Based on some of the questions I have seen lately, I thought it might be helpful to start a list of places to get things for the new folks, we "not so new guys" might even find some new places to get the things we need. Not advertising, just friends helping friends locate good places to get the things we use for radio control flying. Feel free to add on. No advertisers...

General Places to get just about everything.
[link=http://www.towerhobbies.com]Tower Hobbies[/link]
[link=http://www.horizonhobby.com]Horizon Hobbies[/link]
[link=http://www.chiefaircraft.com]Chief Aircraft[/link]
[link=http://www.hobby-lobby.com/]Hobby Lobby[/link]
[link=http://www.*********.com]RC Hobbies[/link]

Pattern Stuff
[link=http://www.centralhobbies.com]Central Hobbies[/link]

Electric Stuff
[link=http://www.newcreations-rc.com]New Creations[/link]
also most of the other general hobby shops online

Servos
[link=http://www.servocity.com]Servo City[/link]
also Tower, Horizon and most of the other general hobby shops online

Hardware, nuts bolts, etc
[link=http://www.microfasteners.com]Micro Fasteners[/link]


Spinners
[link=http://www.truturn.com]Tru Turn Spinners[/link]


Misc Carbon Fiber ply and plate (this site has great prices)I like the nomex/CF mats, stiff, light and super strong.
[link=http://www.acpsales.com]Aero Composites[/link]
[link=http://www.wtp.net/DBEST/hcomp/nomex.html]HoneyComb Composites[/link]

Balsa
[link=http://www.balsausa.com/]Balsa USA[/link]
[link=http://www.gulfcoastmodel.com/GCproducts.html]Gulf Coast Model[/link]

Giant Scale stuff
[link=http://www.airwildhobbies.com]Air Wild[/link]
[link=http://www.desertaircraft.com]Desert Aircraft[/link]
[link=http://www.drhobbies.com]DR Hobby[/link]
[link=http://www.bmeengine.com]BME Engines[/link]
[link=http://www.aircraftinternational.com]AirCraft International (3W)[/link]
[link=http://www.donshobbyshop.com/]Dons Hobby[/link]
[link=http://www.composite-arf.com]Composite Arf[/link]

General Aircraft Specialty Dealers
[link=http://www.ohiomodelplanes.com]Ohio Models[/link]
[link=http://www.extremeflightrc.com]Extreme FLight[/link]
[link=http://www.somenzini.com]Somenzini[/link]
[link=http://www.wildharerc.com/]Wild Hare[/link]
[link=http://www.troybuiltmodels.com]Troy Built Models (Aviation Models)[/link]
[link=http://www.bmeaircraft.com/]BME aircraft[/link]
[link=http://www.chiphyde.com]Chip Hyde[/link]


Foamies!
[link=http://www.fancyfoam.com]Fancy Foam[/link]
[link=http://www.3Dfoamy.com]3D Foamy[/link]
[link=http://www.flatfoam.com]Flat Foam[/link]
[link=http://www.insanefoamies.com/]Insane Foamies[/link]

Mike,
That's a very helpful list. Too many of the pilots here would rather see their question on line than do simple searches and keep certain sites on their favorites/ bookmark list.

Why don't we have a sticky FAQ for the beginners forums with answers to the many basic questions seen on this board daily/weekly?

Mike's post is a good start.

somegeek

Great list Mike,
A member at another forum I hang out at maintains a similar list (different hobby) and adds new links and delete bad links every so often.
I think this would be a great thread to sticky here in the beginners forum.
Other links for our members overseas would be a nice addition as well.

There is so much content on this forum that a good FAQ could be made up from checking old posts.

Search engine is not very user friendly if you don't know how to use it to filter. A couple of examples of seaches on the search page could help folks find what they are looking for more easily.

If folks hang out on message boards long enough they are bound to see the same questions come up from new folks - some that might not be very aware of the seach engine - it's the nature of a message board.

A FAQ though would go a long way in helping folks.

Case in point is the stryker forum way past the limits thread. Think that the same questions have been asked at least a dozen times and answered a dozen times. A stryker FAQ would help that I imagine... reading through several hundred threads is not the quickest way to get info.

somegeek

Somegeek,
The discussion about stickying things like this has been batted around quite a bit before, and here is where the current line of think by the moderators, community moderators, admins, and owners. First of all, stickies are only to be made on a very very limited basis. That decision came down about 6 months ago and came from the overuse of stickies. In some forums would have 6-7+ stickies on them and they were distracting from the forum itself. Also, when a sticky is put in place and stays there people tend to gloss over it and don't see it anymore. So even if it were to be stickied there would be a time limit to how long it would stay there. Decisions about permanent stickies can only be made by the administrators. I can sticky an item, but only for a short amount of time.

Yes, the same questions do get asked repeatedly. From my observations I would say the current cycle is about 4-6 months. That's about how often we see the same questions being repeated. There are a group of moderators and very dedicated (not to mention knowledgeable) members that donate a lot of their time here in the beginners forum to answer just those questions. And trust me, we know the questions are going to be repeated... and the same people gladly give out the same answers every time. We do it to help the hobby, and RCU, as well as those new beginners in this hobby. Look back or just watch here in this forum and tell me if this statement isn't true ---- None of this group of people will ever say something like "That's been answered before, go search on it" or "That's in the FAQ, go look it up". We also try to keep other from saying things like this. Why??? Because we want this forum, and RCU, to have a human touch. Think about when you first came onto RCU and started asking questions, didn't it feel pretty good to have somebody take the time to answer your question?? The type of human response that we give here in the beginner's forum gives people a nice feeling and it's one of the main reasons why RCU is the great online site that it is. People that are treated nice here as they start out usually stay and help in other areas of RCU, people that are treated rudely leave and never come back to RCU. As I look around in other forums here on RCU I see members participating in those threads that got their start here in the beginner's forum. From my personal standpoint it gives me a nice warm feeling to see people that I help get started enjoying and giving back to this hobby.

When I was in Toledo this year I had a discussion with Minnflyer about this very subject, and he pointed something out to me that I just hadn't realized. If we put everything in an FAQ there is no reason for anybody to every ask any questions. If nobody asks questions there is no reason to have forums. If there are no forums and threads then there is no place for advertisers to put their ads. If there are no ads then there is money coming in. If there is no money coming in then there is no RCU. So we want people in there asking the same questions over and over and over again. I know that myself, Minnflyer, Bubbagates, MikeEast, Bruce88123, Dr1Driver, and a whole list of others has probably lost track of how many times they have answered the same questions more than once. In fact, for myself I keep a cheat sheet of all the answers and links. That way I can just cut and paste with quick references.

Hope that clears it up a bit.

Ken

Thanks, Ken!

somegeek

Some parts of a FAQ would need constant updating in a fast changing enviroment like ours too.
Like 2.4 GHz radios, how long have they been around and what's next.

duh, I was in a hurry to get out of here to take my nephew fishing and I had the links backwards. They all work now, try again. Oh well at least I was in a hurry for good reason. [8D]

I don't see quantum models www.quantummodels.com in the general category list
I believe if we make this a sticky can be seen as RCU recimmends this and no others (i.e. advertising) and don't know if this could cause (legal or other ) problems

My first post. a plug for a great company I have used in making a lot of DIY Scuba Stuff,
They also carry fasteners, carbon fiber and all sorts of goodies a modeler might need.
http://www.mcmaster.com/[link=http://www.mcmaster.com/]Mcmaster-Carr[/link]