Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

I have noted that here locally there is much less interest in the Drone/FPV activity. At the club I belong to there are only a few folks that might show interest. I know of several folks who invested a lot
in these flying cameras and now admit they find them boring! One member stated "You can only look at the same ground so many times". About the only regular flier is disabled and a Drone is his best choice
by far.
We do enforce AMA rules and that has done some to eliminate activity as the fixed wing guys (me and others) could care less about learning to operate these machines as a spotter that can fly it, that is required in order to fly under FPV operation.
Some locals are racing FPV and have some sort of club locally. Do not know much about it, just they have been advertising races........

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Depends who you ask. Some think it never get started in the first place, and nobody who flies this stuff is part of the AMA. Others think it's the only thing going on with the hobby now, and will be the salvation of it. Keep in mind there is a difference between FPV and Droning, the terms are sometimes linked but are different. The ads in all of the RC related magazines certainly indicate it's popular. And the FPV technology is getting better, and cheaper, and easier to use on all types of aircraft. Like anything new, there is an entry point of popularity, growth, plateau, and then decline. I think we're still in the growth period. I remember the 3D electric heli's were all the rage 3-4 years ago....I'd say that one is on the decline.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

Just wanted to see where this was trending after our exchange on another post, I see it as "cooling off" here?

JCOKEEFE

My Feedback: (2)

I belong to the Cumberland County Radio Control Club, Crossville, TN. We are a small club, but I can tell you that we fly fixed wing, glow powered, gas powered and electric. I know of no one in our club who is involved with multi-rotors. Fixed wing is still the aircraft of choice...............

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

What do you mean as cooling off, the fad of FPV/Drones overall, of the thoughts on them here? Keep in mind this place overall is like an echo chamber of negativity on the issue overall. That's not a knock on the site, or the people who post here. It's just the reality of it all. It's a tiny portion of what people post about here in the threads devoted to the issue (not that there are many), and that's because this site really isn't geared towards that. It's the same response in general that you would get a Flying Giants, or Giant Scale News. At RCG, it's a far different story, just as it is at sites devoted to, or focused on this genre. The reality is that nothing has come along in the past 5 years that has affected the hobby the way MR/Drones have. Yes, that's both good and bad. But from a popularity standpoint, nothing comes close. Not fixed wing, not heli. I don't see them ever eclipsing the popularity of fixed wings however, not in my lifetime. And keep in mind, in 5 or 10 years something else might come along that blows MR/FPV away.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

By here I mean locally and at various local traditional clubs, not on RCU.

init4fun

No type of AMA condoned RC is shunned at the club I'm in and we have a couple who fly FPV (with both fixed wings and MR depending on what they feel like flying that day) , a few who fly "traditional" Helicopters , and the rest fly fixed wing . It's kinda funny that when the MRs first came out they were so newfangled looking that most would stop flying just to watch one fly , but that quickly gave way to it being just like any other RC in the mix and doesn't look all that unusual to see flying any more .

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Got it, thanks for the clarification.

rcmiket

The hyped up "money events" get all attention and are no way the norm. These events are what some use to say it's still growing but were not seeing that. We have a few here that FPV but are used fixed wing as the platform. The FPV racing thing here started with 10 or 12 guys last year and now it's down to 3. They go from place to place to race rather than associating with the clubs here.
Camera MR platforms sales have slowed compared to last year here.
We fly everything at the club field from rockets to turbines and all are welcome so it ain't the club that's keeping them away.

Mike

Silent-AV8R

Consider that MultiGP just surpassed 11,000 registered pilots, making it easily the largest AMA SIG, and I am not sure I'd be so quick to call drone racing a dying fad.

http://www.multigp.com/news/13/MultiGP11K

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

Well MultiGP is growing and it consists of both multi-rotor and fixed-wing fpv racing. I see that part of the hobby continuing to grow.
Some clubs will embrace it, others will reluctantly allow it while others will shun it. If you flew helicopters years ago you probably went through a similar thing with local clubs.

As far as the high end camera platform quads/hexes , I believe they have peaked in popularity and you will probably see only two companies continue to be around in the future.

rcmiket

The Chapter here boasts 36 members only 3 are still racing. Just because your a registered pilot with them doesn't mean squat if participation isn't there..



Mike

rcmiket

Go Pro just tossed their hat into that ring, I don't think they would have gotten i it it if they thought the market was done.

https://shop.gopro.com/karma

Mike

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

Have to wait and see with the GoPro offering. Many entered the market and a lot of them are now gone.

rcmiket

Go Pro is a big player in the camera business so this was a no brainier for them. The call center for technical support is located here and about 50 "techs" were given first hand experience with the Karma at one of our club fields here over the last 3 weeks. I ( along with other club members) was there during the training and it a pretty cool unit ( if your into that kinda thing). Not my cup of tea but to each there own.

Mike

flyinwalenda

My Feedback: (5)

Well Blade(350QX, Chroma) and Yuneec(Q500) have been offering optional mounts and gimbals for the GoPro cameras for years. This is tailored for their camera only and I'm sure they will sell some but time will tell if it survives.

Silent-AV8R

And every other SIG has 100% active participation, right??

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

This one seems to be alive and well.

http://miniaturewarbirds.org/

The last event they posted looks like it was from 2014.

rcmiket

Never said that but anyone can register with MGP. No AMA needed no nothing needed just register. Same as far as starting a chapter. Some may join just to see what it all about and never take it any further. I used the local chapter here as a example , your mileage may vari.
Mike

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Well, actually, yes, AMA is in fact needed to race with them, as is clearly indicated on their website. It's sort of silly (but not surprising) to think that someone would just sign up to be a member of SIG, only to not participate in the SIG. As for looking locally for trending data, that's a mistake if one is looking to get a realistic or even factual idea of what is really going on in the hobby. I happen to be a big fan of numbers, and rather than just looking at my town or immediate area, I look to multiple sources to form an intelligent conclusion on what might be happening overall. Things like the MA mag, RCG, and of course the AMA site. I love data, good quantifiable meaningful data. Doesn't really matter how hard someone might try to minimize or marginalize or downplay a number like 11,000...it is what it is. It's a number that can't be touched by any other SIG, at least not by their own records. It's a number that SIGnifies a huge interest and involvement and popularity, nothing has come close in the past few years of a similar nature. Go to any of the major manf websites, front and center...not ads for J-3 cub kits, that's for sure. Other than RCU, RCG and any of the websites that focus on this hobby just reinforce the fact that this isn't the flash in the pan that some had hoped for, or willfully continue to deny is popular. Oh, and that whole TV show thing on the worlds most popular sports channel, ESPN, might help in reaching that conclusion as well.