Model Setups: The Cheat Sheet

How many times have you seen this one on Facebook? "Beautiful Huey! What servos are you running in that?" Forty comments later, somebody answers, somebody else argues, and a year from now NOBODY can find it. That drives me nuts. So I built a fix.

Model Setups puts every pilot's parts list for a model in ONE place, on that model's page, where the next guy can actually find it. What powers it, which servos, which gyro, which receiver, what you paid, and how it flies. Real setups from real pilots, reviewed before they show. Here's the whole thing on one page.

What a Setup Is

One pilot's build of one model: the power system, one part per question, a name, your notes for other pilots, and what you paid. The questions change by RC World and by power type. A turbine heli asks about the turbine, the ECU and the fuel system. An electric heli asks about the motor, ESC and packs. Nobody gets asked about blades on a Huey.

Where You'll Find Them

• Model Setups in the left menu opens your world's list. Sort by Most Popular, Newest or A to Z, or use Find a Model.
• Every model page has four tabs: Setups, Compatible Gear, Prices and Posts. The tabs swap without reloading the page (I hate jerky reloads).
• At the top of a model page: Follow This Model and Your Setup of This Model.
• Every setup has its own page with a link you can copy and send to a buddy, plus comments.
• Gear gets a page too. Look up a servo or a gyro and see which models it's Fitted To, what it's Paired With, and what pilots paid for it.

Sharing Yours (the Good Part)

There are several ways in, and most of them do the typing for you:

• Your Setup of This Model on the model page (or Share Your Setup on the list). Answer one question at a time.
• From My Hangar. If you already filled in a spec sheet on your aircraft, hit Share This Setup and the sheet fills in the answers. Anything it isn't sure about waits for you with "Your spec sheet says..." so you can pick the right part.
• Start From a Link. Paste the product page for the kit and the assistant fills in the stock parts. It only fills the form; nothing goes anywhere until you say so.
• Start From This on somebody else's setup. Running the same thing with a different gyro? Copy theirs and change the one part.

A few things worth knowing while you build it:

• Can't find a part? Type it in. It joins the catalog as unverified and a Model Moderator checks it later. It never holds up your setup.
• Haven't decided on a part yet? Pick Not decided yet. Nothing fitted? Say so.
• At the end, tell us what it is. Is this the one you fly? links it to your hangar aircraft. It is a plan is for a build you haven't done yet. Stock Setup is the kit as the maker sells or recommends it. (Stock setups are GOLD for new guys, so please add them.)
• What You Paid comes prefilled from what other pilots paid, or the maker's price. Change it to what YOU paid. Don't have a receipt handy? Hit I'll Get This Later and add it when you edit.
• Life happens. Your draft saves as you go, and Save Draft is right there. Next time you open it, you can pick up the draft, start over, or cancel.
• Send for Review and a Model Moderator approves it. If you said it's the one you fly and it isn't in My Hangar yet, it lands there with the spec sheet filled in from your setup. Two birds, one stone.

You need a Verified phone number to send a setup, vote, or add a photo. That one step keeps the junk and the sock puppets out. If you aren't Verified yet, it asks you right then.

Who Reviews Them

Model Moderators. Each one covers their own RC Worlds. They can approve a setup, send it back with a note, correct a part (you'll see "Corrected by a Model Moderator" and you get a notice), or remove junk. Nobody approves their own setup; a moderator's setup waits for ANOTHER moderator. That's how you keep it honest.

After It's Live

• Votes. Verified pilots vote setups up. If you actually own the model (it's been in your hangar a couple of weeks, or you logged a flight on it), your vote counts DOUBLE. People who fly the thing should carry more weight than people who like the paint.
• Comments. Ask the builder a question right on the setup. Replies, edits, the works.
• Report. See something wrong? Report it and it goes to the moderators.
• Notifications. When a setup is approved, everyone following that model, any part in it, or its builder hears about it. Follow the gyro you're thinking about buying and see every model it ends up in.
• Copy to My Hangar. Like somebody's setup and building the same one? Copy it straight onto your aircraft's spec sheet.

The Tabs That Do the Math for You

• Compatible Gear counts the parts across every live setup: "Named in 7 of 9 setups." That's the answer to "what servos are you running?" without the 40 comments.
• Prices shows What Pilots Paid, new and used, from the figures you all entered. It takes at least 3 reports in the last 12 months before it shows a median, and it never shows who paid what. You also get the Maker's Price and Parts to Finish One, which adds up the parts by power type so you know what you're really in for before you buy the kit. (Your wallet has been warned.)
• Posts is every post about the model, like always.

Photos

Every model gets a picture. If one of you posted a photo of the model, the page uses it and credits you. Owners can offer a photo from their hangar (Offer to Model Page, and you can take it back). Makers' photos only show with their written permission. If there's no photo at all, you'll see a stock icon, and an Add a Photo button so you can be the one who fixes it. Every photo is credited.

Build Stories and Invitations

Wrote a build story about your model? The moderators can have the assistant read it and draft a setup from the parts you mentioned. A moderator checks the draft against your story first, then you get an invitation to look it over. You fix what it got wrong and send it, or ignore it. Nothing shows until YOU send it. Hangar owners with a spec sheet may get an invitation too, and the moderators only ever see a count, never your name or your hangar. Your hangar stays private.

Points

Be one of the first 3 pilots with an approved setup on a model and you earn a Founding Setup bonus (250 points right now). Stock setups count. Quality stuff earns status here, and this is about as useful as it gets.

The Bottom Line

Every setup you share answers a question somebody is going to ask next week, and the week after that, forever. Do it once and it keeps helping. Pick the model you know best, hit Your Setup of This Model, and show us what you're running. And if something bugs you, tell me. I wrote the software, so I can fix it.