Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
12-30-2011, 05:38 PM
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Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
As the AMA convention draws near, I'll be heading out there for the first time. One of the selling points for me to make the 4 hour drive is that they are advertising a swap meet/vendor area with a lot of stuff for sale. For those that have been there before, are there good deals or are we looking at "save $10 if you buy at the show?"
There's some good deals that I know of locally but I would have to buy something here if I can save a few bucks if I just wait a week until I'm at the convention.
What kinds of deals have you guys seen at this event? Worth making the drive for? As much as I like checking out new stuff, I like to add to my collection more :P
There's some good deals that I know of locally but I would have to buy something here if I can save a few bucks if I just wait a week until I'm at the convention.
What kinds of deals have you guys seen at this event? Worth making the drive for? As much as I like checking out new stuff, I like to add to my collection more :P
12-31-2011, 05:41 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
The swap area is just that, a swap shop where non-vendor modelers go to sell their stuff. Just like any swap shop, some guys are there to clear out their personal inventory and just wanna get rid of stuff and some guys are there with stuff they really don't want to get rid of and are pretty proud of it.
Vendor area has some good deals, Hacker always has a show special, some vendors, DW Foamies comes to mind, have good combo deals and don't forget the savings in shipping from buying at the show, I always buy a couple bags of screws from the screw and bolt guys cause it's like $5 a bag for (usually) 100 screws and if you buy them any other time of the year and have them shipped to you it's about $8 a bag with shipping. And then some vendors, Hobby People comes to mind, are selling at normal store prices, or in some cases even inflated prices cause they know it's still gonna be cheaper than buying and shipping, but even that saves you some money if you were going to buy it and have it shipped anyway. Some good deals, you just have to shop carefully.
Vendor area has some good deals, Hacker always has a show special, some vendors, DW Foamies comes to mind, have good combo deals and don't forget the savings in shipping from buying at the show, I always buy a couple bags of screws from the screw and bolt guys cause it's like $5 a bag for (usually) 100 screws and if you buy them any other time of the year and have them shipped to you it's about $8 a bag with shipping. And then some vendors, Hobby People comes to mind, are selling at normal store prices, or in some cases even inflated prices cause they know it's still gonna be cheaper than buying and shipping, but even that saves you some money if you were going to buy it and have it shipped anyway. Some good deals, you just have to shop carefully.
12-31-2011, 07:03 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
This is what the email I got the other day about the Expo said:
See the Swap Show and find bargains on Saturday 10 a.m - 6 p.m. and Sunday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
01-01-2012, 10:35 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
ORIGINAL: ira d
I here this year the swap shop will only be open sat & sun.
I here this year the swap shop will only be open sat & sun.
I will be posting a list this week of items I will have at the Swap Shop. I have a number of NIB ARF's, Lanier kits, some RxR electric and glow and a 33% H9 Sukhoi airframe. Watch for it in the classified. Both Sukhoi's in the attached photo will be there.
01-01-2012, 10:57 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Very cool, I'll be looking for them! I may be interested in the larger Sukhoi or some of the Lanier ARFS 
01-07-2012, 06:02 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Well made our annual 500 mile run to the show!Came away verey disappointed!!!As last year there were againewven less venders there many empty spaces!!Swap meet was on Sat and Sunday I guess but we decided not worth the hassle to get there for it as is held in tiny very crowded room!!No idea where the venders went to but looked even emptier than last year when we noticed the drop in venders also but figured give it another chance but was even worse this year.No idea why they stayed away if prices were raised to point where they felt not worth the time or what!There were some very nice displays there!!!Not big on electrics but they were the big item there and some companies sure had some neat ones!Getting to the point where that 500 mile drive may not be worth the effort.No matter which direction I go am about a 150 miles from a decent hobby shop so really look forward to attending this show but just very disappointed!!
01-07-2012, 08:19 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Sadly over the years the show has changed from its original selling show roots to what we see today. That is largely a reflection of the consolidation of how retailers in this hobby work. There are fewer cottage industry types and Tower/Horizon and a couple of other dominate what is sold.
Having said that, there were still lots of people selling lots of cool things. There is certainly something for everyone and for me it is still worth going. I will be there again today and plan on going to the AMA/FAA seminar at 2 pm for sure.
Having said that, there were still lots of people selling lots of cool things. There is certainly something for everyone and for me it is still worth going. I will be there again today and plan on going to the AMA/FAA seminar at 2 pm for sure.
01-07-2012, 10:00 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Wow that was an incredible let down. I'll be taking the sukhoi home with me if I don't see anything else. I don't "need" it but it sure is nice
01-07-2012, 03:42 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
I was pleasently surprised by the show....but nothing compared to the Grand Daddy "Toledo". Was only there on Friday and saw what I wanted and left about $300 poorer (or richer depending on who's Ox is getting gored). Got to see some old time friends and had to pass on a couple of what I thought was good deals.....I'd go again and probably will.
). Got to see some old time friends and had to pass on a couple of what I thought was good deals.....I'd go again and probably will.
01-07-2012, 07:54 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
I'll tell you what, this show ended up being great! I posted from my phone that I was bummed about the swap meet area but this is before I got into the actual AMA display areas. I didn't realize that all of the companies would be selling! Perfect, this is what I came here for! For some reason I was under the impression that this would be like the SEMA show for cars can't really buy anything but you can see what's coming out this year kind of thing.
Glad that I got to see a lot of items from my wishlist. I will say that Banana Hobby messed up because there weren't show specials and they were taking online orders....what? Hobby Partz and Nitro Planes were great! Take a plane with ya
Anyway, I scored some pretty killer deals: RTF Quadcopter for $279 WITH EVERYTHING plus $10 for a camera mount, $40 each for 2 Thunder Power 6S 4300mah packs and a handful of other stuff like LED Light strips, etc.. Kicking myself for not spending too much and coming home with a 50cc airframe or an aerobatic electric but I think what I got was pretty awesome :P Hope you all had a good show too
Glad that I got to see a lot of items from my wishlist. I will say that Banana Hobby messed up because there weren't show specials and they were taking online orders....what? Hobby Partz and Nitro Planes were great! Take a plane with ya
Anyway, I scored some pretty killer deals: RTF Quadcopter for $279 WITH EVERYTHING plus $10 for a camera mount, $40 each for 2 Thunder Power 6S 4300mah packs and a handful of other stuff like LED Light strips, etc.. Kicking myself for not spending too much and coming home with a 50cc airframe or an aerobatic electric but I think what I got was pretty awesome :P Hope you all had a good show too
01-08-2012, 05:31 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Unfortunately, I didn't make it into the seminar early enough... My buddy and I were too distracted by looking for certain items that we couldn't live without
01-08-2012, 10:12 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
ORIGINAL: ira d
Any news from the FAA seminer on sat?
Any news from the FAA seminer on sat?
1 - they confirmed that there will be a 2-tier approach. A default path and the potential for a CBO to write alternative standards.
2 - Sizemore and company had nothing to do with writing the rule. They have in fact seen it and know what it says however. His job has been to work with the AMA in writing the AMA standards in a form acceptable to the FAA. For me this was the big news. The FAA has personnel whose job it is to help the AMA get our standards written properly.
3 - The NPRM is delayed again, likely to April/May. With the anticipated course of events it is not likely that the Rule will go into effect until mid to late 2013.
4 - AMA membership will not, and cannot, be required by the FAA to use the AMA standards. Still not clear how AMA plans to capture compensation from non members for the AMA's intellectual property. Very gray area there. But the big point is that AMA membership will not be required. Period.
5 - Asked what they would tell someone thinking of buying a turbine or similar high performance plane, their response was "I'd do it without hesitation".
6 - The whole thing is that they want us to keep doing what we have been doing so safely for so long. But now we will be required to write it down in exhaustive detail. Licenses, etc. will not be required for models. Commercial operations and public agencies will be held to a high standard (the actual meat of the Rule).
Overall I feel far more optimistic than I have for some time.
01-08-2012, 10:32 PM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
"4 - AMA membership will not, and cannot, be required by the FAA to use the AMA standards. Still not clear how AMA plans to capture compensation from non members for the AMA's intellectual property. Very gray area there. But the big point is that AMA membership will not be required. Period. "
in this instance, anything they do to try and get compensation for "intellectual property" will most likely be a very bad PR move. best to just suck it up and move on to other things.
in this instance, anything they do to try and get compensation for "intellectual property" will most likely be a very bad PR move. best to just suck it up and move on to other things.
01-09-2012, 06:02 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
Silents post was good news. I agree with mongo on compensation for AMA Standards. What I wonder about though.......... is the comment about detailed record keeping and documentation. That depending on what it actually requires may eliminate the ability of a individual or small group of individuald (i.e. Club) to implement "alternative standards" (i.e. AMA).
How you would enforce that is a task that the FAA just would not be prepared to do.
Brad
01-09-2012, 06:25 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
ORIGINAL: bradpaul
Silents post was good news. I agree with mongo on compensation for AMA Standards. What I wonder about though.......... is the comment about detailed record keeping and documentation. That depending on what it actually requires may eliminate the ability of a individual or small group of individuald (i.e. Club) to implement ''alternative standards'' (i.e. AMA).
Silents post was good news. I agree with mongo on compensation for AMA Standards. What I wonder about though.......... is the comment about detailed record keeping and documentation. That depending on what it actually requires may eliminate the ability of a individual or small group of individuald (i.e. Club) to implement ''alternative standards'' (i.e. AMA).
How you would enforce that is a task that the FAA just would not be prepared to do.
Brad
They made no mention of a need for detailed record keeping. In fact they said clearly that we will likely not be required to keep logbooks, records of inspection, etc. The exhaustive detail I refer to is in the writing of the alternative standards. Every detail of how we plan to fly safely must be written down.
As to enforcement, the ability or willingness to write a rule is independent of their ability to enforce it. They put it this way, there are a large number of current FAA regulations, yet nobody is running around looking for every single infraction. Enforcement comes by exception. Nobody can stop you from violating a rule and nobody from the FAA is going to be standing there waiting for you to violate a rule. But cause and issue or incident while doing so and then, as the saying goes, you got some splainin to do.
It is not clear exactly what constitutes a CBO in the eyes of the FAA. They said that right now the AMA is the only one they are aware of who has approached them about writing an alternative standard. But they also made clear that other groups are certainly welcome to do so. I think once people see the level of effort required to do this they will understand that it is not practical for every club or small group of individuals to even make a first pass at writing an alternative standard. From what I understand, it is not trivial task.
01-09-2012, 07:24 AM
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RE: Good R/C deals from the vendors at the AMA Convention?
ORIGINAL: Silent-AV8R
Actually not much hard ''news'' since they are still bound by the same policies that prohibit release of hard info. But there were some interesting nuggets.
1 - they confirmed that there will be a 2-tier approach. A default path and the potential for a CBO to write alternative standards.
2 - Sizemore and company had nothing to do with writing the rule. They have in fact seen it and know what it says however. His job has been to work with the AMA in writing the AMA standards in a form acceptable to the FAA. For me this was the big news. The FAA has personnel whose job it is to help the AMA get our standards written properly.
3 - The NPRM is delayed again, likely to April/May. With the anticipated course of events it is not likely that the Rule will go into effect until mid to late 2013.
4 - AMA membership will not, and cannot, be required by the FAA to use the AMA standards. Still not clear how AMA plans to capture compensation from non members for the AMA's intellectual property. Very gray area there. But the big point is that AMA membership will not be required. Period.
5 - Asked what they would tell someone thinking of buying a turbine or similar high performance plane, their response was ''I'd do it without hesitation''.
6 - The whole thing is that they want us to keep doing what we have been doing so safely for so long. But now we will be required to write it down in exhaustive detail. Licenses, etc. will not be required for models. Commercial operations and public agencies will be held to a high standard (the actual meat of the Rule).
Overall I feel far more optimistic than I have for some time.
ORIGINAL: ira d
Any news from the FAA seminer on sat?
Any news from the FAA seminer on sat?
1 - they confirmed that there will be a 2-tier approach. A default path and the potential for a CBO to write alternative standards.
2 - Sizemore and company had nothing to do with writing the rule. They have in fact seen it and know what it says however. His job has been to work with the AMA in writing the AMA standards in a form acceptable to the FAA. For me this was the big news. The FAA has personnel whose job it is to help the AMA get our standards written properly.
3 - The NPRM is delayed again, likely to April/May. With the anticipated course of events it is not likely that the Rule will go into effect until mid to late 2013.
4 - AMA membership will not, and cannot, be required by the FAA to use the AMA standards. Still not clear how AMA plans to capture compensation from non members for the AMA's intellectual property. Very gray area there. But the big point is that AMA membership will not be required. Period.
5 - Asked what they would tell someone thinking of buying a turbine or similar high performance plane, their response was ''I'd do it without hesitation''.
6 - The whole thing is that they want us to keep doing what we have been doing so safely for so long. But now we will be required to write it down in exhaustive detail. Licenses, etc. will not be required for models. Commercial operations and public agencies will be held to a high standard (the actual meat of the Rule).
Overall I feel far more optimistic than I have for some time.
