Flite fest west 2017

Flite Fest West 2017
Was an amazing time spent with RC enthusiasts, spectators, old friends and even new friends were made during the festival! It was truly a great experience. 

Being the first on set made it quick and easy to set up the booth and get a feel for the general surroundings for our next four day adventure. Out of the Box Innovations shared a booth with Team Axios, a company you should certainly check out as they are a great frame maker! Michael Gunter and I quickly got our bearings and headed out for a restful night and eager to get the party going on the following day!

The show had so much going on, but it was difficult to be part of everything when having to man the booth. However, we did manage to get out and see some spectacular shows like the aerial combat!

These flyers were amazing to watch! Flying line of site (LOS) is a great skill for any pilot, but these people make it unreal with their ability to see others and attack the streamers from a distance. The last day there were a few quadcopters who got into the action as well! FPV pilots chasing the bigger wings was a very funny site to watch!

The show had several areas which included the main hall where anyone could build airplanes or quads that they had just built with the different vendors on site. Flite Test had their own booth and it was quite popular! E-Max and other vendors had a strong showing and many people lined up to ask questions or make purchases. There were many projects that sprung up and became instant hits! The E-Max 10 engine giant cardboard plane was certainly a spectator favorite!

It was a build that Flite Test put together for Josh Bixler and was he excited when he found out it was actually built for him to add to his hangar!

The FPV racing venue was always packed with pilots looking to get some track time, set speed records on the track, or just have fun flipping around and showing off some fun moves. It was a fairly relaxed feeling all around and for the most part, everyone got time to enjoy the site. They used MultiGP to help schedule frequencies and keep things organized. A big shout out to the crew that handled the FPV side, they did an amazing job keeping everyone in the air!

One of the "biggest" highlights to watch was the 1000mm X class quads tearing up the sky with their acro flying contest. Seeing those behemoths soaring through gates intended for 5" quads was really something! There were some great moves and some heart-break when a couple of frames didn't quite make it back home. But, it was a very fun show non-the-less!

There were many faces in the crowd you'd recognize from other racing events and everyone was just as excited to be there having fun. From the rank beginner to the seasoned pilot, everyone helped everyone to keep the great sport moving forward and upwards! A surprise came later when the one and only Zoe of ZoeFPV said she wanted to pick up one of the VLX230's! Of course we had to oblige! ;)

The FPV Lane of the show had a number of people who were interested in FPV, learning about the sport and getting some help while they were at it. We had a people asking technical questions about their quads, asking for help on builds and just learning more about what it takes to be part of this wonderful community. The other vendors there were eager to help and bring more people into the hobby.

The Out of the Box Innovations and Team Axios' family grew a bit during the event and we are excited to see how the new members enjoy their products! Our giveaway was a great success and there was great energy in the tent when it all went down! Congrats again to our winners!!

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There were some very unique builds that showed up there that really caught the eyes of anyone who saw them! We were so excited when we saw these couple of builds, we knew they were going to be big hits on the flight line! I do know that the dragon had even made its way into the local paper the following morning!

It was sad when the last day came around and we had to pack up to leave. But there were many great memories made and looking forward to the next event for even more! Many thanks out to Flite Test and the sponsors that helped put on this event. ​​This was in inaugural event for Flite Fest West and I'm sure it won't be the last! For a first year event there was a tremendous turn out and there was much support from the RC industry to show interest and help light the fires for future events to be held. You haven't seen the last of Flite Fest in the West! Come on 2018!