. I would have enjoyed tacos too I suppose though I might remember seeing a security guy with some tacos trying to hook up some disgruntled guest.

Appreciation
I saw the overwhelming sentiment at Flite Fest was very good natured. I can only imagine putting on an event like this with countless variables. It is repeated often the Flite Test's strength is in its people. The people come up with innovative ways to build excellent aircraft. As we consider things that can be improved let's try to not merely complain but rather offer a suggestion.
 

tsemme

New member
I had a blast this year! I always have fun at Flitefest, no matter what. I met some really great people and loved camping near the flightline. I agree with most of the ideas in this thread, but one I haven't heard brought up was safety. There were some pretty dangerous accidents (guy was hit with a miniquad, I was almost hit by a ~20in prop as it broke off of a giant plane, I almost hit someone while I was landing because he ran out onto the runway without announcing, multiple planes came smashing down near the day tents behind the flight line). I think there needs to be more distance between the place were people sit and where people fly. Also, big projects like huge planes with big props should get some sort of safety clearance. The prop that shot-off into the crowd was literally like a dagger (I still have it cause it was found ~50ft away) and could've really hurt someone. So I think safety checks would be a good idea for big planes. I know freedom to fly is kinda a part of the spirit of flitefest, but a little protection would be helpful!

I also think a curfew would be nice. I heard a 3d heli (with no lights) whipping around at 12AM which is kinda annoying :rolleyes: and those wings were non-stop and super noisy, so maybe only quieter planes late into the night?

Aside from that, I had tons of fun as I always do. Just a little more organization would be great especially with the rising number of people coming to the event.
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
I really hope they (we) are able to get a low power FM transmitter license for the next Flite Fest as I think that will help greatly with the communication. They everyone can tune in with their own radio - and it'll be much easier for PA systems to be installed the whole length of the flite line and into the build tents.

We were doing safety checks on big projects as part of the flight line volunteer crew, but I'm sure there are ways we could improve the consistency of both doing the checks and what we did during the checks. I personally helped a couple projects identify and make changes, and unfortunately had to turn one project over to a safety review with Josh B where we decided it was just too sketchy and unfortunately had to leave it grounded (primarily due to moisture damage to the airframe making it unsafe to attempt).

Two things I'd like to propose for next years flight line are;

a) Ground marking spray paint to separate the pilot stations from the runway area. Especially at the ends of the flight line where we ran out of pilot station signs, people tended to creep forward and end up flying from inside the runway path.

b) A dedicated large project runway that extends perpendicularly out into the field, away from the crowd.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
One more thing to add to flight line safety, the quad areas did not have a runway or flags signifying how far out to stay. There were quite a few FPV flybys right at the edge of the flight line barrier. Made it very difficult to comfortably fly LOS, 3D, etc from the areas that were set aside as such. There needs to be a set of flags or runway the whole length of the field for pilots to fly beyond except for taking off and landing.

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

rockyboy

Skill Collector
Mentor
One more thing to add to flight line safety, the quad areas did not have a runway or flags signifying how far out to stay. There were quite a few FPV flybys right at the edge of the flight line barrier. Made it very difficult to comfortably fly LOS, 3D, etc from the areas that were set aside as such. There needs to be a set of flags or runway the whole length of the field for pilots to fly beyond except for taking off and landing.

Cheers!
LitterBug

+1

Exactly what I was trying to say (but not communicating well) with the ground marking paint idea!
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
+1

Exactly what I was trying to say (but not communicating well) with the ground marking paint idea!

Except the aircraft were back tword the yellow tape on the sticks. I was up against the tape flying and was almost getting hit. So it really would help for both from the pilot station and the people flying to keep all flight ## feet back from the tape barrier, and all people between the tape and that "runway". :) So yeah we are saying the sameish thing. :)

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

flitetest

Administrator
Admin
HELLO EVERYONE! ;)

I just wanted to THANK everyone for all their feedback and support in this thread! We ALWAYS encourage our community to give us honest and constructive feedback with the hopes of creating a BETTER experience for ALL... not only at FF, but on the store, on the forums, videos, etc! SO, thank you for being the best community in the world and allowing for US to KNOW what you all see from YOUR EYES and YOUR PERSPECTIVE...it HELPS immensely!

There is a LOT of great info in the thread and I am in the process of sending it to our event coordinator(jordan) so that we have it for our coordination of ALL our events...(South, West, Europe, East, etc!). So, keep the feedback coming and even though we cannot fix EVERYTHING and MOTHER NATURE is ALWAYS going to be a factor... we will do our part to try and "raise the level" to allow for EVERYONE to have success and enjoyment at all the FT EVENTS!

PS: look for a SURVEY coming soon that we will DEF NEED your input on... TAKE the survey so we can get some CONCRETE numbers on different issues and and overall Community perspective for the event! THANKS in advance for your participation ;)

Miss you all and per usual... THANK YOU for making FT what it is today! YOU ALL ROCK! ha

Blessings,
Stefan