jbeech
Ex rrAdvertiser
Location: Sanford, FL (Orlando area)
| Folks,
We don't have moderators here so when I receive two PMs not so much complaining but nevertheless taking objection with something, I am forced to take a position! To wit, I'd like to step in and make a comment, which I really don't want taken the wrong way, yet in my opinion, nonetheless needs to be said. What's got me going is an innocent remark, which can be taken out of context and interpreted as belittling another's choice in models. Frankly, this just isn't what we're about.
In particular, here we have a fellow who is happy as a pig in poop with his new 70-powered Pantera! As it turns out, Darrell's not only a good friend of mine, but I happen to know he lives at about 5000 feet altitude. Consequently, with an OS70 in a Pantera, he's finally going to experience the astonishing performance of a good 50-powered model, which anybody living below 1000' of altitude takes for granted. In case you're reading this and don't know what the fuss is about, at 5000' of altitude the reduced available oxygen means a 50-class engine puts out about the power of a decent 30-class engine. Remember, it takes fuel to make power . . . but you can only use as much fuel as there it to properly mix with available oxygen and hence, at 5000 feet because there's significantly less oxygen available you can't make as much power. Making this even worse, due to the extra size, weight, and complexity of a 50-size vs. a 30-size helicopter (few of the latter sport governors, mixture servos, expensive gyros, or pricey Li packs and regulators, much less the heavier high performance digital servos) the reduced power output resulting from high altitude leads to comparatively sluggish performance. Naturally, a 40% larger engine addresses much of this, and it is "precisely" why I developed the BBC for the Pantera!
However, a more insiduous issue is what's brought this to head, which is what in turn forces me to comment. The fact is there are many, many people who simply don't "want" the hassle and high-pucker factor associated with the pricey 90-class birds, especially with the very high attendant costs associated with everything about them. Why? Because not only are 90-clas helis more expensive to purchase, but they cost more to maintain, and can cost much more to repair (and even more important to a certain class of modeler, take more time to repair). For example, I number several doctors amongst my customer for who the rapidity with which a Pantera can be assembled and/or repaired was a deciding factor as they can easily afford any model on the market! In fact, with a 90-class model pretty much any crash can easily cost 300-400 bucks to repair, and often quite a bit more, and will in turn take a week or more to properly repair. I know this from experience, i.e. how spending $700 and a week of my life to repair a 90-class crash isn't even all that unusual. Of course if your time is worth nothing to you, this devolves to merely an issue of cost, which nevertheless isn't insignifican. Further to this, in my personal experience, I also know it doesn't take but one or two crashes of this magnitude to make me more conservative (perhaps even a lesser pilot) than before the crash!
Why? Because you there's nothing like spending a week plus seven or eight hundred bucks to fix a crash to make you very aware (and concerned) about the price you pay of making a mistake - in both time and money - when you dumb thumb your 90-class model into terra firma versus a model you don't particularly mind slam-dunking. Remember, a Pantera is not only relatively inexpensive to purchase, but it's not too bad to repair in either time or money as compared to a 90-class heli and thus, you more easily concentrate on the fun of flying it. After all, most of us have wives, plus our children/grandchildren, as well as church, and our work, i.e. activities we also partake in (to the exclusion of our aeromodeling), which quite frankly, are far more imporant than what model we chose to fly, right?
But I digress because my point in all this is how being perceived as belittling a fellow pilot who prefers a 50-class helicopter (even one powered by an OS70) is, in my opinion, much like the guy at the flying field with the giant scale gasser-powered fixed wing model who looks down his nose at folks with the 40-powered airplanes. Simply put, in this example, the 40-class model airplane in timeless because it has over the years proven itself to be pretty much the most practical size model you can own.
Nevertheless, it's also my experience there are some guys, typically those relatively new to aeromodeling, who once they get a giant-scale gasser somehow foolishly equate their spending more for their models as making them the better man, which is hogwash! In fact, quite frankly, I happen to know more than a few folks (some with more money than God) who quite simply "prefer" the more compact and convenient size 40-class model airplanes, which hold true with our 50-class model helicopters as well.
Ultimately, this kind of reminds me of a good friend who occasionally will unkindly snicker how her brother drives a big truck because he's got a small you know what. Maybe she's kidding, maybe she's not, but nonetheless, flying a 90-class model doesn't equate to anything at all . . . except personal preference, i.e. to each their own!
So as I climb off my soapbox, please let's all remember how a complately innocent remark may be interpreted when it's written in a forum vs. when chatting face-to-face (where people can easily discern that you're kidding) and hence, let's be a little more careful about what we write.
My 2¢
John Beech - GM (and janitor)
Audacity Models |
