jadash

I would like to know if there are any publications left in the U. S. that are geared toward the builder? I like to read R/C Model World out of England (?) and it seems geared to builders and experimenters. Has our hobby/sport moved to so many ARFs that the support for a publication may not be there any more? Has any one tried in the last 10-15 years?

I have returned to R/C modeling after a 23 year hiatis. I got re-started in the hobby at the insistance of my wife (you got to love her!) about 4 or 5 years ago. I was a teenager in the late 70's when I started modeling then modern life took over and I was out for many years. Back then all of the major publications printed 2 or 3 construction articles and I would guess that ARFs only made up less than 5% of available models and I only knew one person that even had one.

I AM NOT ARF BASHING! I love all airplanes and airplane people (ok, some more than others). There is plenty of room for everyone. Not everyone has the time or patience to build an airplane and ARF's I'm sure has added a lot of people that would just be frustrated on the side lines as they were 25 years ago. There is tons of information to share in building and ARFing. The publications that I read now, spend the majority of their time on ARF and that is understandable because these publications are there to make a profit and magazines or anything else do not last long if there is no return. The last statistic that I saw from AMA suggested (if I remember correctly) roughly 50% of the membership owned an ARF (including me).

Is there a need, desire or market for a builder's magazine?

Give me your thoughts on this idea and I will give more details of what I have in mind.

Sincerely,
James

saramos

I, for one, would subscribe to a builder's magazine without hesitation.

Scott

jadash

Scott

Thanks for the reply. Here is a little of my crazy idea. First thing I do not know a thing about publishing unless you call editing my club news letter (with the help of my wife) experience. There are thousands of plans out there and articles for building many different types of models already out there. How hard would it be to reprint some of these older designs in a monthly magazine? Review kits? A lot of kits have already been reviewed, 25 years ago!

I just wounder if you see less about building just because to be a builder of any kind, scratch or kit, you have to be resorceful. So when the builder wants to build he finds the kit or plans that he wants but wouldn't a magazine be fun! How many people out at the flying field know about a partial kit for a Buzzard Bombshell? I think the possibilities here are endless. How many times have you seen a plane crash, the plane is given to a friend, then the plane is brought back to life? These I believe are still interesting stories with lots of tips and hints built right in the articles. They (they the publishers) use to do stories like that. I still remember an article about a lady that rebuilt a crashed Dirty Birdi that a fellow pilot through in the trash. And it flew again!

Sincerely,
JamesH

Dsegal

Flying Models magazine seems to be considerably more than an ARF catalog so it is my favorite publication. But I wonder how they manage to stay in business as our hobby has become dominated by screw-drivers who can't even cut a piece of wood.

fledermaus

I also would support a builders' magazine without question - at least, if it was a good one.

I am new to RC but not new to model building and I simply don't understand the ARF thing. Building just plain isn't that hard to do to justify using someone else's shoddy workmanship. Besides, it is just so cool to see your own handiwork lift off. Why would I miss that rush?

[sm=idea.gif] On the other hand, magazines are expensive to produce and distribute. Why not put the effort into posting really high-quality builders' info and articles on RCU instead? For one thing, there are a lot of "build-along" threads distributed over the forums. Maybe the moderators could contact the builders in some of the better ones and put together a coherent construction article out of the thread plus details from the builder? The threads themselves would need some editing because there is a lot of "really nice work, Bob" in the postings. Very heartwarming (and I've done it myself) but not very informative for a later reader.

CafeenMan

Flying Models is the only one I know of. If you go to a big book store (Border's, etc.) you can usually find European magazines which are still geared towards builders. They aren't cheap though.

Magazines tend to follow the trends of the hobby. Right now ARF's are king so I doubt even an exceptionally good builder's magazine is going to do too well. But if you surf the web you can find much more than you would in a magazine and it's usually free. My site and others I've found are all about building.

dr_wogz

My Feedback: (3)

Ditto on the builder's mag.
Everything is ARF now-a-days..
Pitty.
They all look the same, build teh same, and all 'fly great'

This, thanks to the: 'on demand / I want it now / I can't be bothered / thanks to gadgets, I've becomming lazy' phenominon / created society..

In fact, i'm loosing the 'airplane building' bug, and spending my time with (my 'revived' hobby) Rockets..

CafeenMan

A buddy just dropped off several MAN mags from the past months. I could not believe how many ARF's they reviewed that had "None" under "Misses."

How unbelievably lucky they are to have reviewed so many ABSOLUTELY FLAWLESS model aircraft!!!!!! I wish I had that kind of fortune. I've yet to see a flawless model of any type unless you count Amy Fisher.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Hey Doc, why not combine them?[sm=bananahead.gif]

jadash

Ok then it is not just me. RCM, Model Airplane News, and Model Aviation I would guess are the "big 3" for R/C publications. Each of these is now put out one construction article a month and sometimes none. In the March issue of Model Airplane News there are 5 ARF test flight articles and one construction article.

I belong to AMA so I get Model Aviation every month but if I do not see anything in the other two magazines of interest I don't buy them. Like I said in an earlier post they already have the articles and plans available to them why couldn't they publish a second magazine for the builder. Print some old articles/plans and mix in some new designs. The publishers would reap the benifit of having more advertisers because some of the company's that get a small ads now in the "big 3" they market products for builders would advertise more in a publication geared for the builder. Even some of the big mail order discounts would advertise in a builder's magazine since they sell kits and all the stuff builders need. I could be wrong but I would think there would be a better margin on kits and less returns since it is just the kit.

I understand why ARF are so popular. I spend 60% of my time on the road. It is great to travel and find different hobby shops and flying fields but not much time to build. So I build when I have time and when I get long periods of time at home (7 days) I work late at night and build. Right now I am finishing a Sig Kobra, building a new fuselage for my Sig Kavalier (we will not talk about what happen to the original) and the hobby shop called and my 4 Star-60 kit arrived. Two years ago right in the middle of the summer I crashed my Bag-O-Plane but I wanted two planes to fly. The other plane I own is a Kadet Senior also with a scratch build fuselage. So I got on ebay and found a RCM Trainer ARF. I had a blast with it. Time was a factor.

Fledermaus asked why not publish on the internet. The internet is a great place to find information but I still like to sit in my easy chair and see what surprises the mail brought this month. Even if it was a plane designed 40 years ago it would be new to me and just as exciting.

I'm not a great builder but I want to be some day! I also want a magazine for builders. I think I will start writing the "big 3" and see why it is or is not possible. I make up part of the market to!

Sincerely.
JamesH.

CafeenMan

Sorry, but they only care about you to the point that you'll still buy their magazine. The advertisers own the magazine and butter their bread. That's why reviews are hardly ever credible and you won't get what you want unless it happens to be the same thing the advertisers want to sell to you.

Back in the day there were 2 or 3 construction articles per issue of RCM. Most of them were unique and interesting. Now the big mags might have one article and it's almost always something simple, boring and reguritated like a Stik.

Take a look at RCM in the 70's and 80's. You'll see all kinds of neat designs by Ken Willard, Lee Renaud, Dave Platt, Gordon Whitehead and many, many more.

I haven't seen a construction article in a couple years that I even bothered to read. Monkey See Monkey Doo Doo.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I don't know about you but I don't have the web in the john either[sm=bananahead.gif]
I also am partial to the brit mags and their free plans. I have built a few and loved them.

CafeenMan

Go wireless!

You know, you can print webpages. A couple people have e-mailed me saying it took over a ream of paper to print my entire site. Personally I think that's kind of bizarre especially considering that I edit pages regularly so the page you read today might have more info or corrections tomorrow.

But I do agree. I'd rather read paper than a screen. On the other hand, most websites are free unless you count electricity and online service.

fledermaus

Right now I am sitting on my sofa with a fire crackling in the fireplace on one side of me, my 5-year old son on the other side, and my laptop wirelessed into RCU to type this note. The only thing missing now is a dram of single malt.

There is no doubt that paper is still easier to read than a screen, but this laptop is getting pretty damn close to paper. It won't be long now before the old cathode-ray tube is consigned to the junk-heap of history and we will wonder why people complained about reading screens.

Cafeenman is right about the commercial imperatives of the RC magazine business. That's why I still think an e-zine is the way to go. I would rather read [link=http://www.airfieldmodels.com]high-quality websites like Cafeenman's [/link] that cost me nothing (although they do cost him a bit to post, I assume that his model-building business pays for the site maintenance) - than waste my breath railing at the publishers. Builders can create the material they want on the web right now, but if they insist on a paper magazine they will need a sugar daddy to finance the cost before issue 1 number 1 can be published. Any volunteers?

Actually, I'd rather be building,[] but I am still waiting for my "banker" to authorize the purchase of my next plane so that's why I am sitting on my sofa with a fire crackling...

saramos

Cafeenman, I really enjoy your site, and I visit it often. I wish I could find more sites like it. I am sure they're out there, it just takes time to find them.
That is one of the things I like about magazines. They find me. Another thing that I like about magazines is that they often provide content that I find interesting, that I would not have thought to search for on the web.
I agree that the current offerings in RC magazines are lacking in content, and objectivity. But I also have seen publications in other fields that do provide a higher level of content. Two publications that I like are, Fine Homebuilding and Fine woodworking. The things that I like about these particular publications are, the content is more in depth, and the focus is on quality workmanship and how to achieve it. As jadash suggested in regards to advertisers, these magazines have advertisers you don't see in more popular publications. How I would enjoy a Fine RC Building magazine!

Scott

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

Hah! My wife went ballistic when I had a cable outlet in the john while building our house. She made me take it out before the drywallers came in.[:@]

CafeenMan

Thanks for the compliments guys. I really don't know the answer. I was lucky to be getting into the hobby back in the day when there was a lot of good content for builder's in the magazines.

I was really impatient and tried to do things the fast way which turned out a poor quality product that took longer. No matter how much it's said, patience is something that has to be learned first hand.

Whenever I find a good site I link to it from mine. I really try to avoid having an endless list of links because when I see those I leave. I'm not going wading through thousands of links with no description. Unfortunately, a lot of the sites I've found don't have how-to's, but they do have beautiful workmanship.

I'm hoping that folks can figure out at least some of how the builder did it by looking at the finished project.

I don't get very many requests for links from my site. When I do they're usually commercial sites and I turn them down if I haven't done business with them. I feel a link from my site is an endorsement. I wish some of the guys with good sites would contact me though because I'm sure they're out there and I'm not finding them.

On the other hand I don't want every club site with a difficult navigation system, 400 different fonts on psychedelic backgrounds asking me to link to them either just because they have a page of tips about how to unclog CA bottles.

I think this may also be why the magazines don't have so much content any more. Why pay someone for a how-to when you can get it for free on the net? How do you compete with somebody who's giving away information?

I keep having people tell me to write a book. Same question applies. How do I sell information in a book that I've been giving away for free on my site? I could come up with all new content for a book, but I'd still want to put it on the site. Difficult to figure out.

Anyway, if anyone does know of good sites that have good content for builders, please let me know so I can take a look and possibly link to them.

One site I've come across recently that I haven't added yet is [link=http://www.rcwarbirds.com/index.htm]RC Warbirds[/link].

One tip for everyone. Saramos' comment about Fine Woodworker reminds me of this. If you limit yourself to this hobby for information you're missing out on a lot. Woodworkers have to solve many of the same problems we do. The only difference is they use hardwood. Other than that, joinery is joinery.

Also look at other hobbies. Folks who make doll houses and miniatures have some awesome tools that you'd never hear about in our hobby. Same goes for ship builders, etc.

Anybody doing any type of creative hobby - even carving gourdes, has something useful we can draw from. I read about all kinds of things I have no interest in just to learn their techniques and see if they have any tools that will make a task easier.

CoosBayLumber

My Feedback: (1)

Had this talk with both R.C.M. and M.A.N. at the Ontario converntion last year. Main reason they do more reviews than articles is that the advertisers pay more per edition than the subscriber does.

I notice when complaining they are always quick to mention they have construction articles. Yes they do about two per year.

My substriptions runs out in a few months. I can thumb through the magazines at the public library. What was the name of that U.K. magazine?

Wm.

fledermaus

Right on, Cafeenman! I keep trying to convince the university students I teach chemistry to that learning anything is about more than just knowing the facts of that particular subject. Not only is no knowledge ever wasted, but you actually learn how to learn better by keeping your eyes open and looking in as many places as possible.

I'm not really coherent right now - it's been a long day.

CafeenMan

I like Flying Scale Models. I'm scanning a cover for you now.

CafeenMan

Here it is. Don't have an interest in scale? Fine. Read it anyway - they have good building techniques.

jadash

The other magazine that I mentioned is called R/C Model World. It is a very good magazine with a couple of building articles a month and usually a free set of plans. They also have a plans catalog with color pictures. It has been kind of hard to find but when I get home I will see if I can find out more about where to get it. The subscribtion rate is around $76 a year and I have to save up alluminum cans to come up with that price!

Sincerely,
JamesH.

vicman

My Feedback: (10)

I subscribe to RC Model World and RCM&E. Both come with a free plan in each issue. The PT-19 was built from a set of plans in RC Scale. The B-2 is from a 1981 MA plan. I'm not telling the mag where I got the plan for the kid.[sm=stupid.gif]

fokker20planes

Ebay has a store called "Model Aviation Magazines." They are mostly vintage, RCM, MAN, Flying Models etc... but that's where I go to find good old magazines with good old construction articles.
Tom

jadash

Cafeenman,

I just went to your web site for the first time. Very nice! I immediatly saw an airplane I want to build Super Gonzo.

I like what you said about getting information from other sources. I am a member of EAA and read Sport Aviation. They of course have lots of articles about building full scale aircraft but some of the techniques and products are usable on model airplanes. I have quit using hobby shop epoxy and now use T-88. I have also used real aircraft dope from full scale suppy houses.

Thinking of EAA and there magazines is a little different than that from the AMA. Now granted the EAA has deeper pockets than AMA but they publish more than one magazine. Sport Aviation is the flagship magazine and is a large 180 page mag with all kinds of articles from building to fly-ins to FAA regulations to family matters. They also publish I think 3 other smaller magazines. One is for aerobatics, one for antiques, and the last one is for sport pilots. The sport pilots magazine use to be called Experimenter but sport pilot came about due to changes in pilot licensing regulations. These supplimental magazines cost an extra $20 a year and I think there was only 11 issues a year not 12. When they had Experimenter I enjoyed it because they did concentrate on building light inexpensive aircraft often of wood, tubing and fabric. I would be willing to pay an extra $20 a year to get a suppliment to my Model Aviation. Even if it is old reprints of construction articles from a couple of years ago or 25 years ago. Tips and techniques can be lost over time and we could all use a refressher once in a while.

Cafeenman loved the web site it is now on my favorites list.

Sincerely,
JamesH