FG Exclusive - Extreme Flight RC and 3D Hobby Shop Join Forces!!
FG talks to Ben Fisher and Chris Hinson to get the real story about the merge of these two great companies. Watch our video as we take a look at the new planes they will bring out together!
Extreme Flight RC and 3D Hobby Shop Join Forces!!
Maybe you have heard the rumors about this possible combination of 3D plane super powers. FlyingGiants drove down to Georgia to get the story and find out what is really happening!
Chris Hinson of Extreme Flight RC, and Ben Fisher and Noll Smith of 3D Hobby Shop, have officially teamed up to form an RC company that spans not only giant scale 3D planes but also park flyers and detailed war birds! They have 14 new planes they will be debuting at Joe Nall this week. We got a first hand look at these birds and they are all simply awesome! We met with Chris and Ben at their new mega warehouse in Georgia to talk about the merge.
Chris Hinson
"This started one evening at Joe Nall two years ago. Ben (of 3D Hobby Shop) and I have been friends for years. We realized we were so both so deeply invested in our companies that we were in it until we could retire. We decided to bring our brain pool and resources together into one unit and take it to the next level. The new name is the Extreme Flight Family of Brands. Extreme Flight is the parent company. 3D Hobby Shop will remain as a brand under that.
We are going in a lot of new directions with the merging of the companies but we didn't want our loyal customers to think we are getting away from 3D planes. If anything we are taking it to the next level."
Ben Fisher
"A big part of this is bringing everything together to one place. Our new warehouse is that place. We are just in the process of filling it up. Trailers are still arriving and we hope it's going to be big enough when we are all done! We are building a family of brands that people have asked for and that we have wanted to create. Singularly we never had time to put these brands together. By joining forces we can make these brands a reality. I'm so excited about what this is going to mean to our customers. This is a big deal!"
Noll Smith
"I'm very excited to have the opportunity to drastically increase the amount of products and things we can do as a combined company I look forward to this opportunity to market and create more in depth product lines as well as the expansion of our website. I feel fortunate to be working with some of the top minds in the business. Look for even more innovations to come as we get the machine tuned up in the coming months."
The Factory
Here is a video from the factory. The music is by Chris Hinson!
| ExtremeFlightFACTORYfilmNALL (18 min 25 sec) |
The Brands
You know about Extreme Flight RC and 3DHS but the team has put together some new brands that allow them to branch out.
- Extreme Flight RC
- 3D Hobby Shop
- Aces High - war birds
- Legacy Aviation - general aviation and sport aircraft
- Speed Freak - racing planes
- Extreme Power - motor and speed controllers
Scale Aircraft
Ben Fisher - Creating non 3D airplanes hasn't really been a reality but it is something we have both had on our minds for a long period of time. There was never a chance for either of us to catch our breath long enough to create a scale line. By combining we can, and have made it a reality. It's a big deal!
The Warehouse
The mega warehouse in GA is the hub of the operation. It is 10,000 square feet and ready to hold all the new planes the guys are bring out. They will have people manning the phones, taking orders, shipping and more. They are looking to expand to the West Coast and Canada as well. They already have dealers established in Europe and Asia. This will be a global project!
The New Stuff!
The Demonstrator
This is a 3DHS 106" Edge 540. This is a 35% aerobatic plane that has been out for a while. This plane really shows what Extreme Flight RC can do now with trim schemes. Aaron Bates went to work to make this classic and futuristic at the same time. Aaron calls this scheme "The Atomic Weight of Awesomeness" and awesome it is! This is the culmination of 9 months of work bringing this type of covering to life. You can also look forward to this process on the scale warbirds that they will be bringing out.
Little Foot - Legacy Aviation
The Little Foot is the Big Foot's brother. This is from the Legacy Aviation brand. It is a 53" wingspan. It runs on a 3 cell or 4 cell lipo and takes six servos because of the flaps. It is a straight ahead bush plane.
Turbo Bush Master - Legacy Aviation
This plane was designed by team pilot Cody Wojcik. It's super light at around 8 pounds and has an 84" wingspan. This plane flies on the same power system as their 60" aerobatic planes. A 6s battery will get you 6 to 8 minutes in the air. It also has an easy access hatch and is fun plane to fly!
Slick 580 - 3DHS
This is a totally redesigned Slick. It has a gorgeous scheme by Aaron Bates. 3DHS started with balsa wood park flyers. It is a super high performance park flyer. They will have these in the warehouse ASAP.
Slick 580 - 79" 50cc
This is a true 50cc plane.The weight on this is less than 14 pounds. A DA 35 would also do well on this plane and keep it light. The goal was to create a start-of-the-art 50cc plane and that is what they have done.
160 MPH Electric Outlaw - Speedfreak
The Jerry L. Smith Outlaw has been updated for electric! They have taken what was a glow speed wing and redesigned it to take electric power and accommodate batteries. The access hatch is super simple and allows complete access to everything. It runs a 6s setup with an 80 amp speed controller. It does all the crazy stuff Jerry made it famous with.
65" Turbo Duster - Legacy Aviation
This was a group project for the Legacy Aviation brand. It will have fixed and floats as an option. It has a 65" wingspan. It runs on 6s and is fun to fly low and slow with the flaps down.
110" Yak V2
This is an older plane that has been brought back with tweaks to the engineering. This 110" bird has carbon spars, more shear webbing, and carbon longerons. Basically all the upgrades to the EXP line of birds have been done to the 110 Yak. They suggest a 120cc motor but you can put a 150cc in there if you feel the need!
More Photos
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The team has been working hard to get everything flying in time for Nall.
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Jason using his Ronan to get the shots!
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I got to ride in the new 440 hp Camaro 2 SS with Chris!
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There were planes everywhere!
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The whole team was building as fast as they could to get ready to go to Nall.
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There were parts galore!
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Chris Hinson of Extreme Flight RC.
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An internal structure view.
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We tried to get Ben to wear the cowl on his head but were not successful.
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Subtle cool.
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Yes!
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Fun times!
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Daisy Mae doing her shop inspection.
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Mr. Holeman waiting to wring out some birds!
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Curtis - the calm before the storm.
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Staged? No this actually happened!
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More To Come!!
This is just the intro for this power combo! It's great to see a couple of my old friends take their passion for the hobby and plane design to such a high level. FlyingGiants and RCGroups.com will have more in depth articles on all these planes and planes to come. We want to give everyone a big thanks for inviting us to come over and check out the new warehouse, planes and company. It is an exciting venture that is good for everyone involved!
Ultimately ExtremeFlightRC.com will be the main url. For now 3DHobbyShop.com is also functioning. Keep an eye out for site updates and changes!!
Last edited by Jim T. Graham; 05-13-2015 at 05:00 PM..| Thread Tools |
05-13-2015, 10:10 AM
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United States, NC, Lumberton
Joined Oct 2006
1,136 Posts
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Great, GA is not that far away from me so I can pick up planes that I need. More planes, exactly what I needed. I hope everything works out well as 3DHS has great airframes also, I just love the EF planes better.
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05-13-2015, 10:11 AM
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Salem, Indiana ........USA!
Joined Jan 2006
867 Posts
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It won't let me view the pictures. Giving me an error message...
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05-13-2015, 10:16 AM
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United States, FL, Lakeland
Joined Feb 2008
2,074 Posts
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Awesome, I'm gonna get me a Yak !
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05-13-2015, 10:22 AM
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United States, UT, American Fork
Joined May 2008
180 Posts
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gonna be a juggernaut
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