R/Cast

Many people have dreamed about what it would be like to be Adam Drake, Mike Truhe, Billy Fischer or other factory team drivers. We've been asked what it takes to be a sponsored driver many times in many different ways, so who better to talk to about this than one of the guys who manages a race team. Kevin Gahan is one of the men who helps to run the Team Losi Racing team and helps shed some light on what exactly it takes. Jim and Gary also talk about some of the new gear coming from Orion, Dynamite and CRC including an exciting new conversion kit. Make sure you check it out.

One of the things that makes the R/Cast special for us here behind the scenes is that it gives us the opportunity to have a direct link to you, our listeners and customers. While we try to answer as many of your questions as we can each and very week, we cannot always get to them all. While we do answer each e-mail and message individually, from time to time we do like to dive deeper into the mailbag and answer some of the other questions we have received. We've taken this opportunity to delve back into the mailbag to answer more of your questions this week.

JR continues to push the envelope in cramming the latest software and programming into some of the most ergonomic and natural-feeling transmitters in the world. Their latest announcement, the JR 11X, is a bit of a dichotomy in both appearance and features. We're lucky to have John Diniz from JR on-site to answer all your questions about the 11X. In other news Team Orion announces what is sure to be a very popular charger; you can win a HobbyZone Champ and much more.

Mike McConville is back again this week with yet another of his designs for the ParkZone Extra 300. Mike's expertise in design comes through here, and the Extra 300 truly pushes the design and performance envelope in a different direction than any previous model from ParkZone. Mike gives us a look at the Extra 300 with his keen designer's eye. Also new this week Gary recaps his recent trip to the Short Course Showdown, Dynamite announces a new line of Vision chargers, your comments and questions are included and much more.

There's a lot of exciting news as both Jim and Gary are going to events and coming back from them, ParkZone has a new plane and we return with Part II of our interview with Team Associated's Cliff Lett. ParkZone has a new Extra 300 airplane designed by Mike McConville that really brings aerobatic flight to an all-new crowd. Jim discusses his recent trip to an event in Kansas where he had the opportunity to work closely with students at the local university. And Gary discusses an event he'll be covering and provides updates on our Facebook page for the Short Course Showdown in Wisconsin this weekend.

When it comes to the history of RC cars and trucks, Team Associated has been there from some of the very early days of the sport. Cliff Lett has helped lead Team Associated in many different ways --- from sponsored driver to team manager and now to the V.P. of the company itself. Cliff has seen much of the history of the hobby and even helped forge some of it. We were lucky to sit down with this former World Champion to really learn about both his history and Team Associated's.

After our "April Fool's" prank last week, Jim and Gary are back once again with another webisode of the R/Cast. On this week's show we had a chance to visit with Theo Captanis of Pacific Coast Hobbies while at RCX recently. Theo shared quite a bit with us---giving an inside look at PCH itself, Theo himself, and his views on the hobby and where it's going. Jim and Gary also discuss Jim's upcoming trek to the Toledo Weak Signals event this weekend, answer your comments and questions and much more.

The Blade series of helicopters have been wildly popular and much of that popularity is due to the Blade mCX. The Blade folks have been hard at work trying to improve upon the original and have now announced the Blade mCX2. Mark Padilla appeared on the very first R/Cast to talk about the original mCX and he returns on a very special R/Cast to talk about the mCX2. We also have an important announcement regarding the future of the R/Cast, along with answering your comments and questions.

We started to get an inside look at the new ParkZone Sukhoi SU-26 XP last week and Mike McConville is back again to look at some of the more intricate details of the plane. In this episode we talk about the actual performance of the plane, what maneuvers it can perform, some of the changes to the power system and more. We also discuss more of the latest products to be announced this week and, as always, answer your comments and questions.

When Mike McConville puts pen to paper to work on an airplane design something wonderful always emerges. Mike's latest design is smaller than he's ever worked with before in the ParkZone ultra micro Sukhoi SU-26xp. Designed with a new motor and prop, aggressive graphical treatment, greater surface area throws and more, we're sure this is going to be an incredible plane. Mike swung by to share his expertise and give you an exclusive look behind the designer's pencil.

We're sure you've heard the guys hoping and praying for spring to get here, eager to fly and drive their different vehicles. Thankfully warmer weather is starting to creep into different parts of the country and it's time to get your gear ready for the season. We've caught up with one of our top Product Support Representatives, Chris Puckett. Chris is one of the most experienced pilots here at Horizon and stopped by to talk to the guys about what steps need to be taken to ensure your plane flies as good on its first flight of 2010 as it did for its last flight of 2009.

We're back again this week with Tamiya America's Fred Medel to talk about the 2010 season of the TCS Series. We delve into some of the controversies regarding motors, speed controllers and other changes that have cropped up in recent months. We also talk about the new Seagull Percival Mew Gull, Losi's new parts for the Strike, the HIGHroller and 1/10-scale Slider and as always we answer your comments and questions.

Last weekend marked the start of the 16 season of the TCS, or Tamiya Championship Series. This traveling racing series focuses on the aspiring club racer who has an affinity for scale realism and details. In Part One of a special two-part R/Cast Tamiya America's Fred Medel called into the show to talk about what makes TCS so fun and special, some of the venues they'll be attending and some of the rule changes from 2009. Make sure you come back next week to hear Part Two.

The Ultra-Micro 4-Site is one of those planes in which the performance far exceeds the size of the aircraft. As with any new product or technology there can be some questions that arise after any new item launches, and the Ultra-Micro 4-Site is no exception. David Payne was the lead product developer on the project and has stopped by to answer a number of questions regarding this awesome little plane.

Erik Shauver is one of the lead engineers and designers at HPI Racing and was the man behind the original Blitz short course truck. Well Erik surprised us last week with a new version called the Blitz ESE, or Extra Special Edition. Erik spills the beans on some of the design elements that went into the new truck, why it looks so different and what these changes should mean to the on-track performance. We also delve into his past as a 4WD Sedan Carpet Oval racer... definitely worth a few laughs.