Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

I just got the word that RC Report magazine is back in operation on-line. Still has most of it's writers too!! Some of it is free to read and some you have to pay to sign up for.
For new people in the hobby I can't stress how good this magazine is and how much you can learn from reading it. Go take a look!!!!!!!
Gene
www.rcreport.net

nedyob

My Feedback: (67)

I will second that. I wish I would have subcribed to RC Report along time ago when I 1st started this hobby.
NEDYOB

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

At first all you could do was laugh, it was printed on news print paper and not very well. The thing was that it was some great writing and information. I wish I would have gotten some binders and saved them all. It's still a no BS magazine that isn't owned by the advertisers like that nasty glossy ARF magazine on news stands today. With them every thing an advertiser is selling is reviewed as something really great, even if it is total junk.

hulio516

I wouldn't give 10 cents to subscribe to that. I get all the RC info I want right here on rcuniverse and the internet for FREE!

When I get those monthly magazines for joining ama that magazine goes from my mail box to the trash can!

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

Oh well, the site doesn't work for me. They must be down again.

DavidAgar

My Feedback: (108)

I just did a Goggle search for RCReport and went right to the site. Good Luck, Dave

KitBuilder

I enjoyed it when it was in mag form but they wouldn't do any kit reviews. All ARFs.

ramboy

Say what? I have a copy of RC Report with an article on the build of a Sig Kadet Seniorita.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

When any new kits came out they tried to do a build review, if there are very few kits to be reviewed what should they write about? There last couple of years I was watching it happen even to them. Anyone remember when MAN had a build article every month and you could order the plans?? Thing of the past, no one is desingning for plans builders any longer. Bad Shirt tried to do as many builds as he could and the magazine ended before he finished his last build.
As to getting all the information you need here on RCU. Good luck with that!!

Stick 40

I really did like RC Report on paper and miss it, I am trying the online for a year and see how it goes.

They may have to start doing that with more and more info. I know some news papers are going to on line for some days of the week.

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The problem with kit reviews is that it takes a long time to build a kit. Yea, I know that there are some people out there who can build fast, but they're not the guy who is doing the review. Don't forget, we have full-time jobs and families too.

Most manufacturers like to see a 45-day turnaround, that is; have a review go live within 45 days of sending the product. In most cases, an ARF can be assembled in a week or two - Then we spend a month trying to coordinate good weather and a second person (who can either fly or shoot pics and video) to get the pictures shot. THEN the pictures and video still need to be edited, rendered and inserted into the HTML document!

I did one Kit review. Now, keep in mind that when i started doing reviews, I WANTED to do kits, but I'll never do another. I felt constantly rushed to get it done which made it seem like it took even longer than it did!

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

There was a very good reason that people stopped doing those construction articles. Those ariticle were a pain in the butt to do and they paid about 400 bucks for them. 400 bucks for six monthes of work. Taking photos and writing text added work to the projects which usually added up to hundreds of hours, and they offered 400 bucks.
Now, I'm not saying that a person should be paid a living wage for documenting their hobby. But those construction articles were the heart and soul fo all the magazines back then. The mags essentially asked you to write their main story. The magazine that month was you and your project. The 400 bucks was an insult, a slap in the face. One by one, all the regular contributors decided it wasn't worth it and walked away.
So don't cry for the magazines. Don't cry that construction articles faded away. That was a business decision that all of the magazines made , by design or by incompentencey. I tend to think they did it by incompentencey and didn't realize that it meant their eventual demise.
What is left to write about ? "How to's" for the neophites ? That cuts the demographic down considerably.

Good luck to them. But, I doubt they are somehow up to reforming a dying media with new ideas. I've seen their new ideas.[:'(]

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

This is so true. I speak from experience.

Wanna try something fun? Go to RCU magazine. On the RH side of the page it says "Filter Reviews" - click on "Any Author" and select the first one, then click "Filter Results" and see how many reviews that person did.

Then select the next author and see how many HE did. Keep going through the list. You'll be amazed at how many people have tried to do a review or two and then decided that it was too much work and quit.

bigdanusa

If I did a review I would expect $25-$30 per hour for every hour it took assembling it, writing about it, and shooting a video of it.

$400 is more than a slap in the face to do one.

If that's all they paid me, I'd be sure to put at the end of the review... "I wouldn't have this plane if you gave it to me for Free!"

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

We don't even GET paid.

We are allowed to keep the product when we're done, and in some cases, it's a very nice deal.

But we do the same amount of work for a $500 Cessna 310 as we do for a $30 foamy.

bigdanusa

If they included the plane, engine and radio it may be worth it. If only the plane, no way would I do one. My time is more valuable than that!

They're putting peanuts in your mouth while you are feeding them steaks from the review!

At a big bird fly-in there were 3 futaba reps with their fancy futaba shirts on that flew their planes like they were professionals! The one guy was doing 16pt rolling circles 5 feet above the ground with a 40% plane. I asked the guy... "Not to be nosey, but does futaba give you guys much money for representing them with your flying skills and advertising for them by wearing those shirts?" The guy told me... "Futaba doesn't hardly give us Sh??!

MinnFlyer

My Feedback: (4)

The way I look at it is: It's just another aspect to the hobby.

I've been flying all my life (I'm 55) I've gotten as good as I'll ever get, tried 3-D and heli's, but didn't care for it (My brain just doesn't care to learn new things) and photography/videography has always been an interest of mine.

I was getting bored with flying. Sure, I'm still an airplane nut at heart, but it just seemed that there were no more aspects to the sport that I cared to conquer.

When I started doing reviews, it opened up a whole new aspect of the hobby for me.

So now I tell people, "My hobby used to be building and flying RC airplanes. NOW, my hobby is REVIEWING RC airplanes"

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

Dude, they were paying 400 bucks for SCRATCH BUILT SCALE model articles. Maybe 2% of the RC community was even capable of doing these. I learned more reading one of those scratch scale articles than I could reading a lifetime's worth of kit reviews .

old n slow

I had 20 months left on my sub. when they folded. I sent email asking if they would give me credit towards their electronic verions.
I didn't request a refund for unused copies. I thought I would give them some slack.
I doubt if they will give me any credit but I can always hope. Won't pay for electronic version. They have lost my confidence and will have to earn it back.
Has anyone else made a similar request?

Old n Slow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but you can't trick me twice.

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

On page 13 of the March issue, there final issue, Gordon wrote about refunds and how to go about getting them. Did you ever bother with asking for yours?? It was/is pretty easy!! Kinda one of those no brainer things.
A lot better deal then I got when I gave MAN the drop. All I got from them was the shaft!
As for the building articles they used to have a few years ago in the magazines, that was one of the few reasons I bothered buying them. I still have piles of plans from planes I may or may not ever get to build. These were the ones for scratch builders, I never gave a big hoot about the kit building unless it was something on my wish list.
Reviews on ARFs?? I give a lot less of a hoot about them. For me I just really miss Ed and Bad Shirt, I even missed that Thunder from Down Under Winch feller. How many people that read RCR haven't learned something about radios or batteries from Tony Stillman??
It has a lot to do with the people that do the writing and I really enjoy the old RCR gang.
RCR is back, read it or don't, up to you.

Red Scholefield

My Feedback: (9)

If you are serious, you can save yourself the trouble. Just contact Shawn Grubs, [email protected] and she can remove you from the mailing list.

From: Shawn Grubbs [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 11:41 AM
Subject: FW: MA Subscription

Yes we can remove members from our magazine mailing list. The removal of the magazine subscription does not have any effect on the price of membership.

Shawn Grubbs
Membership Supervisor
Academy of Model Aeronautics
1-800-435-9262 ext 290

batchelc

My Feedback: (7)

MinnFlyer,

I too feel like my hobby is 'reviewing now. It's cool though because you never know what kind of plane is comming next. Maybe someday they will raise the "pay" standards! Just kidding...

I'm working on a How-To/Review of a CNC hot-wire machine. That should get some folks on here going again tword the scratch built stuff.

It seems now like once you read any of the print mags for 12 months you start seeing the same things over and over.

Its the same way with the full-scale airplane mags. I mean how many times can you write a story on landing in a crosswind at nigh...ugh!

I like the RCU format here because you get an instant pulse on what the hobby is doing.

Batch

Gray Beard

My Feedback: (-1)

If he doesn't want it can you send it to me???

Jetdesign

My Feedback: (8)

I feel like I remember something about a book of aerobatic maneuvers from one of the writers in RCReport...[&:]

KitBuilder

True.. didnt think of the payment involved with the amount of work.. oh well.. I really didnt much attention to the reviews be it kit or arf.. I mostly paid attention to the flight report. If a build was a tough build or not real user firendly that wouldn't sway me as I like to build and the sometimes challenge of it. I guess when I'm 70 maybe it will be easier to win the scratch build contests since there won't be any of us left !! . On the reivews.. I mispoke,, I'm sure they did do a kit now and then though i dont recall any. what irriated me the most was when subscribers would send in their photos of gorgous models they scratch built or kit built and the mag would use the word "built"for these models as well as for the guy (or girl) who opened a box and "assembled" the ready made pieces in 4 hours. [&o] I guess as time goes on the word "built" will apply more and more to ARF assembly.