Welcome to the Nation
RC Heli Nation is a podcast that is dedicated to the hobby of Remote Controlled Helicopters. We take great pride in the quality of not only our content, but also the production, of what we consider to be the THE best audio podcast/production available today.
My name is Dan Reed, I am the the creator of RC Heli Nation and I would like to take a bit of time to tell you about the history of the show. It all started in early 2009, I was frequenting the chat room at www.helifreak.com . It was there that I learned that there were a couple of guys, Chris and James from Inside Heli, a podcast produced by all things fly. I immediately started listening and became a fan. I was intrigued by this format and started looking for more shows of this type.
I met David also known as dicey on helifreak in the chat room, found out he did a show called the RC Freak Podcast. At the time he was doing it solo, and I took a chance and just asked him if I could join his production. I still remember those first few shows and how nervous I was.
We did a few episodes, it wasn’t long before dicey was contacted by Aleem Siddique aka Asid from the UK, Asid joined us and we started to turn out some pretty good episodes.
After a few months there was some discord between the three of us. At the time I decided I just didn’t want to be apart of it and I decided to leave the show as did Asid. Within a few weeks I received a few dozen emails, encouraging me to start a new show with Asid as a Co-host
The Birth of a Nation
In early 2010 after much thought and discussion I decided that we could create a new show AND we could create a show that was much better than any other show out there!
RC HELI NATION started off with a bang, it quickly grew in popularity, we were getting an amazing number of downloads and it was increasing weekly. We created magic; Asid and I really had a good thing going.
It turns out that you cant take everyone at face value, sometimes they represent themselves in a way to make you think they have the same vision you do. Time reveals all and unfortunately, RC Heli Nation only made it to 9 episodes before we just couldn’t continue. In the process of defending a person I thought was my friend, I found myself at the business end of a lot of blame. I ended the show and walked away from the hobby for the better part of a year
In January of 2011 I found myself thinking about flying and I started to enjoy the hobby again. I was flying more often and found I was talking to old friends within the hobby.
I could sense the desire to start up RCHN again but I knew that finding the right people was going to very difficult. I understood my role in the show, it wasn’t the answer guy, it wasn’t the technical guy it was however, the question guy and I need people to fill those other roles
Rob Boyd was the first person I thought of, he could fill the role of the answer guy, he had built a reputation on many forums as a person that was willing to help anyone and he was dedicated to the hobby.
Callum Vickers from the UK was my next choice Callum is an exceptional flyer. We spent a lot of time chatting on skype, and he contributed a lot to RCHN in the early days
So I asked these two if they wanted to jump on board and help me lite the furnace and dust off the cob webs and see if we could get the Nation rolling again.
We started making pilot episodes in February, and continued to work on our production, I had big shoes to fill and wanted to make sure that what we put together was going to better than what anyone else was doing.
August of 2011 we debuted RC Heli Nation V 2.0. We took our production to a new level, leaving behind what many considered to be the bitter nature of the first version, we decided that we need to find more things to talk about rather than complaining about the customer service of a few companies.
It didn’t take long, the Nation started catching on again. I started to get many emails from past listeners giving me encouragement and letting me know they were glad we are doing the show again.
Since the beginning of RCHN we have seen an exponential growth 2012 will see over 200 THOUSAND episodes downloaded and we look forward to continued growth.
I have had the pleasure of working with many great people while riding the crazy train that is RC Heli Nation
Those people include
Rob Boyd – If it wasn’t for rob you would not be reading this now. Rob is the guy that really encouraged me to get things going. He played a huge role in helping with the web site an getting things rolling on Itunes again, Robs departure from the show is of a completely personal mater he was dealing with and I look forward to the day when Rob and return in some form.
Callum Vickers – Callum really helped to form the show in its early stage, he brought the UK perspective to the show
Jake Shambo – Jake stepped in to help out with the web site and eventually became a co-host , Jake is very involved in the hobby and continues to help people wherever he goes
Deater Butler – Deater is truely one of the good guys, he is willing to help us out in anyway he can, you might recognize him from our show as the tech tip segment guy.. or you might recognize him from youtube as the guy that had his goblin burn up!
Nick Lenn – Nick started as the news guy, I quickly understood that his involvement needed to be more. He has brought a level of intensity that is matched only by his dedication to the helping others. Nick is the answer guy and if he doesn’t have the answer he will find it and get back to you.
Justin Pucci – Justin is the rocket scientist, and I mean that literally. He can tackle any technical topic and present it in a way that we can all understand. I look forward to working with Justin as the Nation grows
Jessie Salmonson – Jessie… well he’s the compass guy >< all kidding aside Jessie is just as willing to help as much as anyone involved with RCHN and although he is relatively new to the show, he has a passion for the hobby and makes a great addition to the show.
Bryan Foster – Bryan is awesome. He steps in whenever we need him and is willing to help the Nation in anyway he can
There are many people that I have the pleasure to meet on this journey and I am sorry if I didn’t mention you here
We here at the Nation are regular everyday fliers we are the 99%. We love this hobby.
Dan
