[ronm]

I haven't really liked RCM since the took the "Hot Babes" off the cover!

[adaptabl]

Originally Posted by TLyttle

Sorry, I didn't miss it. I found that RCM was simply a big advertising catalogue...

As far as the other mags are concerned, they ALL seem to suck up to the latest ARF: pick up one mag, you have now picked them all! :P

I get kinda miffed with magazines. My buddy buys Brit mags with full-size plans in them, and there are some real gems in there. The only US mag I ever look at is Flying Models because it covers everything, r/c, ARF, f/f, c/l, the lot, something like Aeromodeller. Being that I have a mag collection that goes back to 1951, I have a perspective on magazines that not too many have. I look at Air Trails (or Model Builder for that matter), and see that there are 4, 5, 6, or more models described, with reduced plans included.

Last I looked at RCM, they had ONE construction article: pass on that! :P

Plans are like kits. DEAD. 95% of the plane sales are ARF's and much of that market is moving to RTF. It's tough to publish a magzine with a market of a few thousand who are interested in plans and kits(the old RCM). FLy R/C is todays RCM. Little or no staff writes who are in the hobby and a bunch of ARF reviews from freelance writers. It probably has the largest circulation today in our hobby with one of the lowest production cost.

[nosedive]

Originally Posted by adaptabl

Plans are like kits. DEAD.

Interesting then that the only surviving part of RCM magazine is the plans service...

FLy R/C is todays RCM. Little or no staff writes who are in the hobby and a bunch of ARF reviews from freelance writers. It probably has the largest circulation today in our hobby with one of the lowest production cost.

The above then makes Fly R/C nothing more than a catalogue. Which is what RCM had become before it collapsed. A subscription might not be a good idea!

Ed S

[TLyttle]

Nice shot, Nosedive... Us dinosaurs are still out there, not buying ARFs, not reading articles on ARFs, not ordering online. Us dinosaurs are still buiding from plans, or (god forbid!!!) drawing our own, reading about Pat Tritle's latest innovations, making our own answer to a problem rather than buying a $3 part that could be ordered on line with a $10 shipping charge.

Go ahead, guys keep buying and flying ARFs, but look for a dinosaur to come up with an innovative use for an item soon to be used in your next ARF... :P

[Cross Check]

Hi TLyttle,

I'm inclined to agree.

Flying Maac Scale Combat, I am amazed at the creativity of the pilots and what they can do with coro. Seems every Match I go to someone has some new technique or method. Alot of: 'now why couldn't I think of that, it's so simple'. Some of the guys are true coro artists.

I'm a bit of a dinosaur building with foam/ply/balsa. I like scratch building/designing just as much as flying. If (I mean when) one of my planes 'explodes' in a nasty midair it's OK. I don't have much storage space so I get to build another one, usually something different.

I have learned alot from the old magazine articles and plans. Some of the old inked plans are a work of art. I find it interesting looking at plans and seeing how the designer 'skinned the cat'. Some of the mags used to show full page plans that you can scale up. Then they started making them half page and incomplete so you had to buy the plans. Thats when I lost interest in buying the mags. I don't even bother thumbing through them at the LHS anymore...

Hopefully one of the local libraries will get in RCM&E for me, or one of the other britmags...
Anyone know of any links to subscribe to RCM&E, Aeromodeller and the other one? Thanks in advance.


Take care,
Have fun,
Dave'crosscheck'Fallowfield
Maac 6437
Unabashed Combat Team

[nosedive]

Originally Posted by TLyttle

Nice shot, Nosedive... Us dinosaurs are still out there, not buying ARFs, not reading articles on ARFs, not ordering online. Us dinosaurs are still buiding from plans, or (god forbid!!!) drawing our own, reading about Pat Tritle's latest innovations, making our own answer to a problem rather than buying a $3 part that could be ordered on line with a $10 shipping charge.

Go ahead, guys keep buying and flying ARFs, but look for a dinosaur to come up with an innovative use for an item soon to be used in your next ARF... :P

That was not a shot, rather what I was getting at is that plans are (IMHO) NOT dead- hence the plans service apparently is doing alright while the magarfzine died. I too enjoy building from plans, I even enjoy 'reading' a nicely drawn set of plans even if I have no intention to build from them. Not flying ARFs does not in ANY way, shape or form equate to being a 'dinosaur' in this hobby. I have nothing against a well made ARF...I love a well designed and produced kit...I enjoy building from plans.

On that note, I don't miss RCM one bit. IT would be a HUGE tragedy if the plans service folded (er, ok, pun intended ) and all those years of plans were lost forever.

[Applehoney]

>I even enjoy 'reading' a nicely drawn set of plans even if I have no intention to build from them.

Me, too! I have about 750 plans in the file cabinet . .and others slowly, steadily get added ... which I love to get 'lost' in from time to time. They're a valuable source for me in that I only scratch build, whether original design or otherwise.

[TLyttle]

So, the only worth-while remnants of RCM (or, at least the only part that still makes money) are the plans. I understand that Bill Northrop is still offering plans from the now-defunct Model Builder magazine. and are there ever some beauts in there!

And I agree, a well-done set of plans is capable of absorbing my attention, even if I don't intend to build the model in question. After an hour or so, sometimes it is kinda hard NOT to build it!

[nosedive]

Originally Posted by Applehoney

Me, too! I have about 750 plans in the file cabinet