skoda450

I just purchased a 7C FASST system. Can I use this system with the BNF RTF airplanes on the market from such as Parkzone or Hobby People? Are there ANY BNF FASST compatible RTF available???

btomlinson

My Feedback: (58)

"Can I use this system with the BNF RTF airplanes on the market from such as Parkzone or Hobby People?"

No You will need a DSM2 Transmitter from Spektrum or JR

skoda450

OK, but how about the second question. "Are there ANY BNF FASST compatible RTF available?" If the answer is the same, then what is Futaba doing about the loss of market share with the propritary FASST systems? Are they going the way of Sony Beta tapes?

btomlinson

My Feedback: (58)

I know Tower has several RX ready planes:

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...EARCH=rx+ready

There is no chance in the Futaba Faast system going away IMHO
Im currently training my son with my 14MZ with a 7C for the buddy box. Were flying a H9 alpha electric trainer PNP version

Silent-AV8R

Just a reminder that do not be surprised if some of this thread disappears on Tuesday. This is the vendor only area and is there for Hobbico/Great Planes service folks to answer questions. It is not an open discussion forum. Perhaps Bax or Krysta can move this to the open discussion area so people can keep the topic going if they want.

FWIW people need to keep in mind that Futaba and Hobbico/Great Planes are not the same company like Horizon/ParkZone/Spektrum.
Futaba makes radios and Great Planes/Hobbico distributes them in North America. GP/Hobbico has been offering receiver ready (RxR) models recently and I suspect that trend will continue. I am 100% confident that Futaba FASST is here to stay and that irrespective of not being capable of working with the Spektrum/ParkZone BnF that as a brand they are not in any trouble.

skoda450

Whoa! I didn't mean to ruffle feathers. I am a Futaba guy and will always be. It's just that I am disappointed that Futaba has not positioned themselves to compete with JR/Spectrum on every level. When I look at the two products, other than brand loyalty ( that's me), why should anyone buy Futaba FASST systems? It would seem that they are at a competative disadvantage. For instance, what I see on the Futaba market currently is 1 - no model recognition, 2 - No BNF models available, 3 - no built-in telemetry from the model. Any one can claim a model to be Rx ready with universal plugs on all connectors.

carrellh

I think there are enough people who 'want' to be able to choose their own components that Futaba, along with Hitec and Airtronics, will be fine with no BNF offerings.
As far as the other two items, they do not mean enough (to me) to sway my choice to or from any brand if I ever switch off of 72 mhz.

blikseme300

My Feedback: (118)

All 2.4 systems are proprietry, fact. (No personal attack here, just my take on things.)

The brand that sells the most is not neccessarily the better product. Are Kia's better than Merc's? Why is it that the supposed market leader in the 2.4 game is having so much grief with their products? Maybe they are using the public to be their beta testers?

Quality and price are not always proportional but the "toy level" radio systems of today scare me. I am biased because I don't do the cheapy foamies and other small stuff. I appreciate the products that make available at the joys of radio controlled flying at a lower cost than prior years but these products typically don't scale well to the larger, heavier and more complex aircraft.

This is not a simple VHS <-vs-> BetaMax fight. It is about the quality of radio links and transmitter sophistication. The pixie-dust of model match and telemetry get in the way of the meat-and-bones of solid & reliable control. (I recently witnessed a model match gone wrong - correct model but a pity that the ailerons were reversed - proper pre-flight inspections trumps any technology gimmick.)

Just my 2 cents.

Bliksem

Rock 114

I have to agree with blikseme300 Futaba seems to be the only company advancing the control part of radio control.

Silent-AV8R

Futaba is a dedicated radio manufacturer. They do not make planes, trains, and automobiles. They are not trying to sell little planes, big planes, or any planes. They design, manufacture, and sell radios. This is an important difference between them and Spektrum. Spektrum is owned by Horizon Hobby. They are using an integrated approach to build their radio into planes as a means to sell both. They can do that because they make both.

Tower/Hobbico and Futaba are separate companies and it would be far more complex for them to do what Horizon does with Spektrum and ParkZone and Eflite planes.

onewasp

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Nicely avoided answer to the question .

Also factual is that the RC segment of Futaba is about 13% of Futaba's total sales . That happens to be Fact, as a matter of 'fact' .
Meaning to RC'rs is "not much" .

Make your own choice; pay your own money and fly .

BNF is and has been a money maker for all concerned. I wouldn't have given it much hope as anything other than a small toy at the start.
I believe the latest offering comes in at about $1100 .
Yes, it fits OUR definition of 'toy' but it is astounding all the same .

Silent-AV8R

I actually thought it was a fairly clear answer to the question. Futaba does not make or sell RC models, so asking why they do not have BnF airplanes has a clear answer.


That 13% (if true) is a tidy sum of money being a 13% slice of a fairly large pie.

onewasp

Quote
That 13% (if true) is a tidy sum of money being a 13% slice of a fairly large pie.
Quote
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The13% is on the high side .
The actual number was 12 + % (over 12 and under 13) and represented an all time high point .

The percentage figure is only as correct as Futaba's accounting is correct.
It was 'right on' (I didn't get the number today and therefore cannot use the present tense) when given to me .

Silent-AV8R

You clearly have access to information that I do not, but regardless, Futaba is a big company as you say and even 10% of the total company is nothing to sneeze at.

The point remains that Futaba is a radio maker. Horizon makes radios and airplanes. They can more easily combine the two as a means to sell both. Futaba would have to find a partner, or if Hobbico wanted to take the lead they would need to get Futaba on board. Either way, far more complicated than the Horizon situation. And at the end of the day, I am not sure how concerned Futaba is about the effects of BnF on their sales.

Based on your numbers and Futaba's fiscal 2011 revenue that makes their RC business worth just a bit shy of $100 million USD.

Charlie P.

Hasn't effected my choice of Futaba any . . . but then Idon't fly park flyers.

scooterinvegas

My Feedback: (1)

A lot of the BnF stuff from Horizon also comes in Plug-n-Play. Just pick up one of them and plug in a Fu Fu Fu...any Rx of your choice. Sorry, Im working on that with my therapist.

Im picky about what Rx's I run, so I never buy a BnP plane.

scooterinvegas

My Feedback: (1)

Thought this was in the "Club House"? The "Radio Manufacturer Direct Support" threads are in the "Sub-Forums". Here, anything goes baby.

Silent-AV8R

The thread was started last weekend in the vendors only thread. Come Tuesday the moderators for that sub-forum moved it to the open discussion area.

skoda450

Ok so my whining about the lack of Futaba compatable BNF planes may have been based in my ignorance of who owns the BNF market. Lets then shift the question to "Why by Futaba over JR/Spectrum/Others?"

I understand that there were lots of problems this year at Joe Nall in the 2.4 spectrum. Given that this year was the first time it was a 2.4 only meet, did that contribute to the "issues" experienced by Joe Nall flyers? My real question is who had problems and what radios were they using? Futaba, JR, Spectrum, Airtronics, Chinese cheapos? Anyone have any facts?

Silent-AV8R

I actually did not hear of that many issues given that there were close to 1,000 participants flying who knows how many flights. Since that is an extreme endpoint that most people will never experience I feel pretty comfortable saying that 2.4 has proven to be at least as robust as our older equipment and that it offers several significant advantages.

I heard of one jet guy with a Futaba radio who had an issue which he alter said was likely an installation problem on his part. There were other miscellaneous issues with a variety of brands, but again, the Nall is perhaps the most extreme environment out there and there were not planes falling from the skies. I tend to suggest name brands over the knock offs but people are free to do what they want in that regard.

scooterinvegas

My Feedback: (1)

Do you fly at Joe Nall? I dont. I do fly with a guy named Joe. Maybe I shouldn't fly when he is in the air, I wouldn't want to have any problems with my radio.

skoda450

The mention of issues at Joe Nall this year was based on a comment from another flyer as I was not there either. Mabey I should have said "some problems" instead of "lots". I am not sure of his sources. So is the choice of one radio system over another a matter of Ford vs Chevy or Coke vs Pepsi? Surley there are real differences that would be plain enough to enumerate for discussion.

Silent-AV8R

An event that large is going to have reports of issues. But I have spoken to at least 10 people, fans of various brands of radios, and none said anything about obvious issues.

To some degree that is true. I happen to think Futaba is the superior solution to the 2.4 SS stuff. Others think it is Spektrum. Others still Airtronics or Hitec. It really comes down to doing a bit of research and seeing what you think will fit your needs best. For me, that is Futaba.

Michael lazzaro

I did attend the Joe Nall fly in this year and I can tell you that of the 4 crashes I witnessed 2 of them I know for sure were Futaba and one of the other crashes was a spektrum. I have used a lot of different transmitters, servos, and receivers and from a personal stand point I think the winning combo which I have been using for the last 4 years without a glitch has been JR transmitter and receiver, with Hitec servos running off of Fromeco batteries.

DougV

Yes, two issues with FASST at the Nall. One was a 10C module pin that was bad, and the second one was David Shulman (Futaba Team pilot) and here's what happened to him:

Quote:
I think it's important for all to understand what David put in his post. The issue here was the custom plexiglass with a mirror finish (metal) that he had installed in the aircraft. No radio system, I don't care whose it is, is going to work properly in that environment. FASST equipment is one of the easiest to install and most reliable on the market today. However, an improper installation can have adverse affects on any system; such was the case with this crash. It had nothing to do with the number of transmitters turned on or anything like that.

Steve
End quote:

Doug.