New to the Forum and to the Hobby

[Cbrdrivee]

Hello everyone. My name is John, from Orlando, FL.
I'm currently holding my PPL and eventually will push for an Instrument Ticket.

I've spent the better part of two weeks watching almost every video Flite Test has on YouTube. Some twice or more.
I'd gotten very excited.
I went to FedEx Office and printed the plans for the FT 22 in full size. Bought some poster board and foam board.
I've got my glue gun, tape, markers, straight edge and razor blades ready to go.
At this point, I'm "giddy."

I decided to go into the local hobby shop to get some idea of what's next and to at least pick up a couple of servos so that I can get this build well underway. . . That's where this day went down hill fast.

I was greeted by a very friendly woman behind the counter and thought that the experience was starting out right. I took some time to look around and saw many of the planes I'd seen reviewed. It was almost a comforting feeling.
I walked up to a gentlemen at the desk, introduced myself, explaining that I was very new to the hobby, and began to explain what I wanted to do. I showed him the recommendations for the FT 22. Told him that I wanted to keep the slow fly prop and asked his advice on what motor in his stock I should go with.
He looked at me with a very sharp eye and said, "That don't tell me anything. You need to talk to the designer and get more information."
I pulled up the information on the B pack, to which he said, "you know, most people who don't know what they're doing just buy a RTF and go from there."
I asked about the servos, determined not to let his attitude get me down.
"9 gram? That tells me absolutely nothing. What speed? What voltage?"
I again looked at the site and asked him to match the 8.5's as closely as possible. He repeated that I should just but the $169 Champ hung on the wall and be done with it.

I guess I'm partly to blame because I walked in not knowing the language, but it so frustrated me that even after proclaiming my ignorance, I got absolutely no guidance. A gentle nudge in the right direction would have been appreciated. How many speeds are there to the servo? Are there really multiple voltages? If he'd spent some time with me, I may have spent more money with him, but as it was, I wound up walking out with only a couple of servos.(digital. not happy about that, but not a major deal since I can use them later with something else)

I'm not going to let that get me down though. Even though he had much more to say, the owner (I assume) was saying that the servo I had was going to fit the FT 22 well for the simple fact that I could open up the slot if needs be. He knew of FliteTest.com and even mentioned that he'd seen people in the area with some of the Swappables. I think he'll be the one I go to next.

The biggest problem that many people face is just simple ignorance. I want to build this airplane. I want to fly this airplane and I want to be successful and move up, but the people who've been in the game for a while need to take a lesson from Josh and try to remember the first time they picked up a transmitter.

Undaunted, I am going to begin to move the plans over to foam board tonight.

Thank you, Flite Test and everyone involved, for giving us that initial foothold and the confidence to push forward.

 

[CaptBill]

Hi John.
Welcome to the forum
Sorry about your hobby shall exp. Unfortunately the world is full of people who have boxes that they place people in. If you don't fit into "their" box they try to squeeze you into it. And if your refuse to accommodate them they become even less helpfully.
You can purchase service from the glitterati store. Or if you have a prime membership, Amazon, you can buy a care usefully 9from mini servo their, they sell them as packs of 1,2,5 or 10,,and the price is reasonable. With Amazon prime no shipping. I'm also new to this, although I have build I think 7 planes and trying to fly them in the wrong conditions have crashed 4- very badly crashed. BY as I'm wanting to improve my build skills, and enjoy building them I just build another and for the most part just recycle the electronics.
Bill

 

[Hai-Lee]

Welcome John,

You should take comfort from the fact that your ability to source parts and get proper information is not a restricted as it was 40 years ago. Back then a lot of aspiring RC pilots were driven out of becoming involved in RC by the price and rather elitist nature of those in the sport.

Also take comfort from the fact that you most likely upset the shop assistant by asking questions which were beyond his expert experience which was only for the products he sold to those who impulse buy and are not aware of how big the RC industry really is now. In other words your little knowledge had made obvious that his knowledge was even less and he was trying yo hide that fact.

For quick convenience I would recommend that you check out Hobby King. Whilst not always the lowest price they do give a fair amount of information on their website and can even help you select alternate motors through their motor finder tab.

 

[rockyboy]

Hi John! That first hobby shop experience sucks, but unfortunately that's not uncommon for people wanting to build and learn rather than just buy a box on a shelf. It certainly mirrors my experience a couple decades ago. Back then we didn't have this awesome Flite Test community and tons of great internet resources, so I stalled out on the hobby for about 20 years. You on the other hand have taken advantage of the greatest single resource and aspect of this hobby - joining the Flite Test community. Congratulations on your excellent choice

Back to your plane - there is an excellent online store - http://www.headsuphobby.com/ - that can get you pretty much all your parts at great prices - and ships incredibly fast from Florida. I say incredibly fast cause I live in Virginia and ordering from these guys is like an Amazon prime order. At my door in 2 days almost every time. They also post some of the best data about their motor performance of any website which will help you out a lot as you start progressing in your next builds and hacking up designs.

For the servo voltage and speed questions, here's the basics. Unless you're building a really big model - something in the 6 foot wingspan or bigger, you're going to want "standard" servos that follow standards set in the industry by Futaba (I believe) decades ago. These run comfortably at 5 volts which is what almost every receiver or BEC (Battery Eliminator Circuit) you can buy puts out. The only time you'll usually find significant differences in servo speed or voltage are ones for the big planes, where more power or 'scale like' performance are needed.

If you haven't researched the difference between digital and analog servos yet, don't feel bad about buying the digitals - you haven't wasted any money. You'll like them for high speed planes - or when you get rid of your slow speed prop and drop in a 4 cell battery. The key difference is digital servos refresh their position data about twice as fast as an analog servo, which means they hold their position better when an outside force tries to move them - thus better for high speed stuff. I often see digital servos made with metal gears instead of plastic gears - which also makes them more durable in crashes and less likely to develop a dead spot or jitter from a damaged gear. The down side to digital servos is they burn power twice as fast. Not usually a problem on park flyer type aircraft as the servos still don't suck much power compared to the motor, but if you're building a glider and looking for 60 minute plus flight times on a tiny battery, it could be a concern. Check the box to see what you took home.

So look around the forums, don't hesitate to ask questions - even if it's a question that's been asked a hundred times before, someone will be happy to answer it again - sometimes just knowing the right keywords to search for is half the battle when you're getting started, and we all recognize that.

 

[mikeporterinmd]

It seems like so many local hobby stores adopt this attitude. Actually, lots of stores. I was super surprised when I went to a commercial plumbing supply house the other day and got great help. Anyhow, lots of help here. BTW, the flitetest store staff are very helpful, too. I rarely need to contact them, but when I have, the response has always been awesome (Thanks Jen!)

Usually I buy speed build kits, but I decided to try a Bloody Baron. This seems like a plane that is likely to crash a lot so I used what I learned on here to make my first patterns and attempt a full scratch build. The forum is super helpful. Also check out the articles section of the site.

Welcome!

Mike

 

[Cbrdrivee]

Thank you, gentlemen.
Your replies just concreted the fact that I'm in the right place. (watch for me to be asking many questions lol)

Last night, I got the wing cut out of foam and even now am proud of what many would consider a simple accomplishment.
I'm going to spend some time checking out Heads Up RC, thanks for that, rockyboy.

I'll keep an update of my build.
John

 

[megabotz]

Cbrdrivee, don't give your money to that toolshed. Sounds like he is in the wrong business. Everybody was new once & you have much more flight experience than most people getting into the hobby.

megabotz

 

[ChrisOlson]

Last night, I got the wing cut out of foam and even now am proud of what many would consider a simple accomplishment.
I'm going to spend some time checking out Heads Up RC, thanks for that, rockyboy.
John

Congrats on getting into the hobby! The elitist attitude of the fellow at the shop you went to is uncalled for. It is unfortunate you will find that in some RC clubs as well. I would certainly not let that deter your interest and enthusiasm for building, learning and flying!

I can vouch for Heads Up RC. I get just about all my stuff from them, And have had nothing but a top-notch experience with them as a source of RC parts.

 

[N4RF]

Welcome to the cheaper side of flying hobby! There are a number of us that have spent some time on each side (full scale and RC) including the main host of the you tube videos, Josh Bixler.

Your hobby shop experience is not completely out of the norm but certainly rare enough that you should look for another and keep playing.

Have fun!

 

[hbb3367]

New to the build hobby

Your start and mine line up perfectly. I was a quadcopter guy...and decided to build a plane. I found Mikey's RC free plans on the internet and went to the dollar store and bought foam, glue, tape and such. I too, like you took Mikeys specs to my local hobby store...the difference being I found a helpful and knowledgeable guy. New problem: $230 later I had what I needed to fit the plane.

Before I used those parts, I found FliteTest. I bought a C-Pack from them instead..and used the receiver I had gotten with my DX6 and had stuffed it in the cabinet without realizing what it was for. My naivety knew no boundaries.

I did not want to punish my local hobby shop, so instead of a refund, I purchased a Sukhoi 29MM by exchanging those parts (but I soon found it was way too early for a bird like that)

Funny thing is: I never did get that Mikey's plane to fly...but after building and flying several FT planes built from speed build kits (way easier than tracing and cutting), I revisited that Mikeys plane. I had stolen most of the electronics over the years, but by this time I had a drawer full of servos, motors, receivers...etc.

I balanced and flew that plane with pride. FT had put all the knowledge I needed to fly just about anything. After a couple proud flights of that first plane, I removed my electronics and put that baby in the trash...beaming with pride.

I can only wish your story will evolve like mine.

Jack

 

[Cbrdrivee]

I've finished the airframe.
Yeah, there are parts that didn't work exactly as planned, but I watched the build video so many times that some parts felt almost second nature to this new builder.

On my paycheck to paycheck budget, the electronics may take a month or two to get in, but now I know I can do it.
Thinking about doing David's Spitfire, next. That's a beautiful airplane.

 

[fliteadmin]

Thank you, gentlemen.
Your replies just concreted the fact that I'm in the right place. (watch for me to be asking many questions lol)

Last night, I got the wing cut out of foam and even now am proud of what many would consider a simple accomplishment.
I'm going to spend some time checking out Heads Up RC, thanks for that, rockyboy.

I'll keep an update of my build.
John

Hey John!
Wanted to also welcome you to the FT Forum Family!! You are def in the right place and we are GLAD to have you! There is a lot of wisdom and info on here for you to "soak" up so have at it! ALSO, you never know who YOU might influence/bring to the hobby by being part of it all too!! Happy flying my friend!

PS: TO EVERYONE else...Thanks for all your support everyone! We couldn't do what we do without you! You are the force behind pushing this hobby forward! So, many thanks from the bottom of our hearts!

Blessings,
Stefan and the Whole FT Crew

 

[jack10525]

This is the exact same greeting I received many times at local hobby shops in and around Miami Fl. There is on that was real close to work I went to a few times. They have a few planes, heli's and quads but are mostly for trains and models. They have literally no parts for repair or building. I've never been greated nicely there and if I did ask questions I was given a cold response. I now shop exclusivley on line. Oh and by the way of the 6-8 hobby stores I know of in Miami. I think only 1 or 2 are still open. Don't get discouraged the Flite Test Store has all you need. I agree with your final statement. Flite Test was my last chance at success and it worked.

 

[wedgetailaus]

It makes me sad to hear you had that bad experience. It's great you're not letting it bring you down. My local hobbyshop is very similar. I'm treated with condescension, patronized, or outright ignored whenever I visit. It's a sad state of affairs! Fortunately we have an incredible group of people at our disposal here at Flite Test! The people working for Flite Test and the broader community are wonderful in the amount of generous support and feedback that they offer. It's a rare thing to have people who treat others with so much respect and support, no matter if they are a veteran or a complete beginner. Just keep asking questions, watching videos, and most importantly building and flying! The learning and joy will come as you immerse yourself in this hobby. Good luck!

 

[mikeporterinmd]

I decided to check out our local store yesterday, and found it to be a good place. Friendly people who weren't afraid to say they didn't know and figured out an answer. They don't stock a lot of what I need, but three kids came in with busted cars while I was there, and no plane people. I want to get some local kids into flitetest planes. Their pre-builts aren't going to last long. They need something that can be rebuilt cheaply. So, maybe I can convince the local store to stock the needed parts and kits.

Mike

 

[Sam Kulpa]

HELP

I just bought the new rs2205 s motors for my quadcopter, but I accidentally got the 2600kv version. I am flying a 210mm quad with 5 inch props. Should I exchange them because of amp draw or keep them?

 

[Cbrdrivee]

Update:

From the time that I started this thread until now, I've built three airframes.
The FT22
The Tiny Trainer
And dharkless' half sheet no waste.

I should have my electronics in tomorrow and serendipitously, I'm off on Wednesday.

Excited to see how my building skills translates to flying.

Wish me luck.

 

[Cbrdrivee]

A few lessons learned this afternoon.

1) The FT22 was probably a bit too ambitious for me.
Things happen VERY fast when you have to maintain such airspeed.
2) If you're new to the hobby, a wing launched airplane is not a great idea.
3) Fly the plane. I found myself just watching in amazement that something that I'd built was flying so well. That's when things went south very quickly.

That said. The thirty or so seconds I had in the air were well worth the time and effort put into it.
Now on to the Tiny Trainer with flaperons.