1. Hey guyz. Welcome to the All New Phlatforum!



    Sign Up and take a look around. There are so many awesome new features.

    The Phlatforum is a place we can all hang out and

    have fun sharing our RC adventures!

  2. Dismiss Notice
Welcome to The Phlatforum PhlatPrinter III

2011 Toledo Show

Discussion in 'General Talk Forum' started by navionflyer, Apr 2, 2011.

  1. navionflyer

    navionflyer New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    220
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Richland, MI
    I just got home from the 2011 Toledo Show. I have to say that I did not enjoy it as much as last year's show. Although last year we had the Phlatboyz dinner at Tony Packos and Mark and Trish weren't even at the show this year. I know I missed seeing them.

    The model competition was as good as ever. There were some really exquisite aircraft (and other models) there. There was even a Navion there (which I think should take best in show but I may be a little biased ;) ).

    One interesting thing was Flash Glue. They actually make the Mercury Adhesives stuff from what they told me (I wonder what Cliff Whitney is saying about them competing with Mercury). They didn't bring any foam safe CA to the show though. There were several vendors selling 3 bottles of the Flash glues, accelerator or thread locker 3 bottles for $10. So that was a pretty good deal, but I don't think the pricing will stay that way.

    There was a vendor there who is selling a CNC router/Hotwire. It was pretty interesting since it can be converted between CNC router and a 4 axis hotwire plus it is scalable, but their pricing was a lot higher ($2250) than the Phlatprinter and I seriously doubt that they will support their product like Mark and Trish support the Phlatprinter.

    On a more somber note, I talked with one of the guys at one of the smaller kit manufacturer's booth and he said today was really slow compared to previous years although yesterday was about the same as last year. From what I have heard Lucien Miller say about the trade shows this year on ATTF, I would imagine that this Toledo show will be pretty flat.

    It seems to me like the main show floor is becoming more of a flea market. Every year there are two or three more vendors selling the same low quality imported stuff at mediocre prices. I didn't find one of the vendors (Value Hobby) I bought batteries from every year. They were not there even though they are based in basically in Chicago. There were fewer really good deals that I saw, although I did get a pretty good deal on a Scorpion motor for my Cularis and if you wanted a 3D Hobby Shops plane, they had really good show prices.

    All in all if the Phlatboyz don't go to Toledo next year, I will probably not make the 2.5 hr drive. Just not sure it's worth it. Maybe I'll feel different next April, but that's where I'm at for now.

    Tim
     
    navionflyer, Apr 2, 2011
    #1
  2. Jnida63

    Jnida63 Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    749
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Without M&T being there this year I didn't even have any want to go, the 3 hour drive from Columbus just wouldn't be worth the fuel spent to get there.
     
    Jnida63, Apr 2, 2011
    #2
  3. navionflyer

    navionflyer New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    220
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Richland, MI
    One other nifty gadget I picked up was a How High RT from Winged Shadow Systems. It weighs 1.4g so it is almost insignificant as far as weight. I have had a How High for a couple of years now and its pretty cool. You stick it on an open channel on your receiver for power and it will measure your max altitude. They also sell a little 4g battery pack for it if you don't have an open channel. The new RT model will plug into the telemetry system on the Aurora 9 and DX8 radios and allow you to see the altitude in real time.
     
    navionflyer, Apr 2, 2011
    #3
  4. jonquinn

    jonquinn Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    49
    Trophy Points:
    6
    I visited Friday, but only because I could fit it in on the back side of a work trip. It was only the second time I have ever been to a Toledo show (the last time 2 or 3 years ago). I thought it was OK, but a bit too cramped for my taste.
    I did buy a Elf DLG from Kennedy Composites (which I have been wanting but did not desire to buy from him online since his online service is pretty poor) - at a decent show special price, and "QuickOats 100" from Steven Aeromodel, which is like a small Quaker Flash. Also got a couple of Dave Platt DVDs, and a few other small things.
    I also saw the combo CNC machine, and it looked like it was cutting some nice foam wing cores.
     
    jonquinn, Apr 2, 2011
    #4
  5. rcav8r

    rcav8r Moderator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,193
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Just rolled in from the Toledo show. We spent Fri & Sat there. This was the first time I was there on a Friday in a LONG time. Crowd was rather sparse. Sat was a better crowd. Almost over crowded at times, but still not as much as in years past.
    I agree with Navion, more and more "flea market" type booths...which is not good.

    I noticed the same thing about the flash glue. I won a bottle at the ETOC Friday night, and it has the same pin in the cap as the Mercury glue. I also noticed the absence of Mercury this year. Not sure why they went with the name Flash as in years past there was a Flash glue at just about every booth and the quality was HORRIBLE. It was the glue with the bright neon colored tops. Hope this stuff is better.

    I also stopped to chat with the hotwire CNC folks. They defiantly were not "in to" their product like Mark and Trish. I had to pull information out of the guy, and the gal basically said to talk to the guy. Nice stuff, but WAY over built for a home hot-wire machine IMO. And the price was WAY up there too.

    I also got one of those How High RTs... I have an Aura, so that will be cool. Also have his how high, and it's amazing how low, high really is. They had no literature at the show, and when I asked about a website, he said just a shell is up, and hopes to have a real one up soon. Maybe they rushed it to market a bit.

    Just curious what Lucien said. Can you please expand? Great guy. I knew him from way back when he made the ball bearing servo top conversions, and strong box. I also got one of the fist 30mm motors in the country. I met him at an electric fly-in in Arizona, and he told me about the motors. I met him at Toledo that year as the guy was bringing them in from across the pond. He actually talked me out of a 55AMP esc this year. I have one of the originals along with an original 30mm motor (See above) I have been flying for about 3 or 4 years now. The motor won't start, just stutters. I thought it was the ESC, but he said no, probably a chaffed wire. Double check, and if not let him know. GREAT services IMO.

    This was the first year we went to the ETOC. Some really GREAT Flying; some above average flying. Of course a lot of the orange shirts made it further than they should have, and even got 2nd place, but what do you expect when they sponsored the show, and 1/2 the judges wore orange jerseys. I felt it was it was a lock for 1st, 2nd (no real way it couldn't have been) between the guys from Lithuania, and Austria, but it didn't end that way. Heck the kid who flew his entire free style routine behind his back, didn't make the first cut. But at least I got to see some GREAT flying.

    We stayed over which is the first time we did this in a really long time. We got a cheap hotel about 10 minutes out of town, and I wanted to visit with a buddy who moved out there last year so it was definitely worth the drive and stay. I saw ETOC once, but until it's changed for fairer judging ( which will bring better pilots as some of the greats don't come any more) I don't think we'll be going to that again.

    We took my wife's hybrid so we averaged 39.9 MPG which wasn't all that bad as it put us about $35 in gas for the whole weekend split between the 2 of us. The tolls were probably close to that.

    I sure did miss Mark and Trish at the show though.
     
    rcav8r, Apr 3, 2011
    #5
  6. rcav8r

    rcav8r Moderator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,193
    Trophy Points:
    38
    Here are some videos of my 1st and 2nd choice ( not sure which I would make which from ths years ETOC). They were VERY smooth and precise. They flying style matched the musical style, and the maneuvers were on the musical beats. Also note when flying the square around the court. The turns were at the corners, and on the beat of the music, and the snaps were on the center line of the court. Actually all flying was symmetrical to the center line. Not the best video, but all I could find at the moment.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpYrdHXY ... re=related

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7Pbi3DyoJs
     
    rcav8r, Apr 3, 2011
    #6
  7. navionflyer

    navionflyer New Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    220
    Trophy Points:
    0
    Location:
    Richland, MI
    He has commented more than once on ATTF that attendance at shows has been pretty good this year, but a lot of the vendors were telling him that sales were flat or down.

    The vendor I talked with said that his business is up this year, but the Toledo Show was in his words "a bust."

    I also agree that he is a great guy. He spent about 5 minutes helping me choose the right motor. He didn't have any at the show, but pointed me to one of his dealers which actually saved me $5.

    Tim
     
    navionflyer, Apr 3, 2011
    #7

Share This Page