HeliRaptor.com

[Helifino]

Anyone know why HeliRaptor.com shut down?

[heli-cuzz]

Is it shut down?
or, is the link not working?

[Helifino]

Message I keep getting is "HeliRaptor.com forums are indefinitely shutdown" :confused: Shame, I liked that site. Not as much as this one though! :)

[blax1]

Message I keep getting is "HeliRaptor.com forums are indefinitely shutdown" :confused: Shame, I liked that site. Not as much as this one though! :)

G'day Helifino
This is a copy and paste off Google!!! :(

HeliRaptor.com is NOW CLOSED for good.
HeliRaptor.com forums. are indefinately shutdown. January 27, 2007. Please be sure to visit:. www.Team-Raptor.net for Raptor Forums ...
www.heliraptor.com/ - 2k - 31 Jan 2007 - Cached - Similar pages

[Helifino]

Wow! Not enough support I guess. Real shame. Guess I'll have to go with a caliber now! ;)

[kiwipilot]

Sign of the times - too much competition...

Due to time issues I'm cutting down on the forums I visit but RC Heli Magazine will remain in my favourites!

[Helifino]

RC Heli Magazine will remain in my favourites!

Same here. Well, actually it's my home page. ;)

[HeliRaptor]

Anyone know why HeliRaptor.com shut down?


There are many reasons why the site got shut down.

First and foremost was that it was badly damaged because of a database failure. I along with my moderators rebuilt the site. Traffic completely went away and was mostly the moderators and my self.

Then a few people decided to bash the Raptor (I have no issue with that, we all have our reasons for liking or disliking a heli) and some new pilots who were asking for help. I have put a lot of time into growing the site to where it was (no competition to the other forums out there), along with the time was my own financing of the site, giving away stickers, shirts and even some parts to people who were less off than I.

I got tired of the people that abused the rights to be there and gave others a hard time. That is not what the site is for. This is a very rewarding hobby and I wanted the site to be the same, it was geared towards the new pilot and certainly the experienced pilots.

What I am finding interesting now is that people are emailing me asking me to bring the site back, many of them I do not recognize as members. So I am starting to wonder if there really was that many people who went to the forums and just read the posts?

All data and members are gone for good as the site was wiped clean. I could rebuild it, but I am skeptical that people will really support the site. It is a lot of effort to keep on top of with no member support.

I encourage people to post and visit often.

So here is a question for everyone here that seems to be interested in HeliRaptor.com.

If the site was back online how many would support that and would anyone actually post in the forums?

HeliRaptor

[Helifino]

Welcome HeliRaptor.

I really enjoyed reading the forums but honestly I felt intimidated or embarassed to post, partly because of the lack of knowledge(doesn't stop me here) but mostly because I didn't own a raptor. I still dream of having one some day though. I was guilty of visiting your site but not logging in. I guess I wasn't the only one.
I did enjoy your R30 build step by step. That encouraged me to seriously consider getting into nitro and raptors.
Looking forward to reading your posts here.

[HeliRaptor]

Thanks for the comments.

As for feeling intimidated, my suggestion is don't. We all start at the beginning at one time or another. I have always stated over at HeliRaptor.com that there is only one stupid question, and that is the one you do not ask.

As for the site being dedicated to Raptors, yes that is true. I also encourage people without a Raptor to visit, post and ask questions. Much of the knowledge applies to all Helicopters not just the Raptor.

After receiving the emails and finding this thread, I think I am going to build the site again and see what happens. There is no members or data, so that concerns me a bit. I do this for the love of the hobby and to share knowledge. It is rewarding to me to share what I have learned and to also have my questions answered when I have them.

The site should go live sometime tonight.

[Helifino]

Cool! I know it is alot of work to keep a site going,but I think you would and are helping out more people than you realize. This hobby could use alot more people like you. Thank you!

Now, I think I'll order that rappy that I've been puting off. ;)

[blax1]

Thanks for the comments.
The site should go live sometime tonight.

Man that is an interesting 180 degree back flip you just did!! :eek:
Don't get me wrong I'm not taking the piss out of you, I think its great that you are going to get the forum going again, I'm sure there are people here that would support you, but for me I'm not a nitro head, Ive got enough trouble trying to fly my T-Rex 450SE properly at this stage :D however I'm very interested in nitro, but my situation is such that I fly at home and dont belong to a club because there are none close by, and the noise aspect will not interest the neighbour's, But in saying that I do love watching videos of nitro's powering there ain't nothing like it :cool:
When your site is up I will register and drop in from time to time to say hello and see how the forums travelling
BTW I'm not sure about electric Raptor's 5-6 minute flight times don't interest me!!
GOOD LUCK WITH IT :)
Cheers Ralph

[blax1]

Cool! I know it is alot of work to keep a site going,but I think you would and are helping out more people than you realize. This hobby could use alot more people like you. Thank you!

Now, I think I'll order that rappy that I've been puting off. ;)


GO!!!!! Helifino :cool:

[HeliRaptor]

Man that is an interesting 180 degree back flip you just did!! :eek:

I know. With all the email I have been receiving, IM's through Yahoo and then finding this thread, I had a change of mind with the help of many.

The sad thing is that I rushed to my original decision to shut down and deleted / wiped the database. So all data and members are gone.

We will see what happens.

[HeliRaptor]

I just brought the site back online. I was working on it last night but fell asleep at my desk.

Anyway the site is live. I will start posting some content today.

The Videos will be back shortly. There are a lot of them to upload.

I also have many of the FunFly images that I and others have taken. I will get those back online too.


Dennis

[tdswan]

I'm going to join in right after checking the posts on here. I hadn't heard of it until this post, I'll see you there!

[HeliRaptor]

Glad to have you and the support.

I got quite a few videos uploaded and some others started some topics also.

Once you join, please take a minute to introduce yourself in the member introduction section.

I along with everyone else really appreciate the support of the site.

[HeliRaptor]

Certainly.

Site = http://www.HeliRaptor.com

Videos = http://heliraptor.com/viewforum.php?f=26

Member introduction = http://heliraptor.com/viewforum.php?f=1

Looking forward to having you and everyone else that wishes to join.

I am glad to see that people will support the hobby and ALL forums of interest.

[blax1]

Thank you I found it and obviously deleted my last post, I was still asleep :o
Cheers Ralph

BTW Ive just registered

[HeliRaptor]

Thank you I found it and obviously deleted my last post, I was still asleep :o
Cheers Ralph

BTW Ive just registered

All activated.

[homerlex]

I just registered - I'll give the forum a shot :-). I hope you get a lot of support.

[HeliRaptor]

I just registered - I'll give the forum a shot :-). I hope you get a lot of support.


Account activated. Thanks for joining.

[heli-cuzz]

I joined, even though I don't own a raptor. :D

I've got frequent flyer miles with Raptor30 and Raptor50 :cool:

[kiwipilot]

Also joined...

[kiwipilot]

The scary thing is everyones age is known - a complete free-for-all...

Nothing to hide - am 31 - no probs with that at all ;)

[blax1]

The scary thing is everyones age is known - a complete free-for-all...

Nothing to hide - am 31 - no probs with that at all ;)

Hey kiwipilot G'day :) I'm with you ,BUT you have to wonder WHY they need to know that info :confused:

[Helifino]

BUT you have to wonder WHY they need to know that info



So they know how many candles to put on your birthday cake. :D

[blax1]

So they know how many candles to put on your birthday cake. :D
LOL It'd have to be a big cake these days:D

[heli-cuzz]

LoL

I posted a couple of pics of me flying my friend's rappy50. :D

[Helifino]

Nice pics and nice flying as always cuzz! :)

[HeliRaptor]

Hey guys. The birthday field is there for 2 reasons.

One it seems to cut down on SPAM Registrations as bots seem to skip the B-Day field.

The second is that I put an age limit that a member has to be to join the forums. I know that if they are not honest they can get by that. But it helps.

If people do not wish for it to be there I can remove it.

[blax1]

Mate if it slows down or even stops spam!!! GREAT :cool: Don't remove it!!!
Now I know why :) Thank you

[HeliRaptor]

Any time. It seems to help with SPAM. Not 100% sure but it seemed that when I made that a requirement that the SPAM came to a slow.

See once your account is activated you need to put the B-Day in to post. No B-Day = No Posting and No Posting = LESS SPAM.

At least this is what I am seeing for now. Other than that no reason to have it there.

[Helifino]

The second is that I put an age limit that a member has to be to join the forums

Is that age limit on the low end or upper end of the scale? :D

[HeliRaptor]

Low end. I made it a requirement to be a minimum of 13 years or older to join.

[Helifino]

That's good. For a minute there I thought maybe I would have to cancel my membership to AARP! :rolleyes:

[ErichF]

Is that age limit on the low end or upper end of the scale? :D


NO OLD FARTS ALLOWED

;)

[kiwipilot]

Nice touch - if it stops spam then great - hope Heliraptor goes well.

[Helifino]

NO OLD FARTS ALLOWED

Well, I guess that leaves me out then. :( :p :)

[heli-cuzz]

I've been having trouble trying to log in.
It won't let me, am I banned for not owning a Raptor. :rolleyes:

[HeliRaptor]

Did you by chance use the wrong password one to many times? If so it will block you for a minimum of 30 minutes, this is there to prevent hackers from guessing your password.

If you need me to reset your password I can set a temporary one then you can change it to something you wish to use. Just PM me here and let me know.

[HeliRaptor]

I thought I would give an update on HeliRaptor.com

The site has been unusually slow lately (for almost 2 weeks), I was working with the host to resolve it but they drew the last straw today. They keep on insisting the issue is my code or that I load to many images on the main page. Neither of these are true. This is the work I do for a living and I am very familiar with the server end of things. In any event I had to prove them wrong.

I purchased a new domain and hosting package from another shared hosting provider that is highly rated like my old one was.

I rebuild the site entirely to be identical in every way except host and name. Wouldn't you know it the site is at least 5 times faster than before.

In any event you can still get to the site by going to www.heliraptor.com and clicking the new link or hanging out for 30 seconds and it will re-direct you to the new site, or you can just goto www.teamheliraptor.com. The original domain is in the process of being transferred and should work as before once the transfer is complete.

If you are a member please stop by and let us know if the site seems any different to you. The more testers from the different areas of the world the better.

Sorry for any problems this may have cause anyone over the last few days or so.

[homerlex]

The site is waaaay better (faster/stable) now. I would say better than 5 times faster.

Nice job. :)

[HeliRaptor]

Interesting turn of events with the host today.

They contacted me and stated that there was a global problem with many of there servers and that the issue is now fixed. Amazing how after telling me that it is my code and there are to many images and that the site is poorly optimized they can tell me that it was on there end. Sad.

I replied that it is too late for this to be worth my time. I will be canceling my account tonight.

The new host is definitely much faster than when my site ran fine.

In any event the new host is here to stay. The domain should return to HeliRaptor.com within 48 hours or less.

Thanks for the response, I am glad to see that others are noticing the difference.

[heli-cuzz]

Looks good D :)

[HeliRaptor]

About 4 hours ago, www.teamheliraptor.com (A.K.A. HeliRaptor.com) was hacked by a group of hackers from Turkey. The site's main page and uploads directory were targets in this hack.

I have managed to get the site back online and all but 1 of the images back to the condition before the hack.

Sorry if anyone experienced any downtime with the site.

Dennis

[tdswan]

Hacked again....Those bastards!

[Helifino]

Hacked again....Those bastards!


Still down, they must have really done some trashing this time.

[blax1]

Still down, they must have really done some trashing this time.

Better install Norton 2007 :)

G'day Helifino :)

[Helifino]

Hey blax...what's happening on your side of the world?

[blax1]

Hey blax...what's happening on your side of the world?
Just at work making money, nothing important!! same old same old really :)
Tried to fly Rex last weekend got rained off, this weekends forecast is better so I will wind her up and see what happens, I supposed you are still snowed in and haven't flown your chopper either, but I assume your Rappy is coming on well, I've been checking out Raptor.com every now and then, so I'm keeping up with what is going on etc.Shame about the hack there are some small minded people out there :(
Cheers Ralph

[HeliRaptor]

Still down, they must have really done some trashing this time.

Guys sorry for the extended downtime. I had a long day at work and had no way to connect to repair the site.

The hackers deleted a couple files and replaced the main page. No major damage that I couldn't quickly fix. The fix literally took only 5 minutes, I have some tricks up my sleeve that lets me know exactly what they touch and when. This is how I am able to recover so quickly each time.

I think they hacked the server that the host has me on and installed a root kit. There is no reason why they should be getting through the security measures I have in place, I never got hacked so much on the old host. I have a feeling that one of the other sites I share a server with got hacked, and managed to install a root kit, which will give them access to any sites on that server, that is one disadvantage to shared hosting. It costs way to much to have a dedicated host.

In any event the site is back online until the next time. I contacted the host and they are examining the actual server and all sites that are on it for any sign of a root kit or security risks. If their admins are good they will find it. If not then I will offer to have my guys look at it if they will give them access. I am positive my guys will find it.

Thanks for understanding.

[heli-cuzz]

Glad to hear its back up. I went yesterday and the hacked page popped up.