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.
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.