The Story Behind RCHN

Welcome to the Nation!

RC Heli Nation is a podcast that is dedicated to the hobby of RC 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 in the hobby 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 HeliFreak when I learned that there were a couple of guys – Chris and James from Inside Heli – doing a podcast produced by All Things That 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 and found out that he did a show called the RC Freak Podcast. At the time, he was doing it solo and I took a chance and 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 and 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 that 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 and 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 and sometimes they represent themselves in a way that makes you think they have the same vision that you do. Time reveals all and unfortunately, RC Heli Nation only made it to nine 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 needed people to fill those other roles.

Rob Boyd was the first person I thought of. He could fill the role of the answer guy and had built a reputation on many forums as a person that was willing to help anyone.

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 light the furnace and dust off the cobwebs to see if we could get the Nation rolling again. We started making pilot episodes in February 2011 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.

In August 2011, we debuted RC Heli Nation V2.0. 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 and 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 150 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 and 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 and getting things rolling on iTunes again. Rob’s departure from the show is of a completely personal nature. I look forward to the day when Rob can 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 truly one of the good guys. He is willing to help us out in anyway he can and 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 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.

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% and we love this hobby.

– Dan