Hobby Shop Tours- Pegasus Hobbies
Posted on January 29, 2009 by aaronredbaron
Montclair, California- Pegasus Hobbies is an icon for the hobby in southern California. With a distiguishable building built to resemble an aircraft control tower in the front, and a giant truck looking like it has crashed into the building on the back which is visible to both directions of I-10, its hard to miss. Locals are spoiled with a hobby shop that boasts one of the biggest selections in the world; its not uncommon for people to travel from hours away to buy a new model or pick up parts. I cornered Pegasus’ Airplane and Helicopter guy, Chad Sackman, on a recent trip to southern California to get the inside word on Pegasus.
Aaron: Can you tell us about the part selection you offer here.
Chad: Any of the Products we carry are fully supported. Aftermarket upgrades, not so much. We have Thunder Tiger, ALign, Hirobo, E-Flite, a little bit of Miniature Aircraft, Helimax. We do target the beginner market so we carry a lot of the E-Flite and Helimax stuff and the more advanced brands, you might say, so we can help people move up. If they are successful with their less expensive helicopters we can help them move up.
Aaron: What does your customer base look like?
Chad: I do have some customers who are regulars and are advanced pilots, but most of its beginner based.
Aaron: What has been the hottest product this season?
Chad: The mCX from E-Flite, I was selling on average from 12 to 15 of those a day, that was prior to the holidays, but they are still selling very well. I don’t even push them any more and they still sell.
Aaron: Do you see a lot of your beginner customers transition to better models?
Chad: Some of them have transitioned. I’d says its probably 75/25. Most of them fade away, and about 25% of them stick with it and they do transition into larger helicopters.
Aaron: Are you going to make it back to the Align Competition this year in Las Vegas?
Chad: With my workload I don’t exactly have time to practice for it this year, so I’m going to bow out. I will probably go, cuzz it is also a fun fly over the weekend. Its fun, its a good experience, it definitely gets your name out there, if that’s the direction you want to head. But I feel for myself and my flying right now I’ve hit a plateau and I haven’t progressed too much further. I see these younger kids that have been doing it for even less of a wink of time than I have (Chad has only been flying helicopters 2 years). Well I see these kids who have been at it barely a year and they are just rockin!
Aaron: How old are you Chad?
Chad: I’m 26
Aaron: And you’re feeling like an old man, that’s pretty funny.
Chad: I got a little bit burnt out, and I’ve had to back off on my flying. I’ve had to slow down, you know, sometimes you have your priorities.
Aaron: What specifics can you tell us about Pegasus Hobbies?
Chad: We are the largest in the United States in terms of square footage. There isn’t anything we can’t get. We have probably 25- 30 airplanes hanging up, you will be surprised the first time you come in here.
Aaron: How big is the Helicopter market these days compared to the airplane market?
Chad: Helicopters have definitely picked up over the airplanes. I would say the airplanes are still more dominant, but the helicopters are right on their tail.
Aaron: Thanks for your time Chad, and a special thank you for the outstanding job you did painted my Raptor canopy!
For more information about Pegasus Hobbies please visit their webpage at pegasushobbies.com
[...] people and helis, and several HD videos! Several friends came up from California for the first time; Chad Sackman from Pegasus Hobbies in Montclair, CA came up a week early to attend my wedding and stuck around for the fun fly, and [...]