FTCA & FT Value

[OrangutangSurfer]

Please see attached image.

Any instructions on how to access said plans?

I've been following FT for about 8 years, been out of the hobby for the most part for the last two. I come back to see no new plans since 2019. I realize that FT is (and has been for some time now) headed in a different direction. I'm sure anything I have to say has been said plenty over the last couple years.


Anyway, I hear about the FTCA and access to build plans. So, I signed up and..... I can't find any access to said plans.

My kids are finally old enough to jump in the hobby... I can't tell you how many $4 foam board planes I crashed before I could fly, but it was a lot. I'm happy to see there is still access to their older stuff but I was after plans for the FT Tutor and some other newer designs, I have the Aura lite FC to add to the build, and a trainer mode transmitter setup. Hopefully I can keep the carnage to a minimum with these new pilots (6, 8 and 10 years old).

If anyone could point me in the direction to the Build Plans that would be great!


- Rusty


and for what its' worth.....


my 2 cents...

FT got big by giving their product away, despite the free plans, their store was a huge sucess. They host the biggest electric fly in the world (I've been twice and it's a great time). Coming back to the hobby and seeing $150+ kits in the store, hearing "this plane was built using less than $100 in foam board" in their videos, just breaks my heart. They're printing planes on $1000+ 3D printers. They used to preach, making memories, fellowship through flight, easy access to the hobby. I've been catching up on the YouTube videos, I can't say I've heard much of any of that lately. Even josh doesn't seem to have his heart in it like he used to. I was actually surprised to see him in so many of the newer videos, for a while there I though he gave up being on camera.

BAIL Josh!! Bail quick before Corporate America crushes your soul!! Start your own thing, you'll be an instant sucess! Youtubers make millions as I'm sure you've learned... Don't be the corporation's asset, get back to your roots.

(quick, somebody push me off this soap box)

- Rusty

- Rusty

 

[FlamingRCAirplanes]

I do hope josh gets outs there.

 

[The Hangar]

The build plans for signing up with the FTCA come out in the monthly emails. You should have gotten an email when you signed up with the simple stick plans though. There have been several plans released since 2019, including the master series mustang and spitfire. Here’s a link to the @SP0NZ plan index and it has plans for dozens of ft builds. There are also many community designed planes (including several of my designs) with free plans available on this forum.
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/sp0nz-plans-index.17136/

 

[SSgt Duramax]

They email them to you once a month. There is no plans database as of yet.

Here is the link to the plans index mentioned above.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/sp0nz-plans-index.17136/

Is there any planes you were looking to build? We have sources other than FT too.

If you are looking for master style build plans, check these out.

https://www.13thsquadron.com/

Hopefully FTCA will be of great assistance helping us navigate the buerocracy that is being set up by the government for our hobby.

 

[The Hangar]

They email them to you once a month. There is no plans database as of yet.

Here is the link to the plans index mentioned above.

https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/sp0nz-plans-index.17136/

Is there any planes you were looking to build? We have sources other than FT too.

If you are looking for master style build plans, check these out.

https://www.13thsquadron.com/

Hopefully FTCA will be of great assistance helping us navigate the buerocracy that is being set up by the government for our hobby.

Thanks @SSgt Duramax for adding the link, I forgot to add it in my post. It’s fixed now.

 

[bisco]

the last opportunity to sign up and get the tutor plans was last week, iirc.

and the plans won't be archived, so when you sign up, you only get future plans.

 

[CappyAmeric]

I think you need listen to the last four podcasts that go through this question ad nauseam.

FT is still all about building relationships and making memories.

 

[bisco]

proly because of the precedent they set.

 

[SSgt Duramax]

I think you need listen to the last four podcasts that go through this question ad nauseam.

FT is still all about building relationships and making memories.

I am pretty sure they talk about community building in like every episode. It isn't like there aren't 50 other planes they designed, plus hundreds more the community designed.

 

[jfaleo1]

I posted this in another thread but seems to me it needs to be said here too, though it seems to hav fallen on deaf ears unfortunately, since this same discussion is going on here in at least two threads and on facebook too. I am sorry if you feel that people are whining or unfounded in their complaints, try to read that your membership feels betrayed and that they will stop supporting the FTCA in the future if they are not at least listened to. The community is the GROUP not just a few, listen and learn, or it will all fail. Anyway Here are my thoughts for what they are worth once again. I'm off my soapbox and we will see how my membership goes as all I have received since paying is a new "newsletter" with 6 ads (2 for pre-made micro foamies, 2 for the Flerkin, 2 for the P-40) and a podcast link. Kinda understanding the complaints right now.

here is my previous post from the Tudor thread:
OK @FTCA Director ,

I had been Busy with life for the last year. so I have been surprised to see all the FTCA stuff to begin with and as I am seeing this they would like to compete with AMA, cool, I have now joined, still an AMA member too and will be for a very long time. I have read a lot of this post and there is a solution, look to the competitor, AMA makes plans available to members, some free, some paid, through a members only access site. Why is this an argument, sell the plans, sell the kits, some will buy both and it ends the issues I would pay for the plans for the Tudor or the Flerkin. The membership is cheap enough to be accessible for most and it looks like the perks are more than worth it. But new members might like something already out there and frankly all the bickering will just get worse as more new people join and find out they can't get access to why they joined, think it over. I have been an aircraft mechanic, and an aircraft maintenance instructor for 30 years. I have been around model aviation for most of my life, I have been flying models since I was 8 years old and I'm almost 52 now, I have seen AMA, and local clubs, and other organizations I have both been a member of and even been an officer of. All of these organizations have fallen prey to discord and petty differences that could have been easily solved, but someone wanted to hold a line in the sand, without considering alternatives to the problem. I am not saying that it is not being looked at I am saying to make sure this is not hubris that will end an organization before it starts. My point here in addition to the previous statements also adds an income stream that would be useful to the organization in the long run.

Additionally A prominent LINK on the FT website would be useful to get more members, I searched for how to join for WAY longer than I should have had too. Anyone involved with the FTCA that wants to talk with me, pick my brain, or ask more of my opinion, send me a private message and i will give you my phone number, I would be happy to help. By the way not everyone watches podcasts or cares about spending their time that way.

Jeff

 

[bisco]

'they' are listening. you proly won't get a reply, but if you listen to the podcasts, you never know what might come up.
thing is, the community could be thousands, but there are only a couple dozen regular posters here, and only a few complaints.
it all has to be weighed out.

 

[jfaleo1]

'they' are listening. you proly won't get a reply, but if you listen to the podcasts, you never know what might come up.
thing is, the community could be thousands, but there are only a couple dozen regular posters here, and only a few complaints.
it all has to be weighed out.

OK how many people for each of those regular posters, or complaints, are feeling the same way but don't say anything? Not everyone wants to listen to a podcast or they have a limited time to do things anyways, send a newsletter with something besides a podcast link and ads, write it down, at least the highlights. Glad it has gotten big but forgetting where you came from and only giving lip service with no real attempt to address the issue will lead to failure. I was the president of a 501C3 organization that imploded due to just this sort of issue, I have seen it and could not stop it because many of the board said "it's just a few complaints", they were wrong it was only a few vocal and 75% had issues.
I also come from customer service in retail, a complainer will tell 10 people, a happy person will tell 2. It is not as cut and dried as you want it to be. My comment about deaf ears is the fact I keep seeing it here and facebook both. I don't see any feedback just hardliners saying the complaints are wrong, or basically "get over it". Just trying to help but Im on the verge in two days of telling people to kiss off, if they don't want to listen or even acknowledge the issue is valid.

 

[bisco]

i agree, just telling you how it is, from what i have seen. a podcast was posted last week which showed the powers that be talking about the tutor plan uproar.
they decided to offer them to anyone who signed up by black friday. so they are watching, but i'm not sure they get it, or again, they aren't extrapolating the few complaints here to a much bigger percentage.

 

[JasonK]

find out they can't get access to why they joined

I agree the communication on this could be improved. I really don't think that the free plans were ever meant to be a reason for people to be joining. What I got out of some of the pod casts, they did make it clear that if your goal is 'access to the free plans' then your joining for the wrong reason.

To me, this seems to be the biggest focal point of all the arguments here - joining to get access to some pool of free planes vs the whole reason the FTCA was started and happens to have free plans as something that is there also.

It has gotten to the point were it makes me wonder if they should just pull that benefit from being a member.. or remove it from that page, then maybe we wouldn't have this argument over and over were people appear to be joining for the 'free' plans, not for all the other good reasons for joining.

So let me ask you, did you join to be part of the community and to help out with the goals set out by the FTCA [Bringing Hope to the Hobby] or to get the 'free' plans [I don't see what free plans as a membership benefit helps with that myself]?

 

[bisco]

agree. sell the plans to everybody who wants them

 

[Monte.C]

I keep trying to stay away from all this turmoil the best I can. I scan some of it now & then. There's one particular thing that comes up in my mind over & over. It's pretty simple, and I'm not qualified to get into the details, or really wanting to for that matter.

It's the thing about adding layers of complexity to what could be a really simple system. Unnecessary layers of complexity are off-putting to me. They look really inefficient and have a "designed by committee" look about them. A human being is the most off-the-top genius thing we're aware of in this universe. Put a group of people in a room together and there's no telling what ridiculousness might come out of there.

FT has a wish list, an agenda, and so in creating FTCA they have this opportunity to satisfy a bunch of things if they set it up right. It sure is too complicated for me, and I don't seem to be the only one. What is/is not free or what's included in the membership. Access to earlier plans. Yeah but there's still the old plans. Wait, something changed. Do I get XYZ or not. Yeah but I though this or that...

Used to be "find the thing on our website, you can get the speedbuild kit there, and as always you can also download just the plans for free and go that way if you want." That's simple enough for even me to understand.

If one of the issues is protecting plans from thieves, charging for them would help, right? Ok charge for them. Even charging a quite small amount would offset any admin costs in distribution of pdfs for heaven's sake; The rest is pure profit. I have a question: Are there specific plans only available as "incentive" FTCA plans? And others will never have direct access to them? If that's true, that sounds like extortion.

I dunno. I'll stop. Like I said, I'm too simple to be bothered getting into the mess.

 

[bisco]

tutor seems to be the one that stirred up the hornets nest

 

[jfaleo1]

So let me ask you, did you join to be part of the community and to help out with the goals set out by the FTCA [Bringing Hope to the Hobby] or to get the 'free' plans [I don't see what free plans as a membership benefit helps with that myself]?

If you read all I wrote, I am in it to help the community and the hobby by trying to solve an issue that s creating discord, SELL the plans to get the income stream which will fund the movement. This has the side benefit of making everyone able to access the plans instead of just those who got the perk as a member but only that one month. If they didn't want people joining for plans don't make it a prominent perk, and make it clear it will be a limited time and that you wont get any of the previous exclusives only the future ones. I don't generally listen to podcasts if find most of them annoying like talk radio. I will try to listen to this newest one but we will see if they could hold my interest. I speak for a living so if it keeps going off rails or I can't understand them I will likely be done. that's why I said the newsletter needs to have more than ads and a podcast link, its just weak and Lazy. My statements are all meant to assist in fixing a problem by actually making money, amazing everyone wants to fight me on it.

 

[Monte.C]

tutor seems to be the one that stirred up the hornets nest

Your reply seems to suggest the Tutor is a perk (I'm sorry, "special gift") only available to FTCA members. If that's true then it is in fact extortion.

 

[jfaleo1]

If one of the issues is protecting plans from thieves, charging for them would help, right? Ok charge for them. Even charging a quite small amount would offset any admin costs in distribution of pdfs for heaven's sake; The rest is pure profit. I have a question: Are there specific plans only available as "incentive" FTCA plans? And others will never have direct access to them? If that's true, that sounds like extortion.

This right here is exactly what I and others are saying, does it sound better from someone you all know better? I'm ok with even the paid plans being members only, it is a perk, but why reject an income stream when the current way does not stop bootlegging, it just won't, I am sorry that's not understood.