Ep 189: New Plane Releases, Drone Shows, and Model Aviation Day

[unknown speaker 00:00:11] Hello, everyone. Welcome to the RC Plane Lab Podcast. I'm Ron. I'm Tom. And I'm Dave. Good evening, gentlemen. Hi.

[unknown speaker 00:00:18] Hi. Been a while. Yeah. Lots of news this week.

[unknown speaker 00:00:22] Yeah, this is going to be a checkmark episode where we just check the things we've talked about so we don't forget anything.

[unknown speaker 00:00:30] Yes. What you said.

[unknown speaker 00:00:32] Right. So, Hacking Dave over there is going to be starting off. Thanks to our Canadian friends.

[unknown speaker 00:00:38] Yeah. Would you put out the fires already? Put your country out. It's enough.

[unknown speaker 00:00:42] It's bad today, but it's not as hot. Yeah. But anyway, so Dave is going to start us off with a bit of sad.

[00:00:50] Dave: Yeah. You know, I'm always downer around here. Yeah. Downer Dave is what we call him. So, you know, we've had a lot of celebrity deaths here in the U.S. recently. And unfortunately, we've lost one of our own community, Mr. Shinsaku Tamiya.

[unknown speaker 00:01:09] Mr. Tamiya.

[00:01:10] Dave: Mr. Tamiya.

[unknown speaker 00:01:11] Yeah, that's how I… Is it Tamiya, Tamiya?

[unknown speaker 00:01:14] Tamiya, Tamiya, after all these years, I'm not exactly sure. I've always just said Tamiya. I've always said Tamiya. But who knows?

[unknown speaker 00:01:21] I bet he does. Well, he did. Thank you for taking that joke. I didn't know if I wanted to.

[unknown speaker 00:01:28] No, that's… It is sad because every one of us at the table, and I would venture a guess as to say probably a majority of the people that listen to our podcast have owned a Tamiya product at some point in their hobby endeavors. And yeah, sad news that the founder, maybe not the founder of the company, but the guy who turned the Tamiya company into what it is. What we know it as.

[00:01:54] Dave: July 18th, he was 90 years old. 90 years old. Good, long out life.

[unknown speaker 00:01:57] Good for him. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Tamiya, for everything you did for the hobby.

[00:02:02] Dave: Yeah. You've changed my life, really. I mean, everything I've done is started with that very first Tamiya product, which was Tamiya Grasshopper.

[unknown speaker 00:02:11] Grasshopper. You want to know my first one?

[00:02:13] Dave: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:02:14] Still sitting right over there. It's the one you gave me like a few months ago when we were in Toledo. I think that's the first Tamiya…

[unknown speaker 00:02:19] The Euro truck.

[unknown speaker 00:02:21] Everything or out of anything that I had. I started off with Traxxas.

[00:02:26] Dave: But anyway, I have literally built hundreds through the shop of hundreds of Tamiya cars.

[unknown speaker 00:02:31] Yeah. Yeah. Tamiya even. I've not built hundreds, but I've built quite a few and models too. I've put a few of his plastic models together also.

[unknown speaker 00:02:40] I guess that's true. I did do some of those when I was a kid. They had the airplanes and the cars.

[unknown speaker 00:02:45] Their race car, 20th scale race car models were very nice. I think the first plastic that I remember having is a 32nd scale P51. Nice.

[unknown speaker 00:02:54] I had the Stealth. Oh, of course you did. Of course I did. Mr. Jed over there. Funny thing though, I don't know if I ever finished one.

[unknown speaker 00:03:02] That's so weird.

[unknown speaker 00:03:03] I know. It's just like me, right?

[unknown speaker 00:03:04] Hard to believe.

[00:03:05] Dave: It's so odd. I don't understand. I didn't finish a project? Tommy and I, we've raced the Tamiya Championship Series for many, many years.

[unknown speaker 00:03:12] We also raced the Tamiya Championship Series for many, many years. You qualified to go to California. I did.

[00:03:18] Dave: I actually did as well. Just never went.

[unknown speaker 00:03:20] Did you go to California?

[unknown speaker 00:03:22] I did. Ah. Yeah. What was that? 2006-ish? Something like that. Good times. Nice. Yeah. A lot of fun. But, sadly, Mr. Tamiya's gone.

[unknown speaker 00:03:34] How'd you finish?

[unknown speaker 00:03:36] Not well. Well, I mean… I mean, at that level, it's… I did not qualify to go to Japan to compete in Japan, so I did not do well enough to do that.

[00:03:45] Dave: I think I made the A-main, but I didn't qualify for Japan, so…

[unknown speaker 00:03:50] Hmm. Either way, to race at that level, it's insane. Yeah. I mean, there's some real talent out there that, you know, win those races.

[unknown speaker 00:04:01] I can only imagine, because doing the little race thing in Toledo, and watching you guys come in with your, I mean, 50,000 extra spare parts and 400 pounds of whatever you're…

[00:04:16] Dave: That's come back. TCS racing, yeah, it was an entire car. Mm-hmm. You… I… The race case stuff that came in, and then you had another full vehicle out in the parking lot of parts, and bits and cars. Full cars.

[unknown speaker 00:04:28] Yeah. I can't… I can't imagine. Oh, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:04:31] Like, that's nuts.

[unknown speaker 00:04:32] That's why I quit racing. I couldn't…

[unknown speaker 00:04:35] It's like crack.

[unknown speaker 00:04:36] Yeah, I could not…

[unknown speaker 00:04:36] You just finally had to end it.

[unknown speaker 00:04:39] To… Yeah, to keep up with… To stay at that level. Yeah, at that level, so…

[00:04:43] Dave: And I don't know who figured out their racing schedule, but they sent us to Milwaukee in February. And Memphis in July. It's like, can we flip-flop this?

[unknown speaker 00:04:53] Yeah, but it was still fun.

[00:04:56] Dave: But thanks to Mr. Tamiya, we were able to do that, so… Yeah, we really appreciate it, so…

[unknown speaker 00:05:00] Sad news, but moving on. I'm sorry. You will be missed. He will be missed, I guess. Probably not by me, because I didn't know him personally.

[unknown speaker 00:05:10] Tough crowd. What? Never mind.

[unknown speaker 00:05:14] Go on.

[unknown speaker 00:05:15] What? What were you going to say?

[unknown speaker 00:05:18] UNKNOWN: Just…

[unknown speaker 00:05:19] Nothing. It's going to sound so bad, but you're like talking to him. I mean, like, I would thank him for what he did, you know, all that.

[00:05:30] Dave: But you guys are like, thank you for everything you did.

[unknown speaker 00:05:32] He's not going to hear it.

[unknown speaker 00:05:36] UNKNOWN: Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:05:37] Sorry. Maybe… You asked me to continue. I wasn't planning on saying… Maybe he has.

[00:05:41] Dave: Send your letters to…

[unknown speaker 00:05:42] Dave. At. In other news. So, we have some new airplanes that came out to talk about. That we do. So, we have three. Yep. We're going to cover E-Flight Airbus, E-Flight Scrappy, and the Extreme Flight Version 2 of the 84-inch Turbo Bushmaster. Now, however… There's a new wrinkle. I feel as though I know you guys pretty well. Ron has added a new wrinkle to you. So, right. Before I start, or before we cover these new airplanes, I want to guess your reactions.

[unknown speaker 00:06:14] So, tell me if I'm wrong. On the Airbus, Tommy thinks it's cool. No reactions yet. Tommy thinks it's cool, but it's not for him. It's too expensive. He's just not into that. Now, when it comes to the Scrappy, he likes it and says he might pick one up someday if he sees one at a swap meet. This means he will never buy one, by the way. Dave won't like either. Because Dave is Dave. I'm not sure why he won't like the Airbus. He's wrong with the Airbus.

[unknown speaker 00:06:47] But the Scrappy, he's not going to like the windows. And I'm guessing there's something off in the shape that he's not going to like, too. Okay. So, that's probably something else, also, that's going to be wrong with it. As for the Bushmaster, Dave's not going to have much of an opinion on it. I don't think he's going to care one way or another. It's going to be, oh, that's neat, but he'll move on.

[unknown speaker 00:07:14] Tommy, on this one also, is going to say, oh, I like it a lot, and I'm going to pick one up someday. And this one I think he might actually buy. Someday, in the next two years. Year or two. So, those are my predictions. How close am I? Dead on with the Scrappy. I knew it.

[00:07:36] Dave: You're wrong on the Airbus. Oh, really? Yeah. I do have a problem with the Airbus, and that's the price. Oh, okay. I actually love the look. Yeah. The other fact is Airbus. I can turn that into a Boeing pretty quickly. I do really, really like the fact that they issued a plain white one. So, you can do your own thing. Yeah. And I love that. Price? Eh.

[unknown speaker 00:08:00] Yeah.

[00:08:00] Dave: And the main wheels look weird. But I think they did that, make them so that they're more serviceable on more surfaces. I understand why they did it. They just don't look right.

[unknown speaker 00:08:09] Yeah. Well, they should be up most of the time.

[00:08:12] Dave: Scrappy, on the other hand, yeah. No.

[unknown speaker 00:08:15] So, he's right with your reaction on the Scrappy and the Airbus. What about the Bushmaster?

[00:08:20] Dave: Bushmaster? Couldn't care less. No. I mean, that's pretty much what I would have guessed. Yeah. Also. Not your, it's not your thing. It's not my thing. Although, they are good-looking aircraft. I really, they do a good job on them. Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:08:33] Tommy, how was I on you?

[unknown speaker 00:08:35] Pretty much spot on. Okay. All three. The Scrappy is neat. The wing bothers me. The wing and the struts. The wing is not accurate, like, even close. Nowhere close.

[00:08:49] Dave: But it's, you know.

[unknown speaker 00:08:50] Windows we can pay. I'll say, yeah, you know, I might pick one of those up at a swap meet, and I won't.

[00:08:55] Dave: And for a licensed airplane, the price is not awful.

[unknown speaker 00:08:58] That's true.

[00:08:58] Dave: Not great, but it's not awful.

[unknown speaker 00:09:00] And it's a convenient size.

[00:09:01] Dave: And I like the UMX Plus size.

[unknown speaker 00:09:04] See, I honestly, I don't know if I'm going to disagree, I think, on that a little bit. Here's the thing. UMX I love because it's a single-piece airplane that stores in a box that you don't have to take apart, obviously, a single-piece airplane. These, well, I haven't seen the Scrappy yet, how it's packaged, but I'm sure it's the same as the Micro Draco. Same thing. Because it's the same wing.

[00:09:25] Dave: Anyway.

[unknown speaker 00:09:26] I think it's going to be the same thing, obviously, where it's not packaged, or where it's not put together, so you still have to assemble it at the field. If I'm going to go through the hassle of assembling something at the field, I'm going to take something bigger.

[00:09:35] Dave: I get a couple. I get that. I got a couple 800s, and I never take them apart. I just throw them in the truck. They don't even fit in the Mustang.

[unknown speaker 00:09:42] Well, but I think what Ron's getting at is the convenience of storing it in the box.

[unknown speaker 00:09:45] In the box. You're not worried about anything getting dinged around or messed up.

[00:09:50] Dave: But anything bigger than 800, yeah, that definitely has to come apart. But 800 and under, I'm good with it.

[unknown speaker 00:09:55] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:09:56] Okay. the Airbus, again, yeah, it's neat. Probably, probably not going to buy one. Mm-hmm. I think they're neat. It's just not my thing. but the Bushmaster, I'm, I'm super excited about. I, I love this airplane. and the second version that we're going to talk about here in a little bit, the changes they made are really cool. And they've added the RXR version, which is like, it's- Receiver ready, yeah. Yeah, receiver ready and like box to flying in an hour.

[unknown speaker 00:10:27] I'm, I'm, I'm liking that some of these companies are starting to do that because as a lazy flyer, I honestly don't want to spend a bunch of time assembling an RFR. Right.

[unknown speaker 00:10:36] And, and I enjoy that part. I enjoy the assembling and stuff, but the quality of the materials that they're putting in the RXR are, and I've seen them. I've seen them perform. Like, we've seen them at, at Null, and I've watched countless videos on YouTube, what these guys flying these things in the, I don't know. I'm, I am really excited about this one.

[unknown speaker 00:10:56] It's not something I can afford right away because I have a second jet I'm just trying to put together and stuff, but I can definitely say-

[unknown speaker 00:11:02] That's why I gave you two years.

[unknown speaker 00:11:03] Yeah. In the next couple of years, I will, I will probably have one of these in my hangar. They fly that way. Spot on. Yeah. You were pretty much spot on all three.

[unknown speaker 00:11:12] Who wants to do me?

[unknown speaker 00:11:14] Okay. No. Well, I'm not, yeah. I don't like the way you said that, but I'll, I'll gander. I'll wager a guess. Adventure. The Bushmaster, I think you will think it's neat. Too complicated to assemble. I'm not going to deal with it. That, and for me, it's, he's got a 3D plane, and Ron is not the kind of guy to keep more than one of the same type around. So I think you'll be like, yeah, it's neat, but not for me. Probably not going to buy one.

[unknown speaker 00:11:45] The Scrappy, I think- It'll be here in a couple of weeks. I think he's probably already pre-ordered one. And then the Airbus also, I think, if you haven't pre-ordered one, you'll get one eventually. And by eventually, I mean in the next year.

[00:11:59] Dave: Interesting take. I think he's going to pass on the Airbus. It's too big. See, I think he likes it. It's too big and too complicated to assemble, because it's got four screws. Yeah, but I mean, he's not always about the assembly, disassembly.

[unknown speaker 00:12:10] Like, if it's, if the airplane is cool enough, he can put up with the, you know, the putting it together, tool-less or not. I do my jet. I think we, exactly. So I think he thinks the Airbus is neat, and I think he'll get one eventually.

[unknown speaker 00:12:26] So my only stopping point on the Airbus is the price. I'm going to be honest with you.

[00:12:29] Dave: So you agree with me for a change on the price? I'm not saying it's too high.

[unknown speaker 00:12:33] But I'm saying for me at this point, I have too many trailer projects I have to fund before I want to buy anything else. But honestly, if that's one that they have at Joe and All for a price or something next year when we're there, that's when I got cash in the pocket to spend, that's probably going to be.

[00:12:51] Dave: It's a $75 to $100 price drop. I'm in.

[unknown speaker 00:12:54] Yeah. It was $500. Absolutely. Bind and fly, sitting there on the table at Joe and All with, you know, my name on it. I would go home with me. Scrappy, not so much. No. Okay. Really not. So I had the UMX, or not the UMX, the Micro Draco. Oh, I forgot about that. And it was cool, but just not my thing. And I think this is going to be the same way. They did miss, they missed the correct wing. And honestly, for as cheap, I'm worried about that part, but I got you.

[unknown speaker 00:13:31] But honestly, for as cheap as it would be to mold just a couple electric bikes to put underneath the wing. That was another thing.

[00:13:39] Dave: They need to throw that little detail in. I'm sure somebody out there is going to be 3D printing them. I'm sure the files are out there already, but it should have been done.

[unknown speaker 00:13:45] It should have. It would have cost them next to nothing. It's extra $0.5, $0.10 to do, you know, just a plastic injection molded thing.

[unknown speaker 00:13:54] I mean, I still think it's kind of neat, but the windows bug. Yeah.

[00:13:56] Dave: I mean, there's not much.

[unknown speaker 00:13:58] Yes, they could do a different color, I guess, in the windows. But you're not going to have an interior in a microplane. No, I'm not expecting it.

[unknown speaker 00:14:06] I'm just saying, don't make the windows gray.

[00:14:08] Dave: Black.

[unknown speaker 00:14:09] Dark charcoal, at least. Or, yeah, something. Yeah. Like my, that RJ Gritter Decathlon looks so much better with the black ones.

[unknown speaker 00:14:17] Well, part of them.

[unknown speaker 00:14:18] Well, yeah, I forgot to do the top. But it's a sun rub, so it's…

[unknown speaker 00:14:22] Yeah, most of them are good.

[00:14:23] Dave: It's reflecting the sky.

[unknown speaker 00:14:25] And there's a big fingerprint in one of them, but whatever.

[unknown speaker 00:14:27] I didn't even notice that.

[00:14:28] Dave: But that made a massive difference in the looks of that aircraft.

[unknown speaker 00:14:31] I think so, too.

[unknown speaker 00:14:32] But anyway. So, yeah. That was fun. Well, now shall we talk about them a little bit more in depth? Who wants to go first? I'll get this out of the way. Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:14:41] Go ahead, Dave.

[unknown speaker 00:14:42] Way to take one for the team, Dave.

[00:14:44] Dave: I'll get it done. Rawr. I probably should have taken the other one.

[unknown speaker 00:14:50] What do you… Here, do you want to trade? What do you want?

[00:14:52] Dave: No, that's right. You want to do…

[unknown speaker 00:14:53] All right. So, the micro scrappy. And remember, be positive. This is positive. Smile when you talk. We can hear it.

[00:15:02] Dave: Actually, when I first saw it, it's like, oh, that is cool looking. And then I got looking at it. Same. And it's like, oh. I had the same reaction.

[unknown speaker 00:15:07] I was like, oh, cool. Well, actually, my first reaction when I first saw it, I thought they were doing the savage bobber. Because I didn't read any of it. I was like, oh, cool. They're doing the savage bobber. And then I started looking closer. I was like, well, wait a minute. This has, like, the fuselage is covered. Well, it's not a set. Oh, it's Patey's scrappy. Okay.

[00:15:24] Dave: And overall, the coloring looks really nice. Yeah. I like the orange and black and, what is that, silver?

[unknown speaker 00:15:31] I'm a fan of the orange.

[00:15:32] Dave: I mean, it looks… No kidding. It looks good. It really does. I saw it. It's like, ooh, yeah. And then I saw the price. It's like, that's not bad. Speaking of which, the price is $219.99. Which, I agree, that's not all that bad. No, I don't think. Or a licensed product. Because I'm sure Mr. Patey's getting his cover. Sure. I'm sure he is.

[unknown speaker 00:15:49] As he should. I'm sure there's a, yeah, license tax.

[00:15:52] Dave: So, it's 800 millimeters. So, that puts it in the UMX Plus size. So, you know, nice size. Unlike, you know, it won't fit back in the box. Eh, I'm sorry.

[unknown speaker 00:16:02] Thanks. I appreciate it.

[00:16:05] Dave: Yeah, it's under 250 grams. So, no waiver or whatever needed. It's licensed through Mike Patey. It's his new airplane. And it uses kind of a somewhat standard battery. It uses either 3 or 4S, 300 milliamp lipos. So, I mean, fairly common battery.

[unknown speaker 00:16:26] I'm sure it's the exact same power system as in the Draco. I'm sure it's the same as the Draco.

[00:16:30] Dave: Yeah, it's the Draco. I mean, it's the same wing.

[unknown speaker 00:16:35] That really, I mean, it bugs me, but it really bugs Dave.

[unknown speaker 00:16:38] Dave gets into the details a lot more than I do.

[unknown speaker 00:16:41] Well, he's a scale modeler. Yeah. And I'm just like, oh, that's cool enough.

[00:16:44] Dave: That's his thing.

[unknown speaker 00:16:44] He likes scale.

[00:16:45] Dave: And then the full-size one's got the big, chunky, bright orange struts. And this just has a couple thin pieces of wire. Like, how hard is it to mold a piece of plastic over that piece of wire?

[unknown speaker 00:16:56] Yeah. But anyway, that's the scrappy. Well, that's something for modelers to add. That's something for you once you get it to make it your own.

[00:17:03] Dave: I'm going to have to lop the wingtips off and reshape the wires in there, unfortunately. And repaint the windows.

[unknown speaker 00:17:08] Yep.

[00:17:09] Dave: So there's potential there. There's definitely potential. It looks nice. Like I said, pretty sure it's the exact same powertrain that we find in the Draco. It's going to be a little heavier because it is a scale airplane. It's got the scale landing gear, shock absorbers, and so forth. And I'm not sure about the efficiency of that prop. I mean, is it just for show or is it pretty efficient? I don't know.

[unknown speaker 00:17:37] So I think with – I don't think you're going to notice that much difference, honestly.

[00:17:42] Dave: Yeah. So, I mean, it's definitely got some potential in the prices, right? So if I find one banged up in a box somewhere, there's a possibility. Banged up in a box. Banged up in a box. Oh, he gets them.

[unknown speaker 00:17:53] Swap meat. Swap meat, yeah. Crashed a couple times, and he'll be like, perfect, because I'll be ripping it apart anyway,

[00:18:00] Dave: so why pay for a new one?

[unknown speaker 00:18:01] Yeah, that's a good point.

[00:18:03] Dave: So for a licensed product, it's not bad. They need to tweak a few things, and we're good.

[unknown speaker 00:18:09] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:18:09] I agree. Shall we move on? Let's – Would you like me to go next? Sure. Okay. So the next one is the eFlight Airbus, the A320neo. It's a twin 64-millimeter EDF, BNF Basic, AS3X Plus, and Safe Select, yada, yada, yada. The normal for everything like that.

[unknown speaker 00:18:28] Did you – sorry. Did you say the fan size?

[unknown speaker 00:18:32] 64-millimeter EDF. Maybe I didn't. If I didn't, I did not. You might have. I was zoning off.

[00:18:37] Dave: It's a large aircraft. Thank you for zoning off.

[unknown speaker 00:18:40] Speaking of large aircraft, Dave, 59.9-inch wingspan and 62.2 inches long. It is a very good-sized airplane.

[unknown speaker 00:18:49] It's a good-sized airplane.

[unknown speaker 00:18:50] Trunky. Trunky. Trunky. In my line of sight. The shape looks good on it. Mm-hmm. It's – yeah. I like it. I mean, that's about all I can say. So, price, $619.99. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. I know everything is going up, yada, yada, yada. Right. But, man, that's – Mm-hmm. But, yeah. I mean, eh. It's neat. But it does have eight digital Metal Gear servos, which is kind of cool. Obviously, two OutRunner motors, because it's a dual twin. Thank you. That went out of my mind.

[unknown speaker 00:19:35] It has a 40-amp dual smart light brushless ESC, and comes with the AR637TA Plus six-channel receiver with AS3X Plus, which I'm pretty sure this one would probably have the – what's the new smart transmitter file thing for setting it up? Yeah. It's just going to let it injure. Yeah. Yeah. And then it takes, if you want safe select and or motor thrust reversing functionality, eight-channel, eight-plus channel.

[unknown speaker 00:20:06] And then the battery is either a 6S – big range – 6S 3,200 to 7,000 milliamp hour.

[00:20:15] Dave: I can't imagine your 30 seconds of flight with that small battery.

[unknown speaker 00:20:18] Right. Yeah. With an EC5 or IC5. But yeah, I mean, look at the pictures. It's a good-sized airplane. And yeah, I like it.

[00:20:27] Dave: I like the way the fuselage is in two pieces and held together with thumbscrews, so you can break it down nice and easy. Easy, quickly.

[unknown speaker 00:20:32] Yeah. This looks like it's been well thought out, but time will tell.

[unknown speaker 00:20:38] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:20:39] Cool.

[00:20:39] Dave: So that's – It's just that old mechang.

[unknown speaker 00:20:41] I know.

[unknown speaker 00:20:42] Are those available for pre-order?

[unknown speaker 00:20:43] Pre-order now. Actually, both of these are pre-order. I don't remember when these are coming in stock, but I want to say within a month. And they're in white, generic white. Oh, yeah. You can get, like Dave said before, if you don't want the paint scheme on it, you can just get the plain white styrofoam-looking thing. Which I think is pretty neat.

[00:20:59] Dave: It makes painting so much easier. Yeah. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:21:01] If that's your plan. I'm lazy, and it wouldn't be my plan. I think it's the same price, by the way.

[00:21:06] Dave: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:21:06] There's no price difference.

[00:21:07] Dave: So, with or without. I think you get the same decal. I think you get all the decals, so you could technically – Oh, is that how that works? That's a good idea.

[unknown speaker 00:21:14] That's a really good idea.

[unknown speaker 00:21:15] Yeah. Go, eFlight.

[unknown speaker 00:21:17] Way to go.

[unknown speaker 00:21:19] Your turn. Okay. So, Extreme Flight, Legacy Aviation, which is a kind of, I guess, I don't know if I would say a subsidiary, but another brand under the eFlight umbrella, or Extreme Flight umbrella, the Turbo Bushmaster, 84-inch V2. And for V2, they've pretty much added RXR. They made some minor updates. Well, not so minor. Updates to the airframe, removable rudder and stab. And that interlocks with the horizontal stab, which is pretty slick.

[unknown speaker 00:21:51] It incorporates the newest version of their aluminum wing locks, so tool-less assembly at the field. I like that. Which is fantastic. I feel like Extreme Flight was kind of the pioneer in that sort of technology, and now a lot of other brands are doing that, which I think is fantastic, because the less stuff I have to take to the field, the better. And the quicker, the better.

[unknown speaker 00:22:15] Well… And the less little screws I'm going to lose, the better.

[unknown speaker 00:22:18] Well, that's really kind of it for me. I tend to lose a lot of those. But anyway, flaps, I mean, five channels. That's all you need for this thing. You know, throttle, rudder, ailerons, elevator, and flaps. So, you don't need any of those big, fancy eight-channel receivers, unless you want to plug

[00:22:37] Dave: everything in separately or whatever.

[unknown speaker 00:22:38] But I'm really excited about it. I think eventually their plan is to do three color schemes of it. I think right now it's just the blue, white, and yellow, like in the picture here. It kind of looks like a Falcon on the top, which I think is cool. Big, lazy, 3D, fully capable airplane flies on a 6S 3300, up to a 4000, which is pretty slick. Mm-hmm. And… Really? That seems… That's it. That seems small. Yeah, but that's…

[unknown speaker 00:23:10] I mean, the airplane weighs eight pounds or less, depending on, depending on, you know, your receiver, basically.

[unknown speaker 00:23:17] Still, that seems like a small battery for playing that size.

[unknown speaker 00:23:20] Have you seen the wing on this thing? Well, it's… There's a lot of wing.

[unknown speaker 00:23:23] Well, I know. That's my… Like, I understand, but that's my point. You'd think there'd be a little bit bigger battery for longer flight times, especially if you're doing 3D and stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:23:32] 6S 3300 to 4000.

[00:23:33] Dave: What's the float situation on that? Does it come with…

[unknown speaker 00:23:36] It doesn't come with floats. They made floats for their original 84-inch version, which had been out of stock, I think, for quite a while. I don't see any reason why those wouldn't fit on this, but I imagine those are probably being revised since they've been out of stock for so long. And get a color scheme to match, too. Yep. Exactly. Exactly. But anyway, new from Extreme Flight, the RXR version of the 84-inch Bushmaster. I can't wait to own one of these.

[unknown speaker 00:24:03] And the RXR version is how much? Well, that's the thing. Oh, what's the thing?

[unknown speaker 00:24:08] Well, they've only put the premium products… I'm going to keep talking about it to try to delay the shock of the price. But the stuff that they put in the RXR version is aluminum servo arms on the… I think they're a proprietary servo, but their servos are made by a reputable company. I'm trying to…

[unknown speaker 00:24:30] Oh, just spit it out. How much is it?

[unknown speaker 00:24:32] I'm sorry. It's $1549.99. So, $1,600, roughly, just under that. But you're getting an 84-inch 3D-capable RXR. Like, put your receiver in it and fly in an hour.

[unknown speaker 00:24:46] I don't think that's bad. I really don't think that's bad. That's what you're going to end up with.

[unknown speaker 00:24:49] It's not bad for what you're getting, but that's a lot of money for people like me. That's a lot of money all at once.

[unknown speaker 00:24:55] But see, I think a lot of times people don't really equate the final cost… No, I agree with you 100%. When they find an ARF for $300, that $300 ARF is going to turn into a $1,000 airplane by the time you get it put together, if you use quality components and…

[unknown speaker 00:25:11] I am in violent agreement with you. However, most folks, when they see that number, $1,549, that's a lot of money all at once. Like, I would have to save up for a while to do something like that. It's easier to tell the wife.

[unknown speaker 00:25:27] No, this was only $300.

[unknown speaker 00:25:29] But that is the only downside to this airplane. It is that good. So, really excited about it. And yes, it's sometime in the next two years that will probably be one of these in my hangar. Hopefully with floats. Nice.

[unknown speaker 00:25:40] Yeah, I think it's time to start… Well, we said it for years, but getting rid of some and then just having a few… Like, fewer, nicer airplanes. Yeah. As opposed to lots of…

[unknown speaker 00:25:50] Which, by the way, I didn't… I predicted your reaction. So, what is your feeling on that one?

[unknown speaker 00:26:00] Oh, I would like to have one, but I'm not going to have one if you have one. Because we don't have to have two. And that's no big deal. That's not the hill I want to die on. But I like that airplane quite a bit. Okay. After seeing it with Joe and all, after seeing the different sizes and all that kind of stuff… I actually like the big ones a little bit better.

[unknown speaker 00:26:14] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:26:15] But… Yeah, I do too.

[unknown speaker 00:26:16] But considerably more…

[unknown speaker 00:26:18] One room and all that kind of stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:26:21] But, I mean, it's electric.

[unknown speaker 00:26:24] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:26:24] So, you know, not normally my go-to, but because the battery… You know, it's a 6S33. Like, I have a couple of 4,000s already for my Viper 70. See?

[unknown speaker 00:26:36] You already have the battery.

[unknown speaker 00:26:37] That just makes it so much easier. And I have the receiver because I, you know, bought the receiver there at the hobby shop down in St. Louis a while back when they, you know, had them at the old price that I

[unknown speaker 00:26:47] got before the… Before the… Before the… Increase. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:26:50] So, I got everything I need.

[unknown speaker 00:26:54] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:26:54] Nice. So…

[unknown speaker 00:26:55] Just buy it.

[unknown speaker 00:26:57] Sure.

[unknown speaker 00:26:57] Forget your turbine. You don't need that. I'm not going to do that.

[unknown speaker 00:27:02] So, anyway, those are the… That's what's new this week. Nice. And last week.

[unknown speaker 00:27:07] And the week before because I think we just barely missed the Airbus release. We did. With the… Yeah. The days that we did it.

[unknown speaker 00:27:14] We did.

[unknown speaker 00:27:15] So, some… But, anyway…

[00:27:16] Dave: Fairly exciting aircraft.

[unknown speaker 00:27:17] Yeah. Yeah. Of which… Look at that. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:27:21] Isn't that… It's just…

[unknown speaker 00:27:22] Anyway, nobody else can, but we did.

[unknown speaker 00:27:26] All right.

[unknown speaker 00:27:27] Okay. Move on.

[00:27:28] Dave: I want to talk really quick about the weather. Can we complain about that for a minute? It's like every episode now is the weather.

[unknown speaker 00:27:34] I know. Well, first, it was the weather. It's like we're turning into Dave's. We're all complaining and just like…

[00:27:39] Dave: Get off my lawn! Rubbing off on you guys.

[unknown speaker 00:27:42] It has been super, super hot and humid.

[unknown speaker 00:27:46] Well, and Dave was… Well, you guys… And Wendy. So, have flown some stuff, and you were talking about the local club, how the grass was tall for you, Tommy. Yes. And then Dave went later, and the grass was tall for him. But like, I kid you not, I have been cutting my grass every three days here. Three days sucks, by the way. I don't enjoy that. Yeah. You have a lot of grass to cut. And it has been growing like on average an inch a day.

[unknown speaker 00:28:11] So, still at three days, I'm cutting three inches off, and it just looks terrible. Oh, my gosh. Like it's thick. It's… Yeah.

[00:28:19] Dave: It's not been fun. Trimming is… I'm so far behind on trimming. Yeah. My house is disappearing and stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:28:25] We just spray everything. Oh, wow. That makes it a little easier, but still.

[unknown speaker 00:28:29] That's how I weed eat.

[unknown speaker 00:28:31] Yeah. With a grass weed killer.

[unknown speaker 00:28:33] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:28:34] Well, like, I don't understand all this rain that we've had. Like, I know weather is cyclical, yada, yada, yada. But I remember growing up, like… And you were on the same street. I don't remember when, Tommy, you moved in, like…

[unknown speaker 00:28:45] 2001.

[unknown speaker 00:28:46] Okay, so before that, like way before that, back in the 90s, it was, like, 4th of July was, like, a war zone. I mean, there were so many people on the street that had, like, real nice fireworks and all that stuff. I remember watering the lawn, watering the roof, watering the house before people were, you know, shooting stuff off, just to make sure we didn't have a fire because it was so dry. Now, we can't get three days without rain. Yeah. Ridiculous.

[unknown speaker 00:29:17] It's been very wet. It's been terribly wet.

[00:29:19] Dave: And it just stays wet in the air. And it stays wet in the grass, too. Like… I cut it 730 at night last Sunday. It had been out in the sun all day. We didn't get any rain at all Sunday. Mm-hmm. It had been out in the sun all day, and my yard was soaked. Yeah. There was water flying out from underneath the deck.

[unknown speaker 00:29:36] Yeah. When I cut mine Monday after work, we hadn't had rain since Saturday night, I think, was when we got it last, if I remember right. And I was still… The tires were just completely wet. Like, not just barely wet, you know, sometimes when there's a little bit of dew, but it looked like you drove through a puddle.

[00:29:54] Dave: It was… Like 98% humidity. Yeah, it's been… For a month. It's the corn sweat. It's been rough. And the corn sweat is just… Oh, yeah. I was out in the field Sunday. It was awful.

[unknown speaker 00:30:03] It's funny. I think it's funny. So, the corn sweat. It's been a thing forever. Yeah. It has always been a thing. But it seems like in the last few years, the media has really got onto that. Now, it seems like everything that comes across my news feed on Facebook, or I see on the internet, or whatever, or if I'm looking at the weather, there's always some article about, oh, the corn sweats 3,000 gallons of water an acre.

[00:30:29] Dave: It's like, I'm pretty sure it's always done that.

[unknown speaker 00:30:31] Yeah. You know what I mean? Now, I think it's humid just because it's freaking humid. Yeah. I mean, it's just the way it is.

[00:30:39] Dave: It's not only the corn sweat, it's the corn blocking any breeze you might get to that also.

[unknown speaker 00:30:43] Yeah.

[00:30:43] Dave: Because it's nine feet tall.

[unknown speaker 00:30:45] Right? Yeah. Yeah. So, the weather.

[unknown speaker 00:30:50] Yeah. So, we talked about that last time we were out in the field, how we like the fact that Eli is open, even with the… Which, we don't have corn this year. It's beans. But even out there, when there is corn, it can be fully grown, and you can still see over everything. Yeah. Which is nice. You're up on top of it.

[00:31:09] Dave: Right. As we normally fly here in town, we're down in it. We're in it. Yeah. You're in between. 30 feet ahead of you is corn.

[unknown speaker 00:31:17] Yep. So, there's no seeing past very well. Nope. Anyway. So, that leads into flying, then. What have you guys… You guys have flown a bit, right?

[unknown speaker 00:31:25] A little.

[unknown speaker 00:31:25] Yeah, very little. I was fighting some wildlife.

[00:31:31] Dave: Do tell, Dave. So, it went flying Sunday. Finally got some time to go flying. Hot Sunday, by the way. Hot Sunday. But, it was going to fight out the heat and humidity just because it's been three weeks or so since I've flown. I got to do something. Get out there. I've got my FMS 1700 Super Cub. And, I have my little T-28 out there. My little 800 millimeter guy. Hot, humid, uncomfortable, sun full out, no cloud cover, but it is what it is. I got a few flights in.

[00:32:08] Dave: The grass is so long, even the Super Cub is getting bogged down in the grass. That's crazy. That's nuts. Yeah. So, a bush plane is having trouble with it. Yeah. And, I can't drive the mower because it's got left side pedals and I'm kind of missing left side equipment.

[unknown speaker 00:32:23] That means he doesn't have a left leg, Ron.

[00:32:25] Dave: I noticed.

[unknown speaker 00:32:26] Okay.

[00:32:28] Dave: So, dealing with Eileen. Yeah. I'm late to my job at IHOP. Get it out of the way. So, dealing with that. But, hot, sweaty, fine. I got Fred out there. He's having a blast. He's been taking Fred out there. I know it's hot, but he's pretty heat hardened. And, I bring his water. He's always got his water. Of course, he finds any puddle he can find.

[unknown speaker 00:32:49] Of course.

[00:32:49] Dave: Flop around in. And, most of them are just mud.

[unknown speaker 00:32:51] Well, he has a lab.

[00:32:52] Dave: Yeah. So, he's flopping in the mud, trying to cool himself off. And, then he wants to sit in your lap. He's like, get away from me, you hot, sticky dog. Of course, he has to go pee on the bush that all the coyotes pee on.

[unknown speaker 00:33:05] So, you know, that's his thing.

[00:33:07] Dave: We're having a good time. But, we have sweat bees.

[unknown speaker 00:33:11] Oh, the sweat bees are back.

[00:33:13] Dave: Oh, they were just, well, there were hundreds around, if not thousands.

[unknown speaker 00:33:19] Oh, yeah.

[00:33:20] Dave: It was just constant.

[unknown speaker 00:33:21] We've complained about those before on the podcast. Yeah.

[00:33:24] Dave: And, they're in your face.

[unknown speaker 00:33:25] Oh, yeah.

[00:33:26] Dave: And, they're in your ears. And, in your nose. And, walking across your glasses while you're trying to land. And, just, that was, after a while, it's just like, this is, I'm too hot to deal with. Yeah. I don't buy bees.

[unknown speaker 00:33:38] And, there's not enough wind to keep them knocked down. And, if there was, you're. Not going to want to fly. You're not going to want to fly. Or, the corn is going to block it, and it's not going to, yeah.

[00:33:47] Dave: And, then I got one in between my forearm and my crutch cuff. Oh, jeez. They don't sting. I know they don't sting. But, they bite.

[unknown speaker 00:33:57] They bite, yeah. Which doesn't feel good.

[00:33:59] Dave: Oh, God. Like, that, I'm done.

[unknown speaker 00:34:02] Yep. That's the straw that broke David's back.

[00:34:06] Dave: I've been having fun. Trying to keep the plane in close. Because, if it goes down, I don't want to go out in the corn. In the corn sweat, sweat. Like, the corn sauna. Exactly. Yeah. It's like a sauna. With a razor edge, you know, come back bleeding. Oh, yeah. That always feels good.

[unknown speaker 00:34:19] Oh, yeah.

[00:34:20] Dave: Been there. So, trying to keep everything in close. And, the bees, yeah, we're done. But, it was a good time to get to actually go out and go fly for a while.

[unknown speaker 00:34:29] Yep.

[00:34:29] Dave: Missed you guys. I know you guys are busy doing your own thing, but.

[unknown speaker 00:34:32] Yep. Yep. So, we went to Eli. Ron and I did on Sunday. Didn't have any problem with the bees. But, Eli, I don't know if it's just because they're not there or there was enough openness and wind to keep them knocked down.

[00:34:46] Dave: And, nothing repels these, by the way. We tried different mosquitoes and the bugbegons. And, nothing repels these things.

[unknown speaker 00:34:52] Buggons and whatever else, yeah.

[00:34:54] Dave: So, if anybody's got any hints on how to keep the sweat bees down. Sweat bees, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:34:58] They're like little micro bees. Oh, and they were in the truck all the way home. Oh, jeez.

[00:35:03] Dave: Forgot about that, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:35:05] So, then you're swatting at them while you're trying to drive. That's awesome.

[unknown speaker 00:35:08] Well, just come to Eli with us next time. Yeah.

[00:35:10] Dave: You won't have that problem. Well, you're going to have to.

[unknown speaker 00:35:14] I think we saw like two or three of them is all. I mean, it wasn't even enough for me to register anything until Dave texted and said, oh, the bees. And, I'm like, oh, yeah, there's a couple here.

[unknown speaker 00:35:25] Yeah, I don't know if I noticed any. Maybe one or two.

[unknown speaker 00:35:29] Yeah. But, yeah, it wasn't a big deal.

[unknown speaker 00:35:30] Anyway, we went to Eli. Flew the jet. My five supervised flights. Thank you, Ron.

[unknown speaker 00:35:36] You're welcome.

[unknown speaker 00:35:38] So, that was good. Getting, I really like that airplane. You're official. I really like that airplane. I mean, it flies nice. It has, so far, no bad habits. Yeah. Like, you know, per your suggestion, I took it up pretty high and practiced some stall, and it just kind of mushes and continues straight ahead, even while turned. It just kind of mushes and doesn't drop a wing and doesn't do any spinning. It's really very forgiving for a jet, I would say. Yeah, and that's good.

[unknown speaker 00:36:10] That's what you want. Now, I do have the, you know, I do have it balanced pretty far forward in the CG range, so it's fairly nose heavy. But I'm not going to change it anytime soon. It flies great right where it's at. So, you brought a jet, but you decided not to fly, which I really, really appreciate, because then that tells me you only went there to supervise my flights, which I felt slightly guilty about, but I got over it.

[unknown speaker 00:36:36] Yeah, you shouldn't. I'm a big boy. I do what I want to do. But no, I just, have you ever just had one of those days where you were just drained and didn't feel like doing anything?

[unknown speaker 00:36:45] Oh, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:36:45] Like, I was so, in the morning, I was like, oh, I don't want to go, but you know what? Once I get there, I'm going to, we'll have fun. We'll snap out of it. I did have fun. I enjoyed my time there. But I just, even there, I didn't have the gumption to get it out, put it together, and fly it. I just, and I enjoyed myself. I mean, it's not like I was, you know, oh, my God, I want to go home, anything like that. No, I just didn't feel like it.

[unknown speaker 00:37:07] You did leave pretty quickly after that last flight, though.

[unknown speaker 00:37:10] Well, I mean, you were packing up. You're like, all right, well, I think I'm done. Okay, see you later. See you later.

[unknown speaker 00:37:16] But anyway, I really appreciated that. But yeah, so I got five flights, and that was all I took. I didn't take anything else to fly. Yeah, me too. I'm actually glad that I, I'm glad that I only took the jet, because that's all I flew, and I was happy just flying the jet.

[unknown speaker 00:37:32] Yeah, and that's, honestly, now that I know I can fit that in my car, it makes things easier, too. And that's pretty amazing. That's the other thing, I didn't feel like, if I took the truck, then it's like, okay, this cost me a good amount of money and gas. I need to get something out of it, you know. Yeah. But I didn't feel that way, so I was able to enjoy myself.

[unknown speaker 00:37:52] We have a meeting coming up Tuesday, so I'll throw it in the car and take it over there and fly it a couple times Tuesday. That just amazes me, that thing fits in your car.

[unknown speaker 00:38:00] I know.

[unknown speaker 00:38:00] Honestly.

[unknown speaker 00:38:01] I witnessed it. I saw it. It really does.

[unknown speaker 00:38:03] Yeah, and I'm not going to lie. With room to spare. If I utilized all the space better, I could still fit two people in the car with me.

[00:38:09] Dave: Oh, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:38:10] Yeah. And probably a small foamy.

[unknown speaker 00:38:13] Yeah, if I really wanted to.

[unknown speaker 00:38:15] Yeah, that's crazy.

[unknown speaker 00:38:16] 800 million or scrappy. No, I don't think so.

[unknown speaker 00:38:20] Yeah. So, yeah, anyway, that's what we did last week. Weekend before that, I went out to our field here locally and flew the Duelist in the tall grass, which was lots of fun. I spent, I think, more time cleaning the Duelist than I did flying the Duelist.

[00:38:39] Dave: Yeah, same with the Super Cup. It's white molded foam, so not anymore. I'm spraking green off of it. Now it's green foam.

[unknown speaker 00:38:45] I need to bleach it. Yeah. But, yeah, a couple of good flights. It was nice to fly the Duelist again, which, by the way, go ahead. I was just going to say, have you flown that? Since last year? No.

[unknown speaker 00:38:58] Okay. Well, you're a step ahead of me then, because I don't think I've flown it since a couple of flights after the Maiden flight. I don't think I have very many flights on that, or on mine at all.

[unknown speaker 00:39:05] According to my spreadsheet, I flew it in 24 at some point. I can't remember. So, was it 20, when did we build those? Was it? 23.

[unknown speaker 00:39:14] It was before I was here. So, it was winter 22, 23? I think so, yeah. Okay. So, yeah, I didn't fly it at all last year, so 23 would have been the last time I flew mine.

[00:39:23] Dave: I should make that change.

[unknown speaker 00:39:25] Yeah, I don't know why you don't, because it flies a lot. And it's super convenient. It's electric. It's not like you have to deal with nitro fuel and all that kind of stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:39:33] Yeah, you're just laziness. I'll be honest. Slime. There's other airplanes that are easier and more fun to fly when I go to the field. It's just like, well, I'm just going to take this instead.

[unknown speaker 00:39:45] I get it. I get it. But anyway, yeah, that was all I took that day, too, because I just wanted to fly that one because… Because why, Tommy? Model Aviation Day is coming.

[unknown speaker 00:39:58] Mm-hmm.

[unknown speaker 00:39:58] And we've been invited to fly down at one of my old stomping grounds, Buda Park. Sorry, I'll read this real quick. That'll be St. Louis for those of you don't. Oh, yeah, sorry. Which is in Missouri. Which is in Missouri, yeah. Valley Park, which is a kind of a western…

[unknown speaker 00:40:14] Yeah, you can explain it all to me because I've never been there. I don't know where it is.

[unknown speaker 00:40:17] I don't know what to expect. Well, it's close to St. Louis, Missouri. Anyway, Model Aviation Day is a celebration of the hobby and community. You printed this from Google?

[unknown speaker 00:40:25] I did, yeah. Well, because we were talking about, you said something about Model Aviation Day and you didn't realize it was a…

[unknown speaker 00:40:32] Actual thing?

[unknown speaker 00:40:33] Yeah, something that's been promoted. So I did a quick Google search to find out exactly what it was and when it was. And now you are going to regale us with the reading of the Google stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:40:46] So National Model Aviation Day is an annual event sponsored by the AMA Foundation. I mean, it's once a year. To celebrate the hobby of model aviation, hence the name, Model Aviation Day. Day. And share it with the public.

[unknown speaker 00:41:01] Those are the people that are not in the hobby.

[unknown speaker 00:41:03] The day encourages clubs to organize events, showcasing the hobby and fostering interest in model flying within their local communities.

[unknown speaker 00:41:09] Yeah, so trying to get people to come out and see what the flying is about.

[unknown speaker 00:41:12] I love the way it's being interpreted for us. The AMA is dedicated to inspiring individuals of all ages.

[00:41:18] Dave: The Academy of Model Aeronautics.

[unknown speaker 00:41:20] To engage in model aviation. Believing it promotes creativity and learning through hands-on experiences.

[unknown speaker 00:41:25] Makes you better peoples.

[unknown speaker 00:41:27] Activities on Model Aviation Day often involve demonstrations of various model aircraft.

[unknown speaker 00:41:34] Watching people fly things even.

[unknown speaker 00:41:35] Including giant scale planes.

[unknown speaker 00:41:37] Big airplanes. Warbirds. Things that look like they would fight you. Turbines. Things that go fast and sound cool. And jets. Same thing. Is that what it says? Turbines and jets. Well, I guess jets technically could be EDFs, which are not as cool as turbines, but…

[00:41:53] Dave: Or pushers.

[unknown speaker 00:41:54] Yeah, yeah. Fast spinning blades.

[unknown speaker 00:41:56] Opportunities for the public to experience model flying through buddy box demonstrations. That's where two people have the controller. Uh-huh. Where an instructor guides a student. Uh-huh. That's right there.

[unknown speaker 00:42:07] Oh, okay.

[unknown speaker 00:42:08] And computer simulations.

[unknown speaker 00:42:10] Where you play a game.

[unknown speaker 00:42:12] Or you fly a simulator. On a computer. Funfly events where participants can enjoy flying the models alongside fellow enthusiasts. That's another way. Mm-hmm. Two people that like it do it together. Yep. And when is National Model Aviation Day, you ask? Why?

[unknown speaker 00:42:28] Oh, when is this?

[unknown speaker 00:42:30] So, since 2016, National Model Aviation Day has been observed on the second Saturday in August. Well, that doesn't make me mad. So, in 2025, it will be held on August 16th, which is coming up in a couple weeks. Which leads me… Hold on.

[unknown speaker 00:42:47] How is that the second…

[unknown speaker 00:42:49] That wouldn't be the second Saturday in August.

[00:42:52] Dave: That would be the third, right? The second is the first Saturday.

[unknown speaker 00:42:57] Right. So, because, I'm sorry, it can't be after the 14th and still be the second of any day.

[00:43:06] Dave: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:43:07] Dave's counting on his fingers, which I can't do.

[00:43:09] Dave: It is the third. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:43:12] Maybe it's not always on the second, but usually it is.

[unknown speaker 00:43:15] Well, it does say… Maybe Google is wrong. No, listen. Let me read this again. Since 2016, National Model Aviation Day has been observed on the second Saturday in August. In 2025, it will be held on August 16th. Beats me. It doesn't say that it's always held on the second Saturday. It just says… Traditionally. Since 2016, it has been.

[unknown speaker 00:43:36] Okay. So, this year, it's going to be held on the third one.

[unknown speaker 00:43:38] Okay. So, August 16th. So, that leads me to an email I got. We, I should say… Actually, you got from George. Hey, guys. Recently listened… I'm sorry.

[unknown speaker 00:43:51] Let me try that again.

[unknown speaker 00:43:52] Hey, guys. I recently started listening to your podcast while I was trying to think and read at the same time, and I can't do that. No, no, no, no. You can't think. While I drive, and I drive a lot, he says, you do a great job, and I've gone through the first 120 episodes this year. Please don't judge us on those first couple of years. He says, I am the president of the St. Louis Aeropilots RC Club. A year ago, the county took over control of the field where we fly.

[unknown speaker 00:44:19] And then, he says, Booter Park. And that's what, like, that's when my ears perked up, right? Booter Park. So, in the past, all the maintenance and repairs were handled by Greater St. Louis Model Association, and they handled the permits to fly at the field. Now, the county is issuing permits and doing all the work. We're so thankful that they see the value of the park, and it will continue mostly as it was.

[unknown speaker 00:44:43] We've had some people that fly at the field that complain about the increased fees. It's only 90 bucks a year, which I think is actually very reasonable. That's kind of the going rate.

[unknown speaker 00:44:53] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:44:54] For a facility like that, also. And spread rumors about the future of the park. He says, we've decided as a club to try and do something big for Model Aviation Day, August 16th. This year, to show the county just how much the field means to us, and show them how many people actually use it. It would be great if you guys could let your listeners know that they are invited to join us, and you are welcome as well. Anytime, not just August, he says.

[unknown speaker 00:45:20] We don't have any details yet, as we just got the field reserved for the day, but hopefully we can come up with some cool stuff. At the very least, we'll have some cool planes and a couple trainers with buddy boxes. We're also going to use this as a way to try and recruit some new members, because our club membership has dropped off quite a bit.

[unknown speaker 00:45:38] We have a pretty eclectic mix of pilots, from retirees flying FOMIs to a young man, seven I think, that's recently started on one of the UMX Warbirds to a handful of guys with giant-scale gas planes. He says, I've rambled on enough for now. If you need more details, I can provide them as they become available. Thanks, George.

[unknown speaker 00:45:55] Well, George, I can tell you, I am super excited, and I, in my email reply to him, which is funny, we can talk about the timing of the emails if you want, because it was buried. Like, you didn't see the email, like, when you first got it back in May or something like that, Ron, and then you finally said, hey, got this back in May, what do you think? And then I read it and saw the Buddha Park thing, and then I got really super excited. Anyway, I'm rambling.

[unknown speaker 00:46:25] So, George has officially invited all of our listeners to join us at Buddha Park on August 16th, if you can. It's in the St. Louis area. It's on the west side of St. Louis. It's kind of off of, I think it's around 40 or 44. I always get those two confused. But it's a super, super nice facility. Criss-crossing asphalt runways, huge, huge area to fly in.

[unknown speaker 00:46:49] And it's being maintained by the park district, which is amazing, because at least way back in the day when I used to fly there when I was going to college, it was on the membership to take care of the place. So the grass wasn't always cut, maybe. And maybe there was, you know, it's a public park, so public does public things in public parks, if you know what I'm saying. So you'd have to, you know, kind of step over things that maybe…

[unknown speaker 00:47:22] Bottles and cans and stuff.

[00:47:24] Dave: Or other…

[unknown speaker 00:47:25] Bottles and cans and stuff. …grosser things. But yeah, that you don't normally have to deal with, like at a private club. But anyway, it's great that the park district has gotten involved, because I'm positive that it is super, super nice now. Not that it wasn't super nice before, but like even nicer now.

[unknown speaker 00:47:42] So I'm planning on going, and what I was getting at before was, when I first read the email, I was like, okay, I replied to George, I'll check and try to make sure my calendar is clear. Well, my calendar is clear, and I'm going. So.

[unknown speaker 00:47:55] Yeah, I'll ride with you.

[unknown speaker 00:47:56] And I'm going to take the Duelist, which kind of ties into why I flew the Duelist a couple weeks ago, getting it ready for this. Because Booter Park is where the original Duelist that kind of prompted us to build Duelists together, that is where the first Duelist met its demise, was at this very facility.

[unknown speaker 00:48:17] And so you're okay flying this one there? Absolutely.

[unknown speaker 00:48:20] Okay. Especially after flying it last week, it's fine. It's good to go.

[unknown speaker 00:48:24] No, that'll be fun.

[unknown speaker 00:48:25] So I'm really excited. Yeah. I'm planning on taking the Duelist. I'm probably going to take the Trashcan Telemaster along with my spare transmitter and see if we can get, like, if they, you know, want some extra airplanes on buddy boxes, that would be a fine candidate to have people fly because it's just big and doofy. And it's kind of our thing. There you go. One of our things, right? Yeah. So it'll have our, you know, the decals on it and all that kind of stuff.

[unknown speaker 00:48:53] And maybe we'll take some stuff down there to give away too.

[00:48:55] Dave: I'll say we got decals to give away. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:48:57] So really super excited about it. I'm glad that George reached out to us and invited us, not just for this weekend, but who knows? Maybe that's another club I'll join next year and fly down there. How far away is it? It's about two hours. By the time you, by the time you take, you know, 55 down and you take the 270, 255 loop around to 44, I think it is. Yeah. Getting around to the backside of St. Louis Valley Park. You're looking at a two hour-ish.

[unknown speaker 00:49:26] How do you spell that?

[unknown speaker 00:49:27] B-U-D-E-R. Park.

[00:49:30] Dave: So, yep. I'll try to arrange some transportation because we're still doing Dave's stuff with the truck.

[unknown speaker 00:49:36] You are actually right. Hour and 58 minutes. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:49:39] So there you go. For it, you know, for a day or a weekend kind of event like that, it might be worth joining, you know, another club. Yeah. We'll see. I flew there many, many years ago and had, I have many, many great memories. Not only do they have the RC club there, but they have speed circle or control line circles there. So you can fly control lines there. They have a rocketry.

[unknown speaker 00:50:03] Do or did.

[unknown speaker 00:50:04] What's that?

[unknown speaker 00:50:05] I mean, do or did. Like, do you know they still have all this?

[unknown speaker 00:50:08] No, it's still there. Oh, okay. They have a model rocketry area there so you can shoot your model rockets off and stuff like that. That's cool. Yeah. It's a really, really, really cool facility. That is neat. I'm really excited.

[00:50:20] Dave: Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:50:20] It'll be cool to see something new.

[00:50:23] Dave: Yeah. I'm looking forward to it. Me too. Yep. Looking forward.

[unknown speaker 00:50:25] See what we can. Do you want to take the trailer? I don't know.

[unknown speaker 00:50:30] UNKNOWN: Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:50:30] Well, because if you take the trailer, you can take more stuff. Well, I don't know.

[unknown speaker 00:50:33] And I haven't, I don't talk about it, but my truck is also not completely trustworthy at this point. So we'll see.

[unknown speaker 00:50:40] Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:50:40] I would. So if you want to pull it, we can take the trailer.

[unknown speaker 00:50:44] Pull it with what? I don't know. I don't have anything that'll pull that. Well, I mean, I guess I have that truck, but that's a long way to take that old pickup truck.

[unknown speaker 00:50:51] We'll see. That's all fair talks. We'll figure it out. Yes. But yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:50:56] Super excited.

[unknown speaker 00:50:56] It'll be fun.

[unknown speaker 00:50:57] Thanks again, George. I appreciate the invite and we'll see you there. Okay. Looking forward to it.

[unknown speaker 00:51:04] Yep. So what's next?

[unknown speaker 00:51:06] Well, I don't know. What's on your list? So I think. Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:51:09] A couple more things then. We're getting to the end of it. So I took a family trip last weekend. We went over to Holiday World in Indiana. So the only reason I bring this up, I have never seen a drone show in person before. And they have nightly drone shows there that are actually very impressive. They're synced to music, obviously. And they have pyrotechnics. They have.

[unknown speaker 00:51:41] It may not be obvious. I've never seen a drone show.

[unknown speaker 00:51:44] Well, I always thought they were like, no, maybe not. I mean, I always thought they had music with them and stuff. Oh, okay. But maybe not. Maybe my assumption is wrong. But anyway. So they had their drone show. And pyrotechnics actually off of the drones. There were some cool shots where they had like a rocket taking off. And then the drones that were on the bottom where the motors were actually had like sparkler things that dropped to the ground. They had some too.

[unknown speaker 00:52:12] One of them was they did like a Halloween. It's holiday world. So they're all like holiday themed things. Santa Claus, Indiana. Right. And so they had one where it was a haunted house. And on each one of the steeples on the very top, it had drones up there with explosives on them. So they all went off at the same time in the exact same spot. And I mean, it looked really cool. But like I said, having never seen one before, never got to experience it.

[unknown speaker 00:52:39] First off, they moved faster than I expected. Like they actually had some that were cars with the wheels that were spinning. And it looked neat. There was a 500 drone drone show. So there was quite a few. Like I said, sync to music. All in all, I think takeoff to landing was about 15 minutes with about a 12-minute show. So it was a minute or so of taking off. And then landing was another minute, minute and a half, whatever, after it was done.

[unknown speaker 00:53:09] But like I said, the way they did that with the fireworks and all that kind of stuff, it was really neat. I actually would like to go back just to see that again. Like if there's ever more opportunities to see drone shows and stuff around here, it's worth going to see them. I was impressed. After I got home, I started to think, well, I wonder how much those are. Because, you know, maybe it'd be fun to try your own kind of thing. No, absolutely not.

[unknown speaker 00:53:35] Could you get close enough to see what kind of drones they were and stuff?

[unknown speaker 00:53:39] So, no. But I did do a little Google sleuthing and tried to figure out like what most people are using for drones and stuff. And there are ones made just for that. I mean, they just pretty much have a battery, four motors, and then a light. That's pretty much all they are. But they're between $1,500 and $2,000 a piece. Each. Each. So think about that. Yeah, 500 of them.

[unknown speaker 00:54:06] Not including batteries and all the charging. Right. Programming. I'm sure there's a program you have to use. Oh, yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:54:12] I mean, it all has to be done computer programmed, obviously. Times 500. Like Blender is one that used to do that. But, yeah, there's a whole bunch of – and if you get to the – say it again, hold on – proprietary stuff, it gets obviously more expensive. I think I saw most of them run on like 4S5 or 6,000 milliamp hour batteries. So can you imagine charging 500 of those in a day, replacing 500 of them? I mean, I can't imagine the cost that goes in with all that.

[00:54:41] Dave: Your battery maintenance alone is enough to drive your baddies. Exactly.

[unknown speaker 00:54:44] I mean, I'm sure they have quick charge stations or something like that to where you're not like taking each battery off and putting – there's got to be something where you just plug one thing in maybe after they land.

[unknown speaker 00:54:54] Or you just set it on it or whatever.

[unknown speaker 00:54:55] Right. Like if they're that exact.

[00:54:56] Dave: Like inductive charges or something.

[unknown speaker 00:54:58] Yeah. Yeah, perhaps. But, yeah, I would love to take a behind-the-scenes tour to see how all that is done. How much a piece did you say? 2,000? Between $1,500 and $2,000 a piece. So that's a million-dollar show with 500 drones plus fireworks. I mean, they actually had – I'd say like compared to our fireworks show here, probably about half as many fireworks. And that's every night they're shooting them off and stuff. I mean, it's – and it's all timed, obviously.

[unknown speaker 00:55:29] Like we saw the show two nights in a row, and it was the exact same. I mean, like they've got it down to where whatever they do, it is down to the minute, second, millisecond, probably all computer-controlled with shooting off the fireworks and all that kind of stuff. If you ever get a chance to go see a drone show or get a chance to go to this place to watch it there, it's very, very good. I would highly recommend doing that. Cool. I was impressed. New experience. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:55:55] Good for you. That's one thing that I guess drones might be okay for. The one only thing. Yeah. Perhaps. I'm just teasing. But it was – like I said, it was worthwhile. I enjoyed it. Cool. I will go back to watch them again.

[unknown speaker 00:56:10] Yeah. I've never seen one, like obviously live. I've seen a few on like YouTube and stuff. But I'm sure you don't get the same experience watching it on – You don't. You know what I mean?

[unknown speaker 00:56:20] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 00:56:20] And it's – Could you hear them? Could you hear them buzzing around? No, they're far enough away you couldn't.

[unknown speaker 00:56:25] So I looked – I ended up looking online, obviously, Google Maps to kind of see where they were flying and all that kind of stuff. And they were only about 500 feet away from us. Really? So they were pretty close. And I could not hear a thing. Oh, be darn.

[unknown speaker 00:56:37] So I'm assuming then also with that the fireworks were probably farther away because they had a bigger field that was like kind of out back from where they were doing that stuff to kind of keep a good amount of distance because I don't think you want to shoot your $2,000 drone with a firework every night and lose one.

[00:56:53] Dave: It's probably a bad idea.

[unknown speaker 00:56:54] Yeah. Yeah. But no, like I said, it was awesome. I enjoyed it very much. So did Piper. So did Crystal. So it was worth the trip. Cool.

[unknown speaker 00:57:02] Excellent.

[unknown speaker 00:57:04] Next, we have one final thing to talk about.

[unknown speaker 00:57:06] Okay. So –

[unknown speaker 00:57:07] The email that came in. All right. From Alan. And he's asking about AS3X+. So I will say we're not going to get into a deep dive in AS3X+. Maybe we can do a full episode on that sometime. But as for now, let's listen to his question and try and answer it.

[unknown speaker 00:57:24] Okay. Alan says, hey, guys. I was wondering if you all would take some time in an upcoming podcast to delve into AS3X+. I'm unclear if that only requires having a specific receiver in a plane or both a receiver and spectrum radio running at some level capacity to support the new Plus. I have a DX8e that I bought and believe I can't take advantage of the newer Plus features as things stand currently. I have never updated my radio.

[unknown speaker 00:57:52] I'm not sure I need to do this on some regular basis or not. If you all have covered this in an earlier episode, I may have missed it. But if not, some dedicated time explaining to folks who are not super comfortable with the nitty-gritty around various receivers plus forward programming, et cetera, it would be helpful.

[unknown speaker 00:58:10] I built an old-school Modelworks plane last year with some help from a friend and would like to upgrade from a basic lemon receiver to a spectrum one with at least safe mode just in case. It has saved me on my UMX Conchendo when I lost orientation for a moment. I'm not sure on Horizon's site which type of receiver makes the most sense, and I don't want to underbuy if my DX8e radio could work with a Plus-compatible plane with some firmware updates.

[unknown speaker 00:58:40] If my DX8e is never going to work for the new Plus planes coming out, I would still like to get something that allows me to add safe to my old-school Modelworks plane to help ensure I keep it as long as possible. I get that. Any time you all could spend on these related topics would probably be helpful to several of your listeners who are not overly seasoned RC pilots or naturally comfortable engineer types. Alan.

[unknown speaker 00:59:08] So, first thing I'm going to say is, oh, he says, not sure if I need to do this on some regular basis or not. He's talking about updating his radio. Yes, you should do it anytime that there's an update available.

[unknown speaker 00:59:25] So, we say that, though, coming from the ease of updating through the Android or the Google Play Store. That's true. That's not the same for other…

[unknown speaker 00:59:36] Noted. Okay.

[unknown speaker 00:59:38] Just want to make that clear. Gotcha. That can be more of a hassle to do other transmitters. So, I will say the DX8e does not support forward programming. It's… I'm trying to think how to word this and be concise. So, with AS3X Plus, you're not… You don't necessarily have to have any fancy transmitter to fly one that's already set up. So, any new airplanes that you get that are BNF or already programmed, it's just a firmware upgrade.

[unknown speaker 01:00:14] And the Plus has nothing to do with your receiver with how… I'm sorry. It has nothing to do with your transmitter with how the receiver works. Does that make sense?

[unknown speaker 01:00:23] Yeah. So, what you're saying… It works with my FreeSky stuff. Right. So, what you're saying is… Clarify what I said. A receiver that comes in a bind-and-fly airplane is already programmed to utilize the AS3X features that are in the receiver Plus features. Yeah. Right. If you buy an off-the-shelf, an individually-labeled AS3X receiver that's not pre-programmed for a particular airplane, that's where you run into the… Is that what you're saying? Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:00:51] So, if you're trying to set up an AS3X Plus receiver, if you don't… Like, the DX8E does not do it, but if you know somebody that has any NX series, IX series transmitters, you can always set it up with that transmitter and then bind it to yours afterwards and it will work just the same.

[01:01:12] Dave: Yeah. In case I'm in with my Ultra Slow Slick, I need to have one of you guys program for the extra aileron servo I put in.

[unknown speaker 01:01:22] Yeah. That's easy enough.

[01:01:24] Dave: And then, once it's programmed through your radio, then my radio will work with it just fine.

[unknown speaker 01:01:29] Right. Because all that programming lives in the receiver, not in your transmitter. Yep. All your transmitter is doing is just saying, hey, do this, and then the receiver is saying, okay, well, this is what I'm supposed to be programmed to do. This is the switch I'm listening for. This is what I'm doing based on what I'm told to be done, or what I'm being told by the transmitter. It doesn't matter which one it is.

[unknown speaker 01:01:48] So, basically, though, AS3X Plus is a firmware update that has a different algorithm and more features for stability and other things that are added to it, too. The receivers you can do it with now are the AR637T, the AR836, or I'm sorry, AR8060T, I'm sorry, AR8360T.

[01:02:14] Dave: How many tries?

[unknown speaker 01:02:15] They're all so close. That's the problem. AR630, AR631, and then the AR10360T. So, if you have just basic, you okay? Yeah, I'm good. If you have just a basic airplane, not big, nothing like that, the AR630 or the AR631, good choice. 630 does not have an external antenna. 631 does have an external antenna. That's the only difference in those. So, if you buy them now, they're already set up, like new ones, new stock. It has AS3X Plus firmware loaded on it.

[unknown speaker 01:02:50] All that means is it's just a little bit different to set it up, and you use a transmitter to set up your, like your gains and all that kind of stuff. It's a very quick setup that is a little bit easier than the old AS3X out-of-the-box ones.

[unknown speaker 01:03:08] And when you say use your transmitter to set up gains and stuff like that, you're talking about your IX or NX transmitter? Correct. Sorry, with forward programming. Right.

[01:03:16] Dave: Can you use your programming cable for it through the computer? I don't think so. So, that technology is kind of pushing it.

[unknown speaker 01:03:23] So, if you have an old one that you have to update to the new Plus firmware, you have to use it, or have to use that cable on your computer to update it. But I don't think you can actually make all the changes and stuff. So, you can do the traditional changes.

[01:03:39] Dave: You just can't access any of the Plus items.

[unknown speaker 01:03:43] I don't know. I don't think you can access anything, to be honest with you. I think the forward programming is the only way. I'd have to verify that, but I think that's the only way you can get to the settings on those now. Because I know, like the old, what was it, 636 or whatever those were, you could do all that stuff with your computer.

[unknown speaker 01:04:02] But the problem was, anytime you had to change it, you literally had to drag your computer out, plug it in, and power it through the computer. So, your best was to unplug all the servos and stuff, and then change whatever setting you needed to.

[01:04:16] Dave: Just trying to see if we could do it for somebody who doesn't have the higher-end NX or IX radios.

[unknown speaker 01:04:20] I agree with Ron. I don't think that's possible, because the last 631 that I unlocked, 631 Plus that I unlocked, was the one that I got from Toledo that was in AeroScout or whatever it was. Actually, it was a 631.

[unknown speaker 01:04:37] I turned it into a Plus by unlocking it and then downloading it.

[unknown speaker 01:04:40] Anyway, while I had it plugged into the computer with the cable, the only thing I could change was registration information, I think I could change, and I could update the firmware. But as far as accessing gains, directions, any of that, no more receiver, except for just a little bit of basic information. Right. Yeah. And then everything to adjust the receiver was done through forward programming on my IX in this case, but an NX would have done that as well. Right.

[unknown speaker 01:05:11] So, its 8E is probably not going to handle this. It's not going to be able to? It's not going to be able to program the receiver. Right.

[unknown speaker 01:05:18] And it's not ever going to be able to.

[unknown speaker 01:05:20] Right.

[unknown speaker 01:05:21] I mean, there's no updates that are going to be coming out.

[unknown speaker 01:05:22] But it will fly that receiver if somebody can program the receiver for him that has an IX or NX radio that can do that.

[unknown speaker 01:05:30] Right. Once it's set up, pretty much any DSM, DSM-2, or DSM-X, whatever transmitter will work on it. Yep. So, but honestly, if you're going to be in the hobby for a while, it's a good idea to go a little bit more modern, I think, with your, or not necessarily modern, but a little higher up on some of the radios that you use.

[unknown speaker 01:05:51] Well, if you're going to, yeah, if you're going to be in the hobby a while and you're planning on staying with Spectrum, it may not be a bad idea, is it, to update to an NX so that you can at least take advantage of all the AS3X Plus stuff that's out there.

[unknown speaker 01:06:05] Yeah. NX, I don't even remember now that they have the updates, what they are. I think the NX6 all the way up to the 8 and 10, even the 20, is all 20 channels now, right? Was it 6 also, or was that one?

[unknown speaker 01:06:18] I'm not going to answer that because I'll be wrong.

[unknown speaker 01:06:20] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:06:20] I probably shouldn't say that either.

[01:06:22] Dave: I don't remember. You have to look it up yourself then.

[unknown speaker 01:06:24] But, yeah, so with the DX8E, like I said, there's just a few limitations that I probably wouldn't. Stick with that one. It's probably good to update if you can. If not, you want to fly it with that, like I said, get a buddy that has something.

[unknown speaker 01:06:43] When you say update, you mean upgrade. Upgrade.

[unknown speaker 01:06:45] Sorry.

[01:06:45] Dave: And if you want to keep that, there are other ways of doing it, getting safe without using Spectrum equipment. It's like my FMS 1700 Cub has got, and I cannot remember what FMS comes. Their version of it. Their version of it. But that's a standalone unit. You can use any receiver you want with that.

[unknown speaker 01:07:03] That's true. Yeah. And it's got safe. Like the, what is it, the Aura boards and all that kind of stuff. You can do that on all of them.

[01:07:08] Dave: Yeah, there's many other options out there if you're just looking for safe and don't necessarily upgrade your transmitter.

[unknown speaker 01:07:13] If you're looking for something simple, though, and I guess I know this isn't simple for if you're not doing it often, but honestly, the AS3X Plus setup is quick. Like they've got that down to where there's not much that goes into it. There's a couple settings you change, a couple switches you assign. When you're flying, you adjust your gains and stuff. And then you either leave it there or lock it in and don't ever worry about changing again.

[unknown speaker 01:07:40] They did make it, they did make it easy to set up. I will, I will give them that. Yeah. Yeah. I had mine set up lickety split.

[unknown speaker 01:07:47] Yeah. By the time you started to actually do your setup in your jet, I think you had that done in what, five laps? Yeah. I mean.

[unknown speaker 01:07:53] Yeah. It was, it was no time at all. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:07:55] So, well, like I said, we'll have to do a deeper dive sometime into the AS3X Plus, but I think a lot of, a lot has been made of it. It's nice. It's got more features, but it's not the end all to where if you're just with AS3X versus AS3X Plus, I mean, you won't notice a difference between them. I don't think.

[01:08:19] Dave: It just gives you more options, more tunability, but. Right.

[unknown speaker 01:08:22] But if you're just flying something set up, like just an off the shelf, mind to fly stuff, it's, they do seem to fly a little bit better, but I don't know if that's just mentally, because we're being told it's new, it's improved. But I don't think it's big enough difference for pilots of, of my caliber or whatever to notice a difference. I'm not high enough at the upper echelon or whatever to where I'm worried about tiny little changes that you might notice.

[unknown speaker 01:08:50] But I think to get, to get at the, at the root of, of what Alan is getting at here in the email is, I think he wants, he wants the safe is, is what's important to him. And do you need AS3X Plus for safe?

[unknown speaker 01:09:06] No, safe is on the old AS3X.

[unknown speaker 01:09:08] Yeah, I was going to say, you can get safe on the older AS3X receivers too. So, you don't necessarily need to go to Plus to get safe.

[unknown speaker 01:09:17] Right. But if you don't have programming cable and all that kind of stuff, either way, I'd be able to program an AS3X.

[unknown speaker 01:09:23] Either way. Yeah. An upgrade would probably be the. Or a buddy that has one. The most fun solution. Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:09:30] Most expensive, but you're right. Most fun. safe is easy to set up on, on the new Plus firmware.

[unknown speaker 01:09:38] and there's so many, like the, what the Plus does give you like hand launch mode. I mean, how easy was that to set up? Like I, I have not crashed on takeoff, crashed on hand launch, that V900 since I enabled that, that right. Launch assist thing. It is amazing.

[unknown speaker 01:09:58] Yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:09:59] Like, and you were bouncing them off the ground on a regular basis. Regular basis. Yeah. That airplane looks terrible because of, of the, of, of the takeoffs.

[unknown speaker 01:10:07] Well, and all, all that is, is pretty much safe for two seconds. Two or, well, and it's user-selectable. Right. However long you want it to go. So. And, and that's the nice thing too. You can adjust when it kicks in. How many G's you want it to pull before it kicks in. Yep. You know, I mean, there's, that's what I mean. There's, there's a lot of options with the plus firmware that they didn't have on the regular. That's all really nice.

[01:10:33] Dave: It's an automatic. I kind of do the same thing with my MIG. I just flip it to safe, have it launched. And then as soon as it's out and about and solid, I flip safe off.

[unknown speaker 01:10:41] Well, and see the nice thing about hand launch though is. It automatically does that. Well, not only that though, but safe is going to, when you flip that on, it's going to keep you level. So if you throw it five feet off the ground, it's going to stay five feet off the ground. With hand launch assist, you tell it what percentage rise you want it to be. And it will continue. And it will continue at 20 degrees or 15 degrees.

[unknown speaker 01:11:02] Yeah, that's the big, big thing I like about it because it, it does, it's a, it's just crazy how it works. But yeah.

[unknown speaker 01:11:08] And it's like I said, it's all settings that you choose, which is different planes are going to require different amount of up, not trim, but you know, what's where I'm looking for, you know. Which angle? Angle. There you go. Going to different, different climb rates and all that kind of stuff. And maybe some of them can only do, you know, 10 degrees of, of climb without stalling or something like that.

[unknown speaker 01:11:30] Yeah, because they don't have as much power as a whatever.

[unknown speaker 01:11:33] Right.

[unknown speaker 01:11:33] Yeah, I got it.

[unknown speaker 01:11:34] So for whatever time you set that for, it's in safe mode and then it just goes away. Mm-hmm. And that gives you enough time to get your hand back on the transmitter. Actually, you can program that too.

[unknown speaker 01:11:43] You can make it go away as soon as you move one of the sticks. Oh, really? Mm-hmm.

[unknown speaker 01:11:48] I didn't know that.

[unknown speaker 01:11:48] Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

[unknown speaker 01:11:50] See?

[unknown speaker 01:11:51] Cool. I'm learning every day too. Yeah, pretty cool. Kind of like how the instructor can take control just by moving. Yeah, they can, you can get out of launch mode.

[01:12:00] Dave: It just goes back and says, okay, you got it.

[unknown speaker 01:12:01] Launch it and then, oh, no, I got it. And I have to flip a switch or anything.

[01:12:05] Dave: It's pretty hard because I'll get myself in trouble. I'll be banked wide open and they're trying to get it to roll and forget and flip the switch. And the next thing I know, I'm inverted. Yep.

[unknown speaker 01:12:13] I've done that once because I didn't have mine set up right. It'll grab you. I don't have it set up then for yours or however you set it up to where, you know, when you touch that, it goes away. I was trying to bank and I was doing the same. It's in safe, obviously. So, it limits bank angle and all that kind of stuff. So, I was pegging it to the left, you know, and it started to kind of go slowly, slowly.

[unknown speaker 01:12:32] And then after that two or three second, whatever I had it set up for, it just went all wobbly and stuff. I was like, wait a minute. But, yeah, I mean, that's all stuff you can program out. Like I said, the AS3X Plus is nice. But if it's just something you're looking for a safe, like you said, Tommy, you don't have to have that firmware. You've got lots of other options. Yep. Yep. Cool. Hopefully that answered the question. I don't know if it did or not, but.

[unknown speaker 01:12:54] Thanks for writing.

[unknown speaker 01:12:55] Let us know if it did get it.

[unknown speaker 01:12:56] Thanks for writing to us, Alan.

[unknown speaker 01:12:57] Yeah. Appreciate it. And we'll, like I said, we'll have to. Yeah, that would be a good. Maybe once wintertime comes or something where we have more time.

[01:13:03] Dave: That'd be a good subject for a deep dive.

[unknown speaker 01:13:05] I agree.

[unknown speaker 01:13:06] Cool.

[unknown speaker 01:13:07] Anything else, gentlemen?

[unknown speaker 01:13:08] Nope. That's all I got. Well, same here. Cool.

[unknown speaker 01:13:12] Then good night.

[unknown speaker 01:13:13] I hope you guys get to do lots of flying this weekend while I'm at work.

[unknown speaker 01:13:16] I will not be. Oh. I have house chores.

[unknown speaker 01:13:20] UNKNOWN: Oh.

[unknown speaker 01:13:20] Because I have a lot of other things coming up, airplane related, that is going to take me away from house chores.

[01:13:26] Dave: Yeah. I'll be under the hood of the truck trying to find a wiring issue. Oh, boy. Okay.

[unknown speaker 01:13:30] Well, have fun this weekend, guys.

[01:13:33] Dave: Well, you have fun working.

[unknown speaker 01:13:35] Have fun at work.

[unknown speaker 01:13:36] All right.

[unknown speaker 01:13:37] Until next time. Thank you for listening. I'm Ron. I'm Tom.

[01:13:39] Dave: And I'm Dave. Good night. Good night. Good night.

[unknown speaker 01:13:41] We hope you enjoyed this episode of the RC Plane Lab podcast. For topic suggestions, to ask questions, or to give anything back, connect with us at rcplanelab.com or email us direct at either ron at rcplanelab.com or tom at rcplanelab.com. You can also text us or leave us a voicemail at 818-351-9846. Please subscribe, rate, and review us on your favorite podcast app. Until next time, may your landings be gentle.

[unknown speaker 01:14:09] UNKNOWN: Bye. Bye. Bye.