Sorry this does not fit the site. Will have to fix that later.
Well, I am happy gun control failed yesterday. There I said it.
Can anyone think of another topic where both sides are completely disingenuous? You have Piers Morgan tweeting #NewtownBetrayal and the NRA claiming Big Brother will register your guns then kill you in your sleep.
Can we just have a discussion about the way the world really works:
Seems that facing off Piers Morgan (who seems to be more 13 year old girls than man, also not American) vs any number of foil-hat-wearing-tards is not getting us anywhere.
Oh, and Biden’s whole shotgun thing…. I don’t know where to start on that one. I really don’t think it would be possible for him to look more like a tool. If he was trying to put the Vice-Presidency on par with youtube commenters, mission accomplished.
So before we do this again, will everyone who is anti-guns please go shoot a few? Know your enemy right? If you are not going to do that here are a few tips for the next go round:
As Americans. we have a lot of very legitimate problems to deal with. Having a childish and misinformed screaming/crying match about clunky metal objects is just dumb. Can we please talk about our economy, taxes, North Korea, our national debt, health care (including mental).
This debate will never be over. I just hope next time we can be better.
Aside from general fun, I got into RC because I wanted to do drones and FPV (first person view). Most of the work I have done up to this point has been learning the hobby. The Bixler 2 represents the first airframe that will accomplish the FPV goal.
I had a Bixler 1, but I tried to do to much to fast and ended up destroying it before I got any meaningful experience. By the time this plane arrived I had already been flying fixed wings for a few weeks. Additionally, I think Hobby King upped the quality, making this plane more accessible to the beginner.
Getting things shipped from China is always interesting. Not that it needs to be complicated but the shipping box was the packaging turned inside out. Have to wonder why?
All the foam parts were individually packaged. All looking nice.
Servos are already installed in the wing. Cutout already exist for the flap servos. Everything fits together nicely, on the wing. Having to glue in the spar is an interesting design choice.
Wonder if I will end up cutting off the plastic for FPV. Looks like there are some good mounting options in there.
Another shot of the canopy. More important is the spar on the body. That is carbon fiber. Glad they did that.
Ahh… Not that taped hinges don’t work. But this is another nice touch.
Yet another nice touch. This made setting up the alignments really easy.
Same 20 A esc that was in Bixler 1.
Just about everything you need. I don’t like their prop adapter. I bought a new one. Then I tightened the shit out if it.
Makes for a cool photo, but those shafts are kinda hard to work around.
Yes, it comes with a manual. Also, its actually helpful.
Yet another nice touch. I still taped the noise.
Motor and servos are installed and ready to plug in. Pretty handy.
It was still frustrating to get in the air, mostly due to the crappy prop adapter. My maden flight did not go great. However once everything was working its a great plane. I am looking forward to getting a camera on it.
I wanted to transition into fixed wings. Knowing myself, I wanted to build a plane and fly it, but that would (did/has/never mind) end badly, both for the plane and my frustration levels.
Pushed the big fat easy button and bought a Ultra Micro T-28 Trojan from the local hobby shop. They guy at the shop said good luck and implied that I would be back shortly after I crashed it. Thanks for the vote of confidence (and from my heli experience, accurate).
Turns out flying a good fixed wing plane after flying helis is really easy. I crashed it once (no dammage) while I was trimming it out but after that, the Trojan was just fun to fly. Its actually relaxing.
Flying a heli is stress all the time (still fun though). Flying a plane is easy. Once the plane is at cruising height, you can take your hands off the throttle/rudder stick and just zip around with the other hand. Plus landing is really not that hard.
The T-28 does great loops. It’s rolls are a little slow. It climbs really well. Basically its all around fun.
So after getting pretty good with the T-28, I wanted more of a challenge. So I got the UMX Spitfire. Firstly. UM vs UMX. In Horizon Hobby land, the X means it has a gyro stabilization system. In theory the gyros should make the plan a lot easier to control.
The Spitfire does not climb out like the Trojan does. Probably due to a more aggressive wing design. However the Spitfire rolls fast and sharp. Loops are a strange thing. Its like the Spitfire stalls out at the top or the stabilization system thinks something is wrong so it intervenes.
The Trojan will fly for about 5 min on its 150mah battery, the Spitfire about 3 on the same battery.
I almost think speed wise the two are pretty much the same. In fact the Trojan might be a little faster. However in all other areas (except loops) the Spitfire is far more agile.
For a first plane, for someone with flying experience, the Trojan is a great choice. Having now flown some larger more powerful fixed wings. The Spitfire is great for low stress maneuvering practice.
Another note about Ultra Micros. We are now intro crappy weather zone. Additionally, my daily driver is a sports car. The chargers for the 150mah, 1 cell lipos run on AAs. That means the chargers go with the planes. So UMs are great for throwing in the back and taking advantage to breaks in the weather when they are available.
OK. Bad Title, whatever. Point is, learning to fly R/C things on your own is a challenging task. So you need to break it down.
Generally I have learned there are two distinct skill groups to be mastered. The building and the flying. If you buy a kit for your first and are trying to learn on your own (as I did), you are doomed. Mostly because you don’t have a frame of reference for how the machine should function. Then reverse engineering crashes are impossible because you can’t differentiate pilot errors from construction errors.
I tend to be a bit thick and not take my own advice. The first RC thing I tried to build was a 450 trex (a large collective pitch heli). I ended up buying a series of great micro helis. I got a plane, destroyed it. I started building a quad, had problems. Bought a micro quad, used it as a model, large quad was successful. Now I am back to fixed wings. Guess what?
When your flying thing takes off for the first time, you need to be able to identify problems and correct. If you can’t control yourself as a variable, you are screwed. Additionally, large challenges are best faced in smaller steps.
Probably some life lessons in there somewhere.
Lockpicking is always one of those things I have wanted to learn but never really had the time or patience. At OSCON I picked up a set of lockpicks from TOOOL. So I was messing around with a few Masterlocks I had picked up, and watching tutorials on youtube.
A came across one where a dude busted open a Masterlock #3 with ease. I was thinking to myself, I think I have one of those, new in the package. Sure enough I found the lock and had successfully raked it open in the first try.
Bemused (as this was the first time I had ever successfully picked a non-bathroom lock), I showed my wife. She was also able to get it on the first go. So I decided to share our experience with the world.
Later that day, my wife and I were discussing the Masterlock. We were both shocked at how easy it was to open. She correctly pointed out the lock may still have a purpose. Its cheap and can act as a deterrent. Her example of keeping kids out of a gun locker was valid. Or more relevant to our situation wandering neighborhood children from the shed with pointy lawn equipment.
So something to consider when you think about security. Its always a tradeoff between cost/connivence and security. Plus, what good is a super expensive doorlock when your windows can be opened with a rock?
I am a marketing person and a nerd. Shocking I know. I will hack all the things, including your bottom line.
A few nights ago my wife asked me, “When you go to tradeshows, what is the ROI?” Well in our case the results are mixed. But direct ROI is not the only reason you go. I would argue its a small part of it.
I would say the major reasons you go to a trade show are:
While explaining all of this, I described the types of people you meet at these shows. I think this conversation nicely highlights the indirect return you get from trade shows.
Customers and Prospects
Most online businesses haven’t the slightest clue about who their customers are. After all we are limited to looking at database rows and analytics data. That does not really tell you a lot about who these people are and what drives them.
Sure you could commission a market research firm to tell you they are between the ages of X and Y, are M and F, have some amount of money, like some things, shop some places….. But does that really tell you how to talk to them? Does it reveal what might be stopping them from buying? Does it really tell you why they like you now? I would contend that meeting your customers face to face is the best way to understand them. Then when you go home you can run more effective ad campaigns, design better products and generally make more money.
You are also building a personal connection with these people. The rank and file trade show visitor may not buy after talking to you. But you have probably put yourself on the “evoked set”. And hopefully when they are talking with their friends they will say nice things about you. Furthermore, if they every have problems, hopefully they will be far willing to let you solve the problem before they up and move to your competition, not to mention blast you on twitter. You should think of everyone of these people as future brand champions.
Oh and finally, if you meet one of your customers and they came in via one of your advertising programs, celebrate with them. They like the attention and you learn. Remember ‘Your next customer looks a lot like your last customer’.
Media
Most shows are swarming with media. Now if you read this and think, newspaper, tv, radio… well you probably are not reading my blog. It’s new and cretaceous period media. Bloggers and Podcasters are welcome. Spend time with the media. Build personal connections. Talk about the industry. Did I say build a personal connection?
A note on new media (blogs/podcasts): bloggers, in my experience, tend to cultivate a smaller, devoted, niche audience. These audience members are a lot more emotionally involved with the blogger. Hence when the blogger makes a recommendation, that audience internalizes it much deeper than say a favorable mention on local TV. Furthermore, these audiences can and will turn on you if you scorn them. Usually they are very vocal. So, embrace new media and dedicate yourself to satisfying the audience.
The goal is next time they have a story about your industry, they call you. Also having the warm fuzzies for your product would not hurt. Secondarily, this is an excellent opportunity to feel out sponsorship opportunities.
Competition
Meeting your competition is always an interesting experience. Sometimes it’s of limited value. Likely the people from your competition will not want to tell you a whole lot, outside of what they tell customers. But with careful questioning you can put their actions into context. Or if you are lucky they WILL just tell you what is going on.
GoDaddy for example, at OSCON, mentioned their major goal is to rebrand themselves as a tech company. This put their newest ads into context. Sure we would have correctly assumed this from watching their marketing, but having it explicitly stated removes a variable from the equation.
Go Forth and Schmooze
Like many RC (particularly micro RC) planes/copters, I look at them and think they are very flimzy. Following that I usually wonder what exactly you are paying for when you buy one? I mention this because I think it every time I buy a new copter.
examples:
The Blade mCX2: “Seriously, $80 for a mini co-axial heli?”… “wow, this flys really nice, in fact I think its uncrashable*. Screw those cheap helis.”
*Its not, however I have never had to replace a part because of a crash with me at the controls.
Blade mCP X: “$170ish for this? It weighs nothing. At least its cheaper than any other collective pitch”… “Wow, this is a collective pitch heli I can hold in my palm. And it’s crazy fast”
I was thinking about geting another micro. Debating between a plane or the mQX. Ultimately, I decided on the mQX for the same reason I chose the mCP X. I am building large quads and wanted a small analog, that could be held as the example of how quads are meant to fly. Doing a maden flight and trying to debug the machine and the pilot at the same time sucks. So the micro eliminates one variable giving me a chance to perfect my flying.
Now the mQX. This thing is the most fun I have had flying so far! Lets face it coaxials are boring and can hardly be flown outside. Collective pitch helis are amazing but I find them stressful. They are a handfull and mechanically complicated.
The mQX is easy to fly. I pulled it out of the box and flew it for the first time in my living room. I just gave it a little expo and it was good to go. The AS3X gyro system is amazing. In fact I have been wondering if there is a way to hack the board to fly a larger quad…
Outside is where the mQX gets fun. It hauls ass. Even in the wind. It can do loops and barrel rolls (however you need 4 stories of altitude because you will loose at least 2). The mQX is exceptionally forgiving. All of my crashes have been due to gross negligence. For example, flying it into a tree or attempting a loop in high wind at low altitude. I plowed it that time.
Which leads me to the next key point. The mQX is very durable. The very thing I was critical of when I looked at the mQX in the store is probably the reason. It’s so light weight that even high speed crashes don’t do damage. The worst I have done is bend a blade. I would also guess the blades act as springs on impact.
So what are you paying for? The R&D that produced the AS3X system. That and the R&D to figure out how to make it so light.
A few minor gripes. It has propeller shafts. Those who fly mCP Xs will know that hard landings can cause the main gear to slip on the shaft. The same thing happens on the mQX, although its nowhere near as big of a problem. Also the screw driver they ship with the mQX is to big for the propeller screws, which is annoying in the same way ikea wrenches are annoying.
So if you want to get into quads or just want something fun to fly and you have already done the coaxial thing, get a mQX.
Those who know will agree with me that these items can cause horrendous pain, followed by relief. They should be used as often as possible.
This year fitness was a huge theme at OSCON. As someone who works out constantly I was really happy to see others getting into it. There was a lot of talk about starting. Rather than rehash all the reasons working out is great, and there are a lot, I thought I would quickly mention some of the ways my nerd side comes out in the gym.
I started Crossfit about six months ago. Shortly after starting I decided I wanted to be able to do a lot of pull-ups. I could already do pull-ups so this was just an extension. So after each WOD I would do pull-ups.
Well that got boring. I decided I wanted to do muscle ups. I had the coaches show me the basic elements. Then I googled the basic elements (because I am a internet nerd after all). And then I failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed and failed…… Basically I doggedly practiced the elements and made attempts until one day, BAM I made it “over the top”. And as soon as that happened I had it in one or two more tries.
This youtube was taken while I was practicing. I wanted to see what was happening so I could improve.
When I set out on a project, I do my research and then bang on it until it works. In the gym I do the same. I think a lot of people think that if they can’t do it the first time (in the gym), for whatever reason, its not worth doing. I contend the opposite, If you CAN do it the first time, whats the point? Challenge yourself! Go into the gym and fail and fail and fail until you finally accomplish your goal.