Holy Toledo!
Jay Smith
Most of us remember a time before the Internet, before we could do research and educate ourselves about products and services from the comfort of our own home. We remember a time when comparison shopping or information gathering required using transportation to visit the products in their native habitat—the store!
From a modeling standpoint, if you wanted to learn more about a new aircraft you would generally get that knowledge from your local hobby shop, a magazine, or possibly at your local flying field. Depending upon your geographical location and the time of year, another place to learn about a product was to visit a trade show.
The Toledo Expo was the first major hobby trade show that I ever attended and I was as excited as a kid going to Disney World for the first time. To be able to see the latest releases from more than 200 exhibitors in one location was certainly a thrill.
Trade shows such as Toledo are an immersive experience, allowing you to see, hear, touch—and sometimes even smell—a multitude of interesting products. I’m still excited each time I attend and I hope that enthusiasm shows in the coverage we provide. It’s my goal to deliver timely information through our website, showcasing pictures and videos within days of the show.
By the time you read this, our coverage of many of the exciting products from the 2013 Toledo Expo, held April 5–7, will be at your fingertips. So for those who couldn’t attend the Toledo Expo or the AMA Expo earlier this year, visit www.ModelAviation.com for highlights of the two events.
RC Flight Simulators
I have utilized flight simulators since I got back into flying slightly more than 10 years ago. In that time, I have piloted virtual aircraft with simulators from no fewer than five companies.
This past winter, I built a new PC and installed Windows 8 as my operating system. Its purpose was to test Aerofly5, Phoenix 4, and RealFlight 6.5. The PC provided the horsepower to run each simulator at its highest graphics and sound settings.
To find out more about these three simulators and learn some tips for getting the most out of your own, be sure to check out my feature, “Flight Simulator Roundup” on page 49.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
