AXIAL FEST 2017, IT’S NOT JUST A HOBBY.

Event: Axial Fest 2017
Date: July 12-16, 2017
Location: Cisco Grove Campground – Cisco Grove, CA
Team Hitec Attendees: Billy Tompkins

By: Billy Tompkins

During the week of July 12-16^th I had the opportunity to attend Axial Fest 2017 as a company representative of Hitec RCD USA, Inc.  Excited for weekend, I loaded up the Hitec truck, hooked up the trailer and headed to the mountains for a few days of fun with the fine folks at Axial Racing.

Axial Racing are the makers of high end remote control products and accessories specializing in purpose-built off road cars and trucks that mimic their real world counterparts. Their scale trail trucks (rock crawlers), rock racers and trophy trucks are the best in the business. With the popularity of Axial and a large customer base, they came up with a way to give back to their customers and thank them for their loyalty by hosting the annual gathering named Axial Fest.

Axial Fest is an event created to get you, your family and friends away from the confines of everyday life and get you out in to the wild to reconnect with mother nature. In all actuality, they just wanted to get you out playing with your awesome Axial vehicles! Axial Fest is a 4 day camping adventure that takes place at Cisco Grove Campground in Cisco Grove California located about 80 miles north east of Sacramento in the beautiful Tahoe National Forest. Besides the camping and bonding with nature, there were plenty of cool things going on at Axial Fest. Throughout the entire campground, there were 11 trails set up, each comprising of 150 gates to drive through with your Axial Vehicles.  Each trail with its own unique features, terrain, and fauna, would give the drivers plenty of challenges for their vehicles. A couple of the trails would take some of the drivers upwards of 2 hours to complete, while some had to be towed back to camp by fellow trailers as the trail would prove to be too tough for their rigs.

Michael Derstines finishes the Altra 5km Endurance Race using the Hitec HS-7950TG as his go to servo for the high speed brutal conditions that is Scale Ultra Racing.

Along with the scale trails, there was a rock racing course, as well as a 5km endurance race (Altra 5K) that would challenge the driver both mentally and physically, as well as test their trucks and buggies mechanically to the fullest. There was no set schedule or format for how you ran each of the 11 trails. Each participant was given a mini score card, and you went out on the trails going from gate to gate scoring yourself, kind of like miniature golf.

Participants enjoying the cooler night time temperatures and hitting the trails with their lights.

The trails were there and open 24hrs a day. This allowed some drivers to attach running lights to their rigs and hit the trails at night. That was a sight to see!

You could see the feeling of adventure in every participant’s eyes. Each one driving an Axial vehicle unique to their own liking including custom trucks, unique scale accessories and personalized details everywhere you looked. As John Schultz of Axial said, “it’s not just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle!”

Vendor/Manufacturer Circle

The uniqueness of Axial Fest draws in a multitude of vendors and manufacturers with the opportunity to show off their products that both enhance and personalize the Axial vehicle line up. Vendors such as Super Shafty, CKRC Hobbies, RPP Hobby, Knight Customs and AMain Hobbies were just some that were in attendance. Manufacturers attending the event included Vanquish products, Tekin, RC4WD, Protek, MKS and of course Hitec.

Saturday evening showcased an amazing awards ceremony with a chance to win some cool Hitec Gear!

The ability to meet and greet with our customers means a lot to us at Hitec. Not only do we get to show off our latest products but also lets us learn about our customer’s wants and needs, and puts us on a more personal level with them. Not only did I get to meet a lot of new faces at the Axial Fest, I got the opportunity to help a few guys get back out on the trail when they had servos and chargers that were in need of service. Not too many companies can provide that kind of support, but I digress.

TEAM HITEC HAS HISTORICAL DNC SHOWING

Event: The Dirt Nitro Challenge 2017
Date: February 22-26, 2017
Location: FEAR FARM R/C RACEWAY – Phoenix, AZ
Team Hitec Attendees: Billy Tompkins, Adam Drake, Carlos Arredondo, Casey Peck, Steve Harris, Dennis Christy, Kyle Christy, Riley Christy, John Brown, Miguel Perez, Gil Alontaga, Gene Hickerson, Louis Fernandez, Billy Easton, Bill Koch, Brian Givens, Anthony Westergaard, Felipe Martinez and more…

By: William Tompkins

Touted as THE largest off-road R/C race in the World (almost 900 race entries), The Dirt Nitro Challenge had once again invaded the Arizona desert that attracted racers from around the globe. Once a single day race held at a small R/C track in Hemet, CA in 1999,the DNC has grown into a 5 day R/C racing extravaganza. Joey Christensen and his Dirt Crew have continually set the bar higher and higher every year with this year being no exception.

DNC’17 added some new venues to its already stellar 1/8th and 1/5th scale off-road racing program. For the first time, the DNC showcased a U4RC rock racing track. In case you haven’t witnessed the new phenomenon of U4RC, it’s a combination of off-road racing and rock crawling. The track was set up on, what most would consider, a standard-sized 1/10 off-road track with the difference being the addition of some gnarly rock gardens and a log section. Not only do racers have to build their rock racers to be fast, they have to be torquey enough to make it through the rock gardens and strong enough to take the abuse. Attrition plays a huge role in this form of R/C racing and it’s growing at a fast rate for racers of all ages.

Although DNC is best known for the 1/8th scale racing, the biggest spectacle this year was the 2nd Annual Phoenix Cup FPV Drone Race held on a lit FPV course. At night, the course was seen from miles away that drew spectators from outside of the RC industry and many of the off-road participants as well. The Phoenix Cup featured some of the fastest pilots in the world including DR1 & DRL TV racing series pilots as seen on ESPN.

The impressive spectator gathering and the number of pilots in attendance was proof that drone racing has become the fastest growing R/C sport. Fast lap qualifying would set the top 32 for the finals’ day with a double elimination to set the quarter finals. The guys over at Flite Factory and FPV Light Trax put together one of the toughest FPV tracks of recent memory and proved to be quite challenging for pilots at every skill level.

Team Hitec was in attendance this year with a booth showcasing all of our latest products and a proud DNC title sponsor. The 1/8th scale racing took place Wednesday through Sunday while the rest of the events were orchestrated Friday through Sunday. At this year’s DNC, we had over 30 of our Team Hitec drivers competing in the different events. When the dust settled at the end of the long weekend, we accumulated the following accolades:

TEAM HITEC STANDINGS
(26) A Main Appearances | (12) Podium Finishes | (6) Dirt Nitro Challenge Champions

1/8th Pro Buggy Legends
Adam Drake 1^st/TQ , Casey Peck 3^rd, Gil Alontaga 5^th, Gene Hickerson 7^th, Billy Easton 8^th

Hitec’s own Adam Drake would just miss the podium taking 4th in Pro Nitro Buggy, but was able to put it together in the Legends Pro Buggy class taking the Top Qualifying position and the win.

1/8th Expert Truggy
Carlos Arredondo 1^st

1/8th Expert Buggy
Carlos Arredondo 2^nd

1/8th Expert E Buggy
Carlos Arredondo TQ/2^nd, Casey Peck 4^th, Anthony Westergaard 12^th

1/8th Sport Buggy
John Brown 3^rd, Louis Fernendez 7^th,  Bill Koch 9^th

1/8th 40+ Buggy
Casey Peck 1^st, Brian Givens 10^th, Felipe Martinez 13^th

1/5th Sport 2wd Buggy
Dennis Christy TQ/1^st

1/5th Pro 4wd Buggy
Steve Harris 1^st     

1/5th Pro 4wd Truck
Steve Harris TQ/1^st

1/5th Expert 2wd Truck
Kyle Christy3^rd

1/5th Sport 2wd Buggy
Riley Christy 3^rd

1/8th Sport Truggy – Louis Fernandez 7^th
1/8th Sport Electric – Bill Koch 13^th
1/8^th 40+ Electric – Miguel Perez 4^th, Bill Koch 12^th

All drivers were running the Hitec Lynx 4S Radio, Hitec Axion 2 RX and Hitec Servos. A great weekend for Team Hitec and congratulations to all of our podium finishers and newly crowned champions!

Team Hitec recently made the trek from Southern California to the Peaceful Valley Campground in the beautiful Catskill Mountains of upstate New York where the 17th annual NEAT Fair is held. Each year, Tom Hunt and the NEAT crew host this prestigious event that draws modelers from all over the northeast and country. When we first arrived at the field on Thursday afternoon and had never seen it so packed! The weather was glorious and many familiar faces stopped by our tent to greet us.

Over the course of the event we flew the new Fun Cub XL, RockStar, Dogfighter, Pilatus, Twin Star 2, Heron, eHawkeye, and Zipper. We also put some night flights on our 3 year old Fun Cub with lights. One of the most memorable moments came when under a beautiful moonlit sky, dozens of Chinese Lanterns were launched. It was the most surreal moment as these lanterns, aircraft and the moon made me think to myself, “This was a moment in time that I’ll never forget!” Thanks to Tom and the entire NEAT crew for putting on an amazing event! If you’ve never been, you owe it to yourself to go and experience what the NEAT Fair is all about!

Hitec will be on hand October 2-9, 2016 to provide technical support for all Hitec drivers attending the 2016 IFMAR World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. Surface Team Manager, Billy Tompkins and Factory Team Driver, Adam Drake will also provide servo and radio support to all attending drivers in need of assistance with their current equipment. Find Billy or Adam and see how Hitec can help you perform at the highest level of competition!

Event Details: http://rctracksoflasvegas.com/ifmar-2016-nitro-off-road-world-championship-september-30th-october-8th-2016/ 

Jump in! The water is cold!!

Event: Multi GP Regional Finals
Date: August 2016
Location: St. John’s AMA Club Flying Site – Bakersfield, CA
Team Hitec Attendees: Billy Tompkins

By: Billy Tompkins
“Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet!” This saying has so much meaning and is often times how I approach many things in life. This would hold especially true in my new venture into RC Drone Racing. I am not a new comer to the world of RC and RC racing but when I first started looking into FPV Drones, it was like I had to learn a whole new language. After a week of research, I couldn’t help but think that only guys wearing pocket protectors were involved in this side of the hobby. To say I was overwhelmed would be an understatement. Fast forward five months – I can’t get enough of this adrenaline filled, pocket protector wearing, Jedi mind trick hobby known as FPV Drone Racing.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you know that FPV Drone Racing has quickly become one of the largest spectacles in RC. For those of you that need to get caught up on FPV racing 101, here are the basics: https://fpvracing.tv/guides/beginners

In the five months of doing this “sport”, I’ve learned how to build, tune, and fly FPV racing drones to the point of being able to get around a course with a bit of confidence. At this point, I have a few local races under my belt and quite a few “underground” races with some buds that I fly with. As challenging as the local scene is here in Southern California, I felt as though I was not progressing fast enough. At this point you must be wondering, “Where is he going with all of this?”… I’ll get to that shortly.

A friend of mine once told me, “If you want to be one of the fast guys you have to race with the fast guys.” With those words echoing in the back of my head, I decided to sign up for my first big FPV Drone Racing event hosted by the Bakersfield Multirotor Club called the Multi GP Regional Finals held in Bakersfield, California. Event qualifying consisted of finishing in the top 5 in the Multi GP regional chapter qualifiers. I, however, was absent on the day of our regional qualifier and was not able to qualify. Had I made the attempt, I probably wouldn’t have qualified due to my lack of speed. With that said, I saw some banter on the inter webs about the upcoming regional finals and thought I would comment on how I was going to show up and try to race, jokingly of course. The next day, I received a private message from the race Coordinator, Mathew Stevensen, asking if I wanted to enter the race on the waiting list. Being the “both feet in” kind of guy, I absolutely said, “yes”. Long story longer, a week later I received an email from Matthew telling me I was in and was stoked to be attending a Multi GP Regional Final.

In preparation of the event, I tried to burn as many battery packs as possible. The cool thing about Multi GP is they give you an exact map of the course layout all the way down to the measurements. They even have a CGI showing you what flying the course is going to look like. You can see the course here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YggR0zEIrp4 You would think that if I really wanted to be prepared for this event, I would set up a practice track and really try to hone in my skills. You guessed it…FAIL! However, even though I didn’t prepare for this event, I still felt confident in my abilities to perform.

I arrived in beautiful Bakersfield the night before, got a good night sleep and showed up to the field bright and early the following morning. The race day schedule consisted of going to two scheduled rounds of practice, followed by five race heats. Scoring was done by IR transponders which would keep track of how many laps each pilot accomplished in the heat and how long it took the pilot to finish each heat. The pilot with the highest total amount of laps at the end of five heats would be the winner. The tiebreaker would fall to the times.

Five minutes before the first round of practice and the butterflies in my stomach began to flutter. My group’s turn to hit the track for practice had arrived. We were all plugged in and positioned at the starting grid ready for take off. The countdown begins, and as soon as the tone sounds, it’s time to take off. Now mind you, this is supposed to be practice. It’s a chance to get a feel for the course; no scoring is taking place at this point in the day. The tone sounds, I take off from the launch pad and race towards the first gate…. WHAMO!! My first attempt comes to a screeching halt as I crash before making it through the first gate. Now for those that don’t know, once you crash on course, you cannot retrieve your drone until the entire heat is over which means practice session round 1 was a wrap. I told myself going into practice round 2, “Don’t crash before gate one, don’t crash before GATE NUMBER ONE!” So once again, I find myself on the starting grid, butterflies, sweaty hands and fingers that feel hesitant to work. Once again, the tone sounds, I take off from the launch pad, race towards gate one, and to my surprise I make it through. As I’m heading towards the first turn, I encounter another drone in midair and both of us crash out. There goes practice session number 2.

Now that practice is over without a single lap complete, my mind is all over the place thinking of how to move forward with the heat races. How do I approach the race? Do I let it all hang out in hopes that I figure out the track? Do I play it conservative and just try to fly slower than normal? At that moment, the not so “both feet in” guy in me shows up and decides to try to take it easy and learn the track slowly and progressively. Well, this is how that approach went for me. Round 1 of the five heat races, I was able to finish one lap before crashing. In round 2, I was able to finish two laps before crashing. Round 3 allowed me to finish, you guessed it, three laps before crashing. Frustrated and at a loss for a game plan, the “both feet in” guy shows up and decides to let it all hang out. I have nothing to lose. Round 4 begins and not only did I finish the heat race, I actually bettered my lap count by 2. I ran five laps crash free and was able to duplicate it again in round 5.

At the end of the day, I realized that I probably didn’t belong at the Regional Finals competing with guys that had earned the right to be there. But at the same time, I would not have had the chance to learn as much as I did, in the short amount of time that I did had I not. Will I do it again…ABSOLUTELY! You have to put yourself in uncomfortable situations if you want to learn how to deal with them. “Sometimes you just have to jump in with both feet!”