Respect to my LHS for putting together some economy power packs

[evranch]

We've talked a lot on this forum about hobby shops that only want to sell ARFs or expensive parts.

My local guys got into combat and were carrying Turnigy motors and such for building inexpensive FT planes, but all below the counter in bins. I have chatted with them before about selling a ready to build power pack for awhile. Went in yesterday and found these hanging on the rack:

Great for a beginner to pick up a motor/prop/ESC combination that will work together all in one place. I had to buy one to support them:

You get a 2212/2200kV motor, a 30A chinese ESC and a pair of 6x3.5 "props". They have terminated the leads with bullet connectors, though I kind of think they should have chopped the Deans for an EC3 as they mostly sell batteries with EC3s and I'm standardized that way as well. That or included a Deans/EC3 pigtail.

Apparently these are all bench tested and they are going to stand behind them if the Chinese parts go poof. So you pay them a fair bit of markup, but you get a power pack that's ready to fly for $35CAD, no DOA, no waiting for the slow boat, no shipping and no customs roulette. And still at a price that's a lot less than a branded motor or ESC. Looks pretty good to me and really great for the new builder that wants to grab a power pack off the shelf in this country.

Looks like power pack B thrust levels to me. They are using this for a standard power pack on their combat Barons so I'm going to build a Baron and slap it on and see how she flies.

 

[CampRobber]

I dunno about Canada but the US Amazon will deliver those tomorrow for $20. They suck, though. I dislike motors without the builtin prop couplers and the "2A BEC" in those ESCs is literally two 7805s in parallel.

 

[skymaster]

If they stand behind the product it's a good deal. because i had similar packs from ebay and they do go pooff. had 2 of them the only thing that i still have are the motors very good and fast.

 

[CampRobber]

By "stand behind" what they mean is, they've marked it up an extra 25% on the assumption that 25% of buyers will bring it back and demand a replacement, at which point they'll throw it out and give you a new one and eat the loss. If that's important to you, sure. Just understand that it's a different meaning of "stand behind" than other sellers who are more honestly claiming to not be selling crap.

 

[MCNC]

The point being a LHS woke up and is now in the game

 

[sprzout]

The point being a LHS woke up and is now in the game

Well, I think there have been hobby shops that have been aware of it for a long time, they just haven't marketed specifically to the needs. Might not be enough demand/profit for some of them to create a kit like that.

 

[evranch]

@CampRobber Yeah, I'm the kind of guy who's working on building my own battery packs right now so it's not like I'm the target market for this product.

I know these are economy level parts that I could buy on Amazon, they would cost me around $30CAD delivered so I'm happy to throw them $5 to stock them, solder bullets on and spin them up so that they aren't DOA. Shipping cost is the curse of Canada so those who buy in bulk really benefit.

And as mentioned, the point is not that it's a great deal or the best parts. The point is, someone completely new to the hobby can walk in, talk to the guy at the counter, and walk out with plans for a Bloody Baron, directions to Dollar Tree and the parts they need to get it flying for $35. It's not an RTF or an ARF, it's a power pack and it's an impulse buy price.

Edit: not only that but they have a control line Baron on display there that one of the guys is quite proud of... don't even need a transmitter if you want to try it out

Hit Amazon or Banggood for parts for your first build and you are swimming in a sea of different motor sizes, speeds, props... what does it all even mean? That's why power packs exist, but good luck importing a Flite Test Power Pack B. You're looking at over $100CAD before it ships, and that's assuming customs doesn't get a hold of it and UPS doesn't bill you for another $80 in fees.

 

[Headbang]

At the end of they day the average lhs can sell a horizon hobby bnf plane, make a little money, and leave horizon to handle the support. It makes good business sense. But has a high level of frustration for more seasoned customers. My wife went into the lhs to buy a timber 110 for my birthday, they second guessed her, said she should be buying the carbon z cub, made her life difficult, and were general dicks. I now have the plane, and am trying to source parts. As much as it is hard to find affordable stuff at the lhs, it is harder to find expensive stuff like power safe recievers and 160amp esc's. So in the end parts will be sourced from Pro Rc, horizon hobby, subsonic airplanes, and thunderbolt bolt canada, with maybe an order to amr in Quebec as well.

 

[Headbang]

Best place to source FT power packs in canada is great hobbies. They sell for basically the same price as FT does direct, but you never have to deal with customs, and shipping is way cheaper if you do not have a location near by.

 

[evranch]

Best place to source FT power packs in canada is great hobbies. They sell for basically the same price as FT does direct, but you never have to deal with customs, and shipping is way cheaper if you do not have a location near by.

Just checked, they do sell for pretty much the direct exchange rate.

Cool, they have all the FT stuff, they didn't last time I looked at them. Even... water resistant foamboard and Maker Foam... hmm... free shipping covers what would over $100 in shipping... oversize surcharge... comes out to $3.25 a sheet which isn't bad! Been wanting to get my hands on this stuff forever, even if I have to buy 50 sheets.

 

[Captain Jay]

I'm in Canada and almost never order thing from here. I'll go to local hobby shops but the prices are terrible and end up just walking out. I'm usually ordering from Bangood or Aliexpess and be unhappy waiting 3 weeks but the price works for me.

 

[The Hangar]

@Headbang have you used maker foam yet?

 

[Headbang]

@Headbang have you used maker foam yet?

I have not, I still have almost 100 sheets of ft brown on hand. Other issue is I need to build one of my mpcnc machines to handle the larger size, and redo the plans and cut files to accommodate. Just more time then I am willing invest right now.