AMA Expo 2016 Picture Show With Videos Here is a picture and video peak at the 2016 AMA Expo! I had fun I hope you enjoy this peak. Article By Michael Heer Jan 15, 2016, 05:14 PM AMA EXPO AMA Meeting Saturday Morning Meeting The Saturday morning meeting FAA NEWS News was given about the situation with the FAA at the main membership meeting at 9:00 on Saturday and the AMA-FAA Meeting on Sunday afternoon. They then updated their blog on the 11th and I have posted a link and you can read directly what they have said. No smoke was blown at the meeting. It http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 1/55
became clear to me that I need to register as I am very visible in this hobby so I decided to take advantage of the free registration period before 1/19/16. The AMA has not given up their fight but I don't expect major changes immediately. This battle will take time. Go to the link and read the actual news for yourself directly from the AMA. AMA Blog on the FAA Issue. Flying Site Recommendation For clubs looking for a flying site it was suggested to go your your local city and their parks department and negotiate to have a flying site where the AMA members can fly and give guidance for new people with multirotors can safely fly and where people flying drones can be directed to go fly when they are asked not to fly elsewhere. The AMA club can possible secure a site, can help the city/county with a place where multi-rotor pilots can go fly and be educated by AMA members. For more information on this suggestion contact the AMA concerning flying site procurement. The People's Choice Award On the right front and side of the Expo hall there was a display of planes with a few boats and rockets and helicopters. Every year modelers bring their models to the Expo and the people judge them and a winner is selected. I got pictures of all models that were on display when the show opened and got a few more later in the day. Here are the entries that I saw on Friday and Saturday morning in the People's Choice Award. No information, just pictures. The opening picture above was the first picture I took of the displayed models. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 2/55
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The Exhibit Floor http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 11/55
For many the main event of the Expo is seeing what is being displayed and in many cases sold in the booths on the Exhibit Floor. The majority of my pictures are of the items being displayed and/or sold. Esprit Model Esprit Model traveled from Florida and brought their Jeti transmitters to display and discuss. They sell a lot of wonderful sailplanes but due to size and expense they didn't bring those to the Expo. I thought I would just be posting a few pictures of their stand but on Saturday afternoon I saw a demonstration in the flying room of a new product from a line of products that they will be selling before the end of the month. The line is the Opale Paramodels from France and the demonstration flight was with the Oxy 0.5. In includes a fabric airfoil with a flat section of 0.5sqm and a wingspan of 1.3m. They will be selling it in a kit and the ARF version will require the buyer supply their own radio and flight battery. This is the model shown in the video below and is their smallest model. They have five powered versions and the largest is 5 meter wingspan. They also have three slope soaring versions. For more information on their transmitters and the new for them Opale Paramodels go to: www.espritmodels.com. These will be added to their Website end of January or early February. I have volunteered to do a review of the smallest model if they desire. Whether a review is by me or another reviewer from RC Groups I hope we get a chance to put one through its paces as Jason did with the Hacker Paramodel in 2015 where he had Woodie as his pilot. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 12/55
Opale Paramodels (2 min 39 sec) Si è verificato un errore. Prova a guardare il video su www.youtube.com oppure attiva JavaScript se è disabilitato nel browser. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 13/55
The collection of pictures and videos from the Hobbico Booth. Hobbico sponsored the Drone cage which was right next to their booth and I was able to get Josh to fly three different multi-rotors for you. They include the great little Verso which performs have flips and goes into easily controlled inverted flight. The HeliMax Form 500 which can carry heavier loads and has a lot of special features and the Xiro Xplorer which can hold its camera stable while the drone itself is rocking out. The best news is that these videos are just introductions. All three of these multi-rotors will be reviewed in detail in RC Groups in the near future. I am wrapping up my review of the Verso so it will be the first to be reviewed of these three. The Dromida Verso The Dromida Verso in a Demo Flight at the 2016 AMA Expo (3 min 15 sec) The HeliMax Form 500 Quadcopter Standard 500 Multi-copter at the AMA Expo 2016 (2 min 16 sec) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 14/55
The Xiro Xplorer Xiro Quadcopter with Camera and Gimbal (3 min 43 sec) This was my first chance to see the new Great Planes Avistar. It looked very nice and I am looking forward to reading the review of this plane when another reviewer gets the model and does the review. There are some other pictures included as well. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 15/55
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The new Flyzone Elite 3 channel plane Horizon Hobby Horizon Hobby had the largest display and thus the most pictures. They had the new UMX Cub that has a brushless motor on display and I saw it fly as well and it was very impressive. They also had The P2 and P3 biplanes on display that were very interesting. The UMX version of the P2 was often flying in the flying hall as was the P-47 I also got my first look in person of several of their new planes and all looked very nice. I hope you enjoy the pictures and the video of their Demo flight show from about 1:30 on Saturday. It was a very enjoyable show and the pilots were helpful in answering questions from me and others in the crowd. Horizon Hobby's AMA Expo Flight Demonstration Program (17 min 59 sec) http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 18/55
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Right across from Horizon Hobby was a Vendor selling their products. While Horizon, Hobbico and Hitec only display a number of vendors at the show are selling their stuff and some of it was at "Show discount." Vendor selling Horizon hobby products. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 30/55
Hitec Hitec had their standard display table and held two raffles on Saturday with a main prize given away first then voltage readers given away to a number of pilots. In the Flight Room they had several pilots flying their new PM Pro 3D plane. There is a review of this plane that has been written by Ralph S and is either live or about to go live at this time as it has been completed. The plane performed excellently in the hands of the skilled pilots at the show. The also had the Heron electric sailplane on display in the booth and it is an excellent flyer as well. A demonstration flight of the Hitec PM Pro! Hitec's PM PRO 3D plane at the 2016 AMA Expo (1 min 27 sec) Aerobeez http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 31/55
The Aerobeez had a booth and displayed a few planes there but also did demonstration flights. The "Coldcock" is owned by Shawn Spiker and has Hitec electronics for radio and servos. Enjoy the video. Aerobeez at the AMA Expo Indoor Flight Center (7 min 33 sec) Hoodman This was a surprise find for me at the show. In talking to them I learned they made the hoods that were used in the NFL for the viewing of video on the field when plays were in question and they now make the booths the officials use to avoid thrown objects and insults by the fans when reviewing a play. The make hoods that attach to the back of cameras or can go over our smart phones or tablets with access from a hole in the bottom side of the hood for those of us that view and need to control from our Smart phones or tablets. The hoods were well made but I didn't have a chance to test them with a tablet outside to see how well it would work in actual operation but it looked promising. They also make a landing pad and they all but sold out of them by early Saturday afternoon. They kept a http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 32/55
camo model for display. They are making new ones in bright orange. They have a heavy steel cable in the outside liner of them that keeps them in place but still allows them to be folded up for transportation and storage. They were nice guys to talk to and the products I saw were all very well made. To learn more go to: www.hoodmanusa.com Reflective H on the portable heli/drone landing pad. Soon available in orange! http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 33/55
XPS Our friends from XPS do some wonderful things with and for radios. Two friends separately told me I had to spotlight the channel extender made and sold by XPS! Well this is a photo review so here are two pictures. For this interested in a channel extender to get more channels visit XPS's Website. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 34/55
XPS Channel Extender. Go to XPS's Website to learn more.: The World Models They are just over the hill from where I live as they are headquartered in Livermore in Northern CA. I heard they had a heck of a trip down to the show but I am glad they made it. Interesting setup on this World Models twin engine plane! http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 35/55
Take Flight with STEM and Flight Test "Flite Test exhibits for people who are passionate about flight. Through a popular Webshow and website, Flite Test entertains, educates and elevates the world of flight. From veterans to beginners, Flight test empowers the radio-controlled (R/C) community to work in their passion daily. The goal is to provide a creative outlet for flight enthusiasts by blending humor, technology, and information to create quality content and products." At the AMA Flight Test were speakers on the main stage and were helping youth build foam gliders next to the flight room. Stem has flight curriculum for: K-3, 4-6, 6-8 and are developing it for 9-12. Visit ftstem.com to learn more and to get started with FT STEM. They have a number of online resources and kits available to teachers. At the AMA Expo a number of people had fun making and flying or trying to fly their foam gliders. Flight Test giving a presentation from the stage. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 36/55
The Flight Test Blimp http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 37/55
I threw my sailplane in the air... where it lands... OH OH! Make and Take Rockets Make and Take Rockets were at the Expo again this year where families could stop and make a rocket together. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 38/55
Banana Hobbies... PETE was Back Pete the long time spokes person and in house test reviewer was back with Banan Hobby at the AMA Expo this year. Banana hobby had a number of very nice looking foam EDFs for sale and a few propeller powered planes. They even had a micro drone and i bought a voltage meter from them. It was good to see Pete in their booth! http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 39/55
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RC City http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 41/55
One of the vendors had a lot of banners from different companies but nothing that let me know who they were. I stopped and talked with them briefly before the show opened on Saturday and learned they were from my home state of Minnesota. RC-City-Online@Live.com is from Saint Paul and they travel to various shows and sell name brand RC products at good prices as well as selling online. I will be checking out their website in the near future. "You Betcha!" Gorilla Bob Friendly people and an interesting mix of parts and kits. I once again purchased a part from Gorilla Bob. I am sure my purchase made his show as it was a whole $2.50 for a Slow Stick motor mount. I don't know the total number of years but I have purchased something I needed for myself or a friend from Gorilla Bob at the AMA Expo every year since I first remember seeing him there. Good People, good stuff and they have a Website. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 42/55
Hobby People: Hobby People was once again a popular vendor at the AMA Expo as well as having a number of stores in Southern CA they are a popular Internet vendor. Here are a few pictures from there booths. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 43/55
Maxford http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 44/55
Maxford has carved out a nitch with different and interesting planes. They have a number of early flier ARFs and one where there are more motors and ESCs then my wallet wants me to count. Always fun to see what they have that is new and a website worth visiting for the same reason. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 45/55
Soaring USA As always one of my favorite stops is Soaring USA. I love to just look at their display of beautiful sailplanes. Sailplanes remain my favorite part of our hobby. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 46/55
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Here are More Pictures from the Expo Awaiting the opening of the doors on Saturday. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 48/55
Dragon Hobbies Pacific Coast Hobbies JB Hobbies http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 49/55
Graupner: They had a hot new 3D quadcopter. The Cicada Quadcopter controlled with a Smart phone or Tablet. http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 50/55
www.warbirdpilots.com" /> www.warbirdpilots.com http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 51/55
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Videos http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2577782 53/55
I have a few more videos from the Flight Center. I enjoy hanging out with Mark Wood and his staff. I also like watching the various fliers. First up is Adam Woodworth who was one of the main speakers for the Expo and is probably best known to RC Group members for his excellent combination of a toy Star Wars sled and a multi-rotor. One of the best projects I have seen to date. Adam was even contacted to see if he wanted to get a license for his project but he declined. At the Expo who flew four of his creations on Friday. One is a recreation of the pedal power piane and three are from Star Wars. Oh his speech topic was: "From Star Wars Toys to Delivery Drones." Adam Woodworth's Star War's and More Adam Woodworth Star Wars Toys and More (5 min 11 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wol7ugmb3hc This next video is of an excellently flown 3D piane but i have no information on it. I simply posted the video so you can enjoy the flight. 3D Flier 3D flight at the AMA Expo Indoor Flight Center (1 min 14 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icm8laaoub4
21/1/2016 AMA Expo 2016 Picture Show With Videos - RC Groups The final video is the Knights of the Round Circle. It is adults with a control line piane letting kids fly it at the Expo. The kids really do get to fly the piane as can be seen in the video. Knights of the Round Circle Control Line Flying with Kids AMA Control Line Flying With Children (2 min 11 sec) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubq0exltf30 Conclusion There is my glimpse of the 2016 AMA Expo. I purchased two small items and learned about the Opale Paramodels that are coming soon to Esprit Models and I loved seeing the small one in flight. I learned about RC City from St Paul and the Hoodman and his custom hoods and landing pad. I saw a lot of friends and some great flying. I saw a number of products that I had heard about but had not previously seen in person. I headed home late Saturday afternoon as my back was tightening up but despite my back I had a good time and I am very glad I went. Again I hope you enjoyed this peak at the event and hopefully saw a product or two that is of interest to you. http://www. rcgroups.com /forum s/showthread.php?t= 2577782 55/55