Ok, For those of you who know about the "pay it forward" thread, its a thread where we share the generosity that has been shown to us by giving our excess to those in need in some way.
Well I put a request out for a used real flight setup for a friend/fellow rc pilot who was in a motorcycle accident and rendered paralyzed totally from the waist down,, and partially from the neck to waist with a little mobility in his arms and hands,,,, and someone quickly responded...[8D]


Yesterday I received the package, a complete realfight G2 setup with USB controller in the box with all the instructions and everything, just like new. This morning I loaded it on my PC and tried it out, this afternoon I delivered it to my friend and we installed it on his PC, loaded on the 1st try and we were running in less than 5 minutes.

We got him setup so that he could manage the controller from his wheelchair and lo behold he can still fly!! It cumbersome and he is going to have to try to figure out the best way to situate his hands but nonetheless he can still takeoff and fly reasonably well.

Its going to take some work to get him comfortable on the sticks because he has to use the fatty part of his hand just below the thumb, and his hands sortof get in the way of each other but none the less he was able to takeoff and make a few laps once he was able to get a decent hand position. He has some control of his hands but has no sense of touch or sensitivity to pain and we immediately saw that there will be a challenge to watch his hands and make sure he doest wear the skin off because he cant feel how hard he is pudhing against the sticks. He basically sets his hands on the sticks and moves them with his forearms. He may get some isotoner gloves and just cut the fingers out and tape up those pointy ends of his sticks.

Either way he is back in the air and can actually fly again, which was a pleasant surprise right off the bat. He wasnt sure if he could control the sticks at all. But he can,, well enough to fly around pretty handily. This should really help some to rehabilitate his hand eye coordination and he hopes things like this will eventually enable him to get back out there and not only fly, but be able to do his job as an electrical engineer again.

Again, Thank you so much John (blenderblender) for your generous contribution. You have made someone VERY happy.

Mike

RCU wants to help out and see what "officially" we can do to make the PIF (pay it forward) program bigger to help more rc'ers who are in need. If you guys have suggestions on some things we could do to facilitate this let me know.

BigNed,

That is just great to hear. That was my whole reason for the PIF thread and now to hear that RCU want to officially get involved just make me grin from ear to ear.

Can you please repost this into the Pay it Forward thread so it will show there as it's a great story. One suggestion for the person in the wheelchair might be a neck strap or a radio tray made of foam. I know the foam ones exist but cannot for the life of me who makes it. If you think a neck strap will work I'll donate my JR strap.

Let me know

We have a 13 year old in our club who as SMA and you ought to see this kid fly. He flys better inverted than most people. We got together and decide to give him his pilots certificate and between a few of us we got him his own LT-40 complete with everything needed. He can now take off and land. I gave him my copy of G2 (since I bought G3) to practice on and we used the foam from the box that most radios come in and attached a neck strap to it so all he has to do is set it on his lap.

We do stand with him to help spot because he also has problems turning his head but all I can say is you should see him fly.

Here is a link to pics on our clubs site showing him in action at one of our fun flys this year. His name is Steve. I'm the big guy in the photo called Bill, his daughter and Ron.

http://www.krcs748.com/picnic_photos.htm

RCadmin,

As the person that started this thread I am absolutely [X(] floored [X(] by RCU wanting to help offically to the point I cannot think of anything right now to suggest. Give me a few hours and I'll think of something.

I cannot thank you guys enough...

Can we merge this thread along with the original one.

Good of RCU to help! Very good cause!! Nice move RCU!

What about a PIF Marketplace? Something like what RCU already has, except completely seperate in that those in need or those willing to donate can place adds / wants. It might even be helpful to keep a rating system for users too; something like a "Has Given: ##" and "Has Received: ##" rating for each user. This might help potential givers filter out getters that might be trying to take advantage. I for one know that if I had a spare part, I would "search" the needs area in hopes of finding someone that needs the part. If no one placed a want, then I would probably place a "Giving" add...

Is that completely out of the realm of posibility RCU? Seems like it might be a ton of coding...

Jason,

That's a cool idea...we'll see what RCAdmin has to say

Marc, I think RCU getting involved, even in a small way, would be a nice touch. I had posted a suggestion (see post #105) to color code the post depending on whether you have something to give or something you need. I think this would streamline things a little because sooner or later there's going to be too many post to sort through. In affect choking the system. In general I would suggest the following to start with:

1. Color code the posts.

2. Cut out, as much as possible the back and forth chatter, keep it simple keep the clutter to a minimum. I like the idea of a classified type of setup, as was suggested. You could have a PIF Need topic and a separate PIF Have topic

3. RCU - change the - Pay it forward (Was freebie and fee engine) - header to something else. I'll bet if you read that header to everyone in the RCU community 99% wouldn't have a clue as to what it means. Sorry I don't have a good suggestion for a replacement at the moment.

4. RCU - Write up a short blurb about what this topic is about and send it out to as many RCU members as permitted.

5. RCU - Dishonesty will rear it ugly head now and then but I don't think it'll be a big problem but I do think RCU should flag a member who has abused the program.

6. Members on the receiving end should be expected to cover the postage. I don't mind sending something out here and there but it could get expensive for the sender if he/she has a lot of things to give to a lot of people. Maybe it should work like this. I send something out and pay for the shipping. The receiver sends back the shipping cost. If they don't then they should get flagged so everyone knows.

7. The first post should explain the purpose of PIF AND explain how it works, how posts are handled and the such. So that everyone is working on the same page.


Thanks again.

When I was a an administrator over at the old RCO I hooked up with a friend down in Calif. as he was trying to help a young lad that wanted to fly but came from a family that had noresources to help him. Well I had an ARF that had been given to me that I was going to use in a program such as this here in my area but it fell through. I sent the ARF to my friend and together we were able to put together a fly able plane for this lad and he taught him how to fly. He's now in a better position and is flying IMAC competition. all of this happened about 6 years ago and it felt really good to know that we had a small part in getting this young man going and feel this is a great idea!

Is there any ONE out here in the middle of the good old USS Of A not east not south not west but in the middle that needs help that is not out of realizim. willing to help but in same fix as you no $$$$$ to ship and some parts cost more to ship than NEW! Shipping and handling is a problem for most people, if we can get a local group it would help. Say with in a state or Ama District!

[8D]

Some good ideas so far. I'll look into the PIF section or color coding in the classified/auction thing. The only downside anywhere in this thing I can even envision is fraud. Somebody might claim to need something or be "charitable" and actually is not. Everyone needs to take due diligence by having local members perhaps verify stories that anyone feels might just be somebody trying to take advantage of somebody's goodwill.

Keep the ideas coming. We can cook up some ideas and concepts for the next week or two and then see which ones might work best and what is most feasible. Guys always helped me out in this hobby when I was just a kid with very little money so if RCU can play additional roles above and beyond what it does now that is all the better as far as I'm concerned.

marc

You have hit the nail wright on the head we will give as long as we see they need the item. That is why it has to be kept in a local region , where we can atleast redeem our lose. I have helped a lot of young people in my time but like to see the fruit of the seed planted and watch it grow!

[8D]

i would suggest that this thread be an icon on the homepage at rcu to make is much more accessable and visible to everyone who enters. also, everyone who put their birthday to 1/1/1900 and things of the like to be notified and required to update that to the correct information so that in a pay it forward transaction, if the guy is trying to say that he is young needs something, that can be verified. also, maybe a link to ebay and (not or) the market place that will do a search on the item in question so that if it is simply bought and resold online that person could be flagged, and be given an oppertunity to explain becuase sometimes things take a turn for the worst and things have to be sold to fund an emergency or something.

This is in responce to first post. I have a close friend who had aspirations of flying rc when since he was a kid. When he was eighteen he was paralyzed from the neck down also with very limited use of his hands. He has finger dexterity. He is now 30 and this last summer i spent alot of time with him at the flying field teaching him to fly. What we did was, we took the knobs off the top of the control sticks and screwed on a fat dowel. On the screwed on end we drilled a hole and insterted a nut that would screw onto the stick so it was tighter and more secure. This setup he can use for his G2 flight sim also as the control sticks are mostly the same size thread. The best news is he soloed by the end of the summer and we both have never been so happy. Please tell your friend not to give up. If he would like i could get friend to contact him via email for some encouragement (just an idea).

A correction to the post i just posted. My friend has NO finger dexterity. Sorry about that.

i may not have been in the complete PIF mind...but had someone in the same situation of Father and son and little to no resourses - gave them my trainer (complete) and radio and few other items for couple dollars and got him out to the field and start flying - was glad to help out 9 ( <sniff> had to go and buy new trainer the next year for me...kinda missed it hehe)

Hi All,

Well, I know we started a color code on wanted(Red) and items that's up
for grabs(Green) which is good.. But maybe we can also edit the post on
items that was given out and to who(Blue) ( That's what I used ) So to
keep all on the up and up... But it would be a lot better if there was a
given and to who thread so it would be easy to check.. Just a thought!!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to All!!

BUMP

We still need ideas for RCAdmin as they want to be a part of this

please post them in the original PIF thread

http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_23..._6/key_/tm.htm

BUMP #2

bubba,
i think that the pay it forward is off it's initial peak but it will continue to progress through time, but at a much slower rate.

Have you read it in the last 2 or 3 days

There is a lot more going on in the background that I get PM'd on about

I like the idea of a PIF rating.

It would be a good if some of the manufacturers could get involved in the spirit of pay it forward and either donate items or even sponsor it. the manufacturers make enough money from people that say an engine or an arf would not hurt them one little bit, without new blood wanting or being able to afford to get into the hobby in years to come who will be left to buy their products. RCU has people that sponsor the site if they were to help with pay it forward also it would be a great PR thing for their company if they were seen to be actively involved with helping less fortunate people.

Please repost this in the PIF thread and also send it to RCAdmin in a PM. It's a nice idea if we can get them to bite. I'm not good at talking to large manf. to try to get them to help but it would definitely be to their benefit and is tax deductable for a business anyway.

As a matter of fact my LHS has graciously already provided part of the cost of a Norvel engine to someone. They asked to be involved but only to the tune of an item every couple of months. They will allow me to purchase whatever I want at cost plus 10% so that will definitely help and since I work there that's even better for me. The problem is I want every new toy that comes in the door. I do not get paid by the owners, I just work to pay off the account I have there.

I am currently working on getting donations for another member to get him and the kids an Lt-40. See the PIF thread near the end for details