This weekend's Orlando Maker Faire

[Lazerjock]

I attended my first Maker Faire as a maker this weekend here in Orlando. It was amazing! I had a booth outside called "Anything you ever wanted to know about radio controlled aircraft". I know it's a mouth full. I took virtually every aircraft I own. The final count was 26. I never transported or had so many models on display at once. I was a little nervous driving the U-Haul to and from the event. We estimate there was over $10,000.00 worth of fragile balsa wood bouncing around in the back.
Saturday was so busy I couldn't stop to eat a sandwich for lunch.
On Sunday they had me scheduled to do 3 demonstration flights with one of my drone quadcopters. It went over really well. The crowd loved it. I flew it out about 50 yards then set the transmitter down and had it return to home and land by its self. I used tape to mark an "X" on the ground and asked the crowd watch how close it could get to the take off point. Each time it was less than 6 ft.

When I returned to my booth from the first demo flight my wife told me one of the organizers stopped by and gave me a blue ribbon. They were giving them out to makers that exceeded their expectations. It is labeled Maker of Merit. Later in the day another organizer stopped and gave me another one. I'm not sure how many they gave out, but I feel honored to have receive 2.

Here are a few pics of my booth setup.

[Lazerjock]

Few more pics

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Some more

[Lazerjock]

In case you don't know. Here is a quick write up I found about Maker Faire.


Maker Faire is the Greatest Show (and Tell) on Earth -- a family-friendly showcase of invention, creativity, and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the Maker Movement. It's a place where people of all ages and backgrounds gather together to show what they are making and share what they are learning.
Maker Faire launched in 2006 in San Mateo, California, less than a year after its parent publication, MAKE Magazine, launched in 2005. Maker Faire celebrated 100 Faires in 2013 alone and has reached over 1.5 million attendees globally since its inception. The ninth annual Maker Faire Bay Area welcomed some 1,100 maker entries and over 130,000 attendees. World Maker Faire New York, the other flagship event, has grown in five years to 700+ makers and 75,000+ attendees. Detroit, Kansas City, Rome, Paris, Oslo, Trondheim, Newcastle (UK), Orlando, Silver Spring, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Tokyo and Shenzhen host the "featured" Maker Faires (200+ makers), and community-driven, independently organized Mini Maker Faires inspire and ignite creative communities everywhere around the United States and internationally.
Located in Sebastopol and Oakland, California, Maker Media has been widely credited with jumpstarting the worldwide Maker Movement, which has been a transforming force in innovation, culture, and education. In addition to publishing MAKE Magazine and producing Maker Faire, Maker Media develops "getting started" kits and books it sells through its Maker Shed store as well as other retail channels.

[hitekvoop]

Hats off, Chris! Good show! Didn't know you were such an enthusiast. I admire those of us brave enough to venture into the 3rd dimension. I've always been a car guy so aircraft (and their pilots) still hold some wonder and mystery to me. I have a Blade MSR, and just from flying that little guy have gained a HUGE amount of respect for those that have the touch.

[Lazerjock]

Hats off, Chris! Good show! Didn't know you were such an enthusiast. I admire those of us brave enough to venture into the 3rd dimension. I've always been a car guy so aircraft (and their pilots) still hold some wonder and mystery to me. I have a Blade MSR, and just from flying that little guy have gained a HUGE amount of respect for those that have the touch.

Thank you for the compliment. I've been flying for almost 15 years now and would say I have the touch, but that doesn't mean that I don't crash. They say don't fly it if your not willing to crash it. You never know when things are going to go wrong.
I've been know to dumb thumb it from time to time. Usually trying to show off. Some one yells out lower as I fly by. So next pass I go lower....while inverted.

You can only ever tie the record for lowest flyby.
Can you say Terainous Interuptous.


Chris

[Stuka]

Dude, looks like it was an awesome event - congrats on the recognition!!

Awesome collection of jets!!
EDF / nitro DF / turbine?

Makes me want to jump ahead in my current build "schedule" and build the A-6 Intruder EDF I have waiting in a box...

Randy

[Lazerjock]

Dude, looks like it was an awesome event - congrats on the recognition!!

Awesome collection of jets!!
EDF / nitro DF / turbine?

Makes me want to jump ahead in my current build "schedule" and build the A-6 Intruder EDF I have waiting in a box...

Randy

Thanks Randy,
The Thunderbirds F-16 & Blue Angles F-18 are made by Cermark. They are both prop-jets (a piston motor up front with a prop). I can't afford a true turbine, although I would love to have one. My F-16 was clocked at 125 MPH.
I beat a turbine once. He was pissed.

The smaller F-14 is a scratch build foamy. It is a pusher design. What makes it really cool is that the wings can sweep in flight. It flies horrible when they are swept but everyone wants to see it.
The plan was to make it an EDF but when I built it 10 years ago, the fan technology wasn't as good as today and the power to weight ratio would have been very low making a poor flying plane even worse.

Chris

[buffo]

Wow! I had no idea your collection included so many large aircraft, Chris! Very impressive.

As for the two Blue Ribbons, that doesn't surprise me in the slightest. You are a very good teacher. Patient, passionate, and willing to answer any and all questions. I'm sure everyone enjoyed visiting your booth. (Sorry that you had to miss lunch though! Next time you need to have a helper with you.)

I would have loved to drive down for the weekend, but as you know I'm out here visiting Dan. Having a great time too! Did a bunch of diving over the weekend and shot some nice underwater video with the Go Pro. Maybe next year I'll make the trip to Orlando though.

Adam

[Lazerjock]

Adam,
Thank you for the kind words.
I actually had a helper, my wife. We were so busy that we both were answering questions non stop. She doesn't fly, but knows enough to answer most of what she is asked.

Enjoy your time in Hawaii with your family and the exotic location.

Chris