E-Challenged

E-Zone is a goldmine of information on all aspects of e-flying plus other types of R/C modelling. There is much info there on GWS foamy mods*, conversion of Guillows kits, new Dare and Dumas built-up scale model kits as well as batteries, chargers, power systems and what works with what.

*Look in E-Zones Vendor, GWS section for tons of how-to info on GWS foamy mods.

E-Zone info has helped thousands of modelers get a successful start and to progress steadily in e-flying as new hardware , model kits and techniques become available.

Mike Parsons

Thanks for the tip

Turbojoe

Sure RC Groups (E-Zone) is great to read. If you post there make certain you don't disagree with a moderator (God) or heaven forbid say the word "crap"!

I hope for nothing but total success for Wattflyer. I'm sure there will be a LOT of RC Groups converts in the near future.


Joe

Mike Parsons

Glad your here Joe

Turbojoe

Thanks Mike. I'll be trying to make some hopefully worthwhile contributions in the near future. Too busy building right now.


Joe

admin

Welcome aboard Joe!

WattFlyer has a VERY different style, moderation, purpose and mission from RCG. While the RCG repository of information is 8 years of posting, alot of the history is "dated" already as new technology such as brushless/lipos renders a great deal of historic information relatively useless. That is not to knock RCG in any way as it is merely a function of time and technology moving forward. They have 4 million posts in the last 8 years but today how many that talk about nicads are relevant for example in 2005?

WattFlyer does not have any banners here or advertisers to answer to. It also has no "warning systems" like RCG. I could install that same system here in 4 minutes but didn't feel that it fosters a fun atmosphere. This hobby should ultimately be about having fun. This is MOST important.

The philosophies are vastly different as are the purpose each exists. WattFlyer does only eflight while RCG does gas/glow/cars/boats just as rcu does. Nothing wrong with that for those who don't mind the broadness. I felt though that the need for a site ONLY for eflight was missing online. A place where dial up users can surf WattFlyer without getting slowed down by banner ads and without politics was also needed in this hobby. Information needs to be free and it is my hope that WattFlyer will play a role in this for those who wish to use the platform here.

It takes a lot of work to run these sites. I've been doing it full time for 3 years giving it 1000% of may dedication and attention. For the owner of RCG it is a side business apart from his regular full time job in software development. It's amazing what he's done considering that fact.

So WattFlyer is now an alternative to RCG and even my own RCU for electric powered flight enthusiasts. A very different culture, philosophy and mission are happening here. If it is the right thing for the modelers then they will come as they learn about the differences.

Ultimately it is the members who make up the community and not the software or loyalty to Jim Bourke, RCG, RCU or even me for that matter. All I can do is provide a platform on the web (which BTW anyone can have for 200 bux and a bunch of their time). Then most importantly is guiding the community in a direction that they wish to be guided in with the help of both members and moderators.

zappedalaskan

I agree Marc.. I fly glow powered heli's, Race a $1,000 "unlimited MT" Truggy and fly a large scale Beaver float plane (gas) I like electrics a lot, I have a couple of park flyers and a few E-heli's. The thing is though, is that I just plain like it here. As a heli pilot, I have been a member of runryder for a long time. Everyone is a critic, you ask a question needing help and all they want to do is flame on your equipment. I was very happy when you opened up RCU, which is by far the best all around hobby forum and marketplace. Now you have gone and opened up wattflyer and I like it here so much that I hardly even go to RCU, unless I have a nitro or gas question that I need help with. This site is like a haven by comparison. Everyone is friendly and always happy to talk about wattever. I have to say thank you kindly for making these sites work and work well. All of your moderators are very helpful and a great bunch of people. I am proud to be a member. Keep up the great work Marc, and thank you for all your effort.
Regards,
Jay Rimel

admin

Jay,

Thank you so much for the kind words. I really appreciate them and I know the moderators here do too as they invest alot of themselves and their time into this site.

Additionally all the members here on WF deserve a pat on the back because with each new member to the site everyone gains what they may have to offer in terms of knowledge or otherwise.

Every member is also ultimately the driver of any continued growth of WattFlyer.com by letting fellow modelers know about this site and how it is different from all that have come before in our particular niche industry.

It is my hope that the atmosphere of fun and enjoyment permeates throughout WattFlyer without any of the other "baggage" that has been mentioned regarding other sites.

Marc


marc

HoverBovver

This is all great for us. Thanks Marc.

But a question......who's ultimately paying for the platform/bandwidth and your time?
You say you will never run ads but surely in the future when I'm sure you will have a massive membership you will want or need to have this site at least pay for its upkeep.

admin

Hi. The time is coming out of my personal time each day. I work a little bit more than I used to and since I'm on all day anyway it is easy for me to check in all the time. When it comes to coding I enjoy doing it and I'm a night owl so I just get it done in the late hours or whenever I need to really.

As far as hardware and bandwidth my partner at RCU (michael) and I discussed this website at length that I wanted to create and we both agreed that RCU would support it fully as it grows without the need for mandatory banner ads all over the place.

There actually is no "business model" for wattflyer other than to serve the eflight community. That is the sole focus and mission right now. I'm sure over time something good will come back out of it and whether that is measured in dollars or not doesn't really matter. Put something good out there and something good always comes back somewhere in your life.

marc

timocharis

Weirdly, I think it will probably work out somehow. Good for you!


Dave North

HoverBovver

Yep....I agree.
Its certainly good for e-flight and the membership here. Hope it works out great for you too Marc.

termite

Thanks for havin' us

Randy
Dynamo Electrics

Mike Parsons

Good to see you hanging around these parts Randy and thanks for joining us. Keep up the good work.

-Mike

jrb

I like the speed w/o the overhead of banners (etc.); also being able to search (most of the time) w/o being logged in.


Their E-Flight FAQs & 4x10^6+ posts are a graet source; even the ones about NiCds! Its also great to be able point folks to places where the same things have been talked about dozens of times.


Don’t really see a down side there, and a real need here? Can’t really speak to the “over” moderation issue; family friendly is very nice.


But, like some others I’m sure, I feel a little “dirty” visiting here; could be the hours spent and knowledge gain over there during the past 6 years and 4,966 posts. Not sure how regular I’ll be here?


Jim

Mike Wizynajtys

Ya, I kind of feel like I'm backstabbing being here. After all, those guys over there at RCG have been giving me help and advice for a very long time.

I don't know if I can really become a regular over here either.

Wiz

Mike Parsons

I am still perplexed by those that feel that visiting, contributing and helping other members outside of a particular forum is like cheating.

I am a member of a flying club (The Drones) that has given me more than I have ever contributed. I have learned sooo much from the guys that fly there and or used to fly there about setting up airplanes, how to fly a maneuver and even answering silly mundane questions about IC (before we were all electric). I never once felt guilty (and still don't) about visiting another field, helping members there with questions about electrics and passing on the knowledge that I have in this small brain of mine about flight in general.

Wattflyer is no different IMO. I give and take where I can, when I can. That means here, there or elsewhere. Unless you are being paid, you shouldn't feel guilty or dirty and you aren't backstabbing or cheating. You are enjoying what this hobby has to offer within it's online forums and gaining and giving knowledge to other members. As that is what it is all about and that is why I try to be omnipresent on the Online forums...to help people, share a laugh and learn from others. So far the success of that has been amazing for me personally.

My 2 yen.

-Mike

Mike Wizynajtys

I suppose that's true, Mike. Still, when I go out for a regular flying session (not an event) at a local club other than mine I always get the same feeling. I guess I'm more loyal than I thought I was. I think I had better work on that a little.

Wiz

PS A fella in my club says "The older I get, the better I was". It's kind of similar to your saying.

Mike Parsons

Wiz,
Loyalty is certainly not a bad thing as long as it doesn't produce tunnel vision and then you limit yourself and a good thing can pass by too easily.
As usual, I have a story : I love everything JR and used to refuse anything but JR. One day I found myself to just about blow my budget on a conversion and only needed one more JR 8411 to finish it off. Decided to stick to my guns and purchase within the budget and discovered Hitec digitals. Just as good an cheaper. I still buy JR when possible, but I know there are quality items out there that wont break the bank

I listen to country quite a bit (dont stone me as I listen to a lot of different music) and one of my favorite songs is by Toby Keith "As good as I once was". The full lyric is "I aint as good as I once was
but I'm as good once as i ever was"

-Mike

admin

Ask yourself who are you loyal to? The site owners? The members who have given you information? If all those posters came here and posted would you feel as if you were breaching loyalty? I'm curious where the allegieance feelings are directed towards.

I learned a couple years ago that there is actually not a lot of loyalty online. RCU dropped the ball when they converted to the new site a couple years ago and it took months to fix all the bugs and screw ups we made. We lost at least 20%-30% of our members during that period if not more. So much for loyalty, huh. In the end when we fixed everthing and they did come back but it wasn't out of loyalty. It was only because we provided a valuable service and they voted with their clicks which were definitely not loyalty driven. It was a big eye opener for me.

It was at that time I learned you either provide what the people want or they will go elsewhere. Loyalty for most is pushed aside just so they can get the information they want and enjoy getting it. Wherever that equation is maximized seems to be where people click in my experience.

There are exceptions of course to all this I understand but the phenomena is nonetheless interesting.

Mike Parsons

Exactly! I think doctors call it the "What have you done for me lately" Syndrome .

-Mike

Mike Wizynajtys

Well, I'm content to spend some of my on line time here. I think for now I'll avoid the RCG/Watt Flyer comaprison threads. All that seems to accomplish is making people choose sides. That's not the kind of thing I want to continue.

Thanks for the nice RC forum, Mark!....and thanks for spending your time being a moderator, Mike.

Cheers

Wiz

admin

Wiz,

good strategy.

We actually don't want people to pick "sides" either here. WattFlyer is not a giant commercial venture so there is no reason to try and make anyone pick a side. It exists solely to do things a different way, give people a choice and at the end of the day people may use one forum, two forums or a dozen to get whatever they are looking for.

RC Universe still has full blown electric forums for example. I don't care if people use RCU's electric forums, RCG's or WattFlyers (or all 3). I do want people to have all those choices so they can pick and choose to visit one or several on any given day. Every forum has a different atmosphere, philosophy, look, feel, etc and having choices is instrumental in helping people get just what they might be looking for.

Mike Parsons

Thanks for the thanks Wiz. I do it for you guys.

-Mike

KenS

Well ummm the "other" site is down.
I always read both forums. sometimes you get a nice contrast in posts to help you make decisions.