After months of vague advertisements and antsy consumers, Horizon Hobby has finally announced the price and release period for the hotly anticipated Spektrum DX8 2.4GHz radio system. For those living under the proverbial rock, here’s a short list of features this new radio will ship with: SD card slot for expanding (and backing up) your model memory, downloadable firmware updates, built in telemetry, and a backlit screen.

The price for all of these features? Well, the Spektrum DX8 comes with a transmitter and the new AR8000 receiver for $429.99 (just $30 more than I guessed at the beginning of July). And it’s due out in early- to mid-September. Judging by the conversations I’ve had with customers in the store, I’d guess this radio is going to fly off the shelves (pun intended). So pre-order one soon to make sure you get one of the first ones!

With the big Spektrum announcement, the other things Horizon announced might have gotten lost in the shuffle, but managed to garner attention as well. First off, Horizon announced another ParkZone airplane. This time, the T-28 Trojan gets the ultra-micro treatment. I’m excited about this one, as it might fill the gap between the beginner (like the Champ and Ember 2) and advanced (like the P-51 or the Sukhoi) airplanes. It features full 4-channel control and, like many of the recent ParkZone announcements, this little guy is coming in both Ready-To-Fly ($129.99) and Bind-N-Fly ($99.99) flavors, and should be out mid- to late-September.

And finally, Losi had two product announcements as well: The un-creatively named “1/24 4WD Short Course Truck” and the “1/24 4WD Rally Car”. The SC truck is billed as “the smallest short course truck in the world”. Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I’m thinking it’s going to give the Losi Strike a run for its money in the “worst-selling short course truck in the world” category, and I think the Rally Car will probably do worse. I am completely unimpressed with anything smaller than 1/10 scale these days (but I hide it well, right?).

Anyway, if you think these little guys are going to be cooler than I do, here’s the skinny. Both are completely Ready-To-Run, and will go for $109.99 each. Both are due out in late August.

That’s it for now, denizens of the Interwebs. As always, we’re here to answer your questions and help you out with you hobby needs. So, call, click, or walk in, and we’ll be here for you.

Until next time,

-Brian



Can you believe it’s already been a year since we launched our website? To celebrate the birthday of our website, I’ve completely re-designed the look and feel of the website. The product pages have been updated, the repairs page is back up and up-to-date, and there are more pages going live every day. Here’s hoping you’ll find the re-design easier to navigate and read!

And while the re-design isn’t being accompanied by the ability to purchase things off the site, it is still something that we are thinking about very much. We’re just not anywhere near ready to commit to anything like that yet. But if we should choose to do so, our website visitors will be the first to know.

But enough about the website – let’s get to the updates!

Our Facebook page has been rather active as of late: we’re up to 163 fans, and climbing! Our fans are making sure the page is ever-changing, with pictures of their R/C car bodies and conversations about what hop-ups are the best. Stop over and join the conversation!

First, a few stories from Horizon Hobby’s ParkZone division. There’s been a product bulletin released regarding the new ParkZone Extra 300. You can read the full bulletin here, but the short version is this: Despite what you may hear on the Internet forums, there is no defect with the wingtip airfoil shape of the airplane. However, ParkZone has found that the center-of-gravity does affect the low-speed handling of the airplane, and there is an error in the manual in regards to the CG location. ParkZone also cautions pilots that the Extra 300 is NOT a 3D aircraft; it is designed for sport- and precision-aerobatics. Making the airplane tail-heavy and increasing the elevator throws to make it fly in a 3D fashion is a good way to crash it in low-speed situations.

ParkZone has also revealed a new airplane to be released late September, the Stinson Reliant. It’s going to be available in a Plug-N-Play ($184.99) and Bind-N-Fly ($249.99). It combines classic looks and a parkflyer price. This video is courtesy Horizon Hobby, and should give you a feel for how the airplane will handle. We can start taking pre-orders now.

Coming up in August, the Saginaw Valley Radio Control Club is hosting a Club Invitational airshow. It’s free to attend, so be sure to mark your calendars for this one. Full details for the show are here.

On the R/C car front, there isn’t much to announce. We finally have a good supply of Venom Lipo battery packs in again (seems like we’ve been without them for a long time, so I’m glad to have them back!).

A customer sent me a link to a video that got him excited. After watching it, I can see why! It depicts a prototype Losi 4WD Short Course truck. According to R/C Car magazine, it seems to be built on the TEN-T chassis (which is a very capable truggy in and of itself). As you can see in the video, this thing corners like few 4WD short course trucks do, and even laps a couple of trucks toward the end of the video. It’s a great looking truck, but here’s the rub: After seeing the video, I reached out (via e-mail) to my contact at Horizon Hobby to get a comment on the pricing, availability, and release date. Here is what my source said:

“[T]here were some team drivers running some modified vehicles to test the possibility of making a 4WD Short Course. Since these were not even pre-production samples it is too early to even say if Losi will make one….”

Disappointing to say the least. But we’ll keep a close eye on this one. If this comes to pass, Losi may be able to redeem themselves from the embarrassment that the Strike (which has since been discontinued) was.

And finally, for our gaming customers, just want to remind you that Magic: The Gathering Core Set 2011 has been out for about a week and a half now. Booster packs for this, and other sets, run $3.29 here. So stop in and get them while they’re here!



Even though June has drawn to a close, it seems like the summer is far from over. And for all of you R/C pilots out there, that's a good thing, especially since there are a bunch of new products that are coming out, or already here. First of all, from Horizon Hobby comes the new ParkZone Extra 300. It's a mid-wing foam airplane, with a wingspan of about 40 inches. It sports a killer paint scheme (one you're sure not to miss). This plane comes in two flavors: Bind-N-Fly, and Plug-N-Play. The Bind-N-Fly version comes with an AR500 Spektrum receiver, a 3-cell 2200mah Lipo battery, and a DC charger - all that is needed is any Spektrum DSM2 transmitter, and you're flying. The Plug-N-Play version is just the airframe and servos - you need a battery, charger, receiver and transmitter for that version. The Bind-N-Fly is here at the store, and is priced at $250. The Plug-N-Play one is a specail order only, and goes for $185.

Also fresh off the FedEx truck is the new ParkZone Nght Vapor. This is one I have covered before, and it has finally come in. A new take on a classic (can I call it a 'classic' if it's only two years old?) design, the Night Vapor boasts a new modular design and new trim scheme. Oh, and did I mention it has lights on it? While the Bind-N-Fly version is still a couple weeks away (according to the last estimate I saw), the Ready-To-Fly version now sits comfortably on our shelves. You can take one off our hands for the same price as the original: $130.

In the realm of the recently announced, Blade is coming out with a new mid-micro helicopter. Sized at between the mSR and the SR, the all-new Blade 120SR is a fixed-pitch helicopter. This little guy comes complete with a 500mAh single-cell lipo battery, an AC/DC variable rate charger, and a 5-in-1 control unit similar to the mSR. Like almost all of the Blade helis, this one comes in both Ready-To-Fly ($180) and Bind-N-Fly ($150) versions. Pre-orders are welcome, and probably necessary if you want your hands on one right away. The Blade SR came out over four months ago, and they're still hard to get. Pre-order your Blade 120SR today.

And of course, how could I forget about the new Spektrum annoucement. Likely the worst-kept secret in the history of R/C, Spektrum recently announced the DX8 radio. It features the same SD interface as the JR 11X24 radio (awesome), but tosses even more cool things in. It has what Spektrum calls "AirWare" built in. This included full range telemetry, beamed right to the screen on the transmitter. Initial telemetry options include: receiver pack voltage indicator, RPM sensor, signal quality, and a temperature sensor. Spektrum pioneered this technology on their surface radios, and now it's coming to the air radio system in a big way. Check out Spektrum's website for the latest info. No pricing or release date yet, but I'd be surprised if it's any more than $400 for the transmitter and receiver. I also suspect an August/September release date, but this is just a somewhat-educated guess. It's all up in the air (pardon the pun) until they officially announce it.

In other news, it should be noted that, as of July 1st, our Service and Repairs department are no longer working on or tuning nitro engines. Specifically, any vehicle that requires the starting or running of a nitro engine, will be turned away. This decision was made for many reasons, and certainly was not made lightly. We have noticed a growing trend: many of our customers were no longer doing any of the work on their engines themselves, and instead bringing their trucks in for us to tune. This is bad for two big reasons: first we simply don't have the staff to work on that many cars/trucks. Secondly, and more importantly, is that these vehicles are not toys. They require maintenance and work to keep them running. The hobby shop should not be responsible for your hobby; it is a hobby you picked for a reason. You are supposed to spend time with it, not bring it to someone else when it doesn't work perfectly. It defeats the spirit of the hobby altogether. If you are a nitro vehicle owner, and do not like performing engine maintenance, I'd respectfully suggest that you'd be happier with an electric car instead.

Please note that we will continue to assist customers in getting their engines running and educating them on how to correctly tune and maintain them. The only difference is that we will no longer be performing said maintenance for them.

And finally, I wish everyone out there a happy and safe Independence Day weekend. Keep in mind we are open regular hours on Saturday and Monday, so if you need parts, cannon fuse, or anything else, we'll be there as usual.

As always, thanks for reading, and thank you for being a customer.

-B