Behind the Goggles: The Steve

We met up with Steve “The Steve” Petrotto while in Florida for the MultiGP Race at the Sebring US Aviation Sport Expo. Because of the event, this was one of our loudest interviews to date.

“I love how right now literally everything loud just showed up. We have the quads, the Indy cars, we’ve got two planes, hang gliding, helicopter, it’s gonna be, this is fun. But this is the FPV world”
“This is it”
“Like can you find somewhere quiet to talk? No.”
“No”

Steve manages both the helicopter division of Team Horizon Hobby and Team Spektrum FPV. He was given that title by Horizon’s former team manager because of his marketing background within Horizon and his passion and ability for flying. Steve says it’s “a lot to handle” on top of his other work, but that it’s also an honor.

“It’s a lot of fun. We’ve got a lot of great guys on there, they’re all huge enthusiasts with great personalities. We don’t just choose them on..."
“Looks?”
“No not just looks, but we do have Phil Freybott, so we’ve got that covered too. But everyone on the team is an awesome personality, they’re easy to walk up to and talk to and to me that’s the biggest thing. I don’t care if you win every time but if someone comes up to you and asks you a question you need to be a nice guy and that’s really what I look for.”

“What’s the biggest difference to you between the fixed wing and the quadcopter?”
“Oh man, the biggest difference?”
“Let’s put this two ways, in flying one or the other.”
“Flying fixed wing FPV is really different for quad guys. They say they don’t like it because it’s so shaky, but we’re going 150 mph constant, where as these guys are going 100, 80, 90 through a couple gates, start slowing down. I think that’s the biggest difference. There’s no time to turn around, you can’t turn around you can’t stop you have to line it up perfectly every time and to me that’s the biggest difference.”

“This might sound dumb, but is there a lot of math involved in it? Maybe right when you’re learning, at least more than quad?”
“A lot of it come down to feel, not so much math. It’s all about getting the lines right. I know for Worlds, James and I worked hard on kind of fast enough to beat the fast guys, we spend a lot of time on that. That was actual math, because we went through Drone Nationals footage, calculated their speed based on a Google Maps map, did their speed calculations and realized how fast we needed to go. We had a spreadsheet for every pilot, it was a little ridiculous but.”
“That’s awesome I’m just like...”
“It’s what any Indy car team would do in real racing.”
“That’s true”
“Look at the competition, find out how fast they’re going, and do what we need to do.”
“Right and fix your specs based on that”
“Exactly”

“Let’s talk about worlds. You guys were sweeping the competition. I think you literally did sweep, 1-2-3, right?”
“1-2-3, I mean Horizon sponsored all of team USA and USA swept the entire event. It just shows you how many good pilots there are in the U.S.”

“Seeing the footage that came back from the event, including just some of our own footage, was just phenomenal. Did you ever think, 6 years ago when you started at Horizon, that you’d ever get to go there? Casual weekend, we’re going to go to Hawaii.”
“I’ve been to some amazing places with Horizon. I’ve been to Bogota, Germany, but Hawaii is such an incredible place. I’ve been there before but doing it and getting paid to go, but being a pilot and competing it was a dream come true. I don’t think any of these guys, especially the FPV community since they’re really new to the sport, ever dreamed that this was a possibility.”

“What would you say to somebody who flies quads and thinks ‘I don’t know if I’d be very good at this whole fixed wing thing?’”
“You know, I’ve let a lot of guys try it that are a little afraid of it, but to me it’s a different experience. I wouldn’t say it’s harder but you definitely have to take your brain out of the quads. The footage is not as glass smooth as it is with a quad because you get buffeted from the wind, it’s a totally different experience.”

“Any of these guys here could be good wing pilots, it’s just a matter of getting them in the seat and getting them the product.

As a Brand Manager at Horizon Hobby, Steve has a different, and arguably more insightful perspective than most about where the sport is going.

“Where do you see it in just a couple months?”
“In a few months I see massive video improvements, already events are starting to get it down.”
“I see the cost of entry reducing more, you know from my business point of view. At Horizon we’re always striving to get to that business, to that price point where someone can come in and get a product and have it be a good experience, that’s the biggest thing for me.”
“Right, because if it’s a terrible experience, nobody wants to do it again.”

“Right. They wanted to do it, they’ve already spend the money and now they’re never going to come back. So we lose them as a customer and an enthusiast to grow the sport. So driving them to a good price and a good experience, that’s the key.”
“It’s perfect”
“It’s perfect.”

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Speaker 1: Drone Racing and FPV freestyle are some of the fastest growing sports in the world. Meet the men and women behind the goggles who are changing the way we see our planet. We met up with Steve "The Steve" Petrotto while [00:00:30] in Florida for the multi-GP race of the Sebring US Aviation Sport Expo. Because of the event, this is one of our loudest interviews to date. Speaker 2: I love how right now literally everything that could be loud just showed up. We've got the quads. Steve Petrotto: Yep. Speaker 2: We have the ... I don't even know what kind of cars, Indy cars. Steve Petrotto: Yeah. Speaker 2: We've got two planes. Steve Petrotto: Yeah, hang gliding planes. Speaker 2: Hang gliding. Helicopter. This is fun. This is exactly what FPV is to all of this. Steve Petrotto: Every event. [crosstalk 00:00:59] Speaker 2: This is the [00:01:00] FPV world. Can you find somewhere quiet to talk? No. Speaker 1: Steve manages both the helicopter division of Team Horizon Hobby and Team Spectrum FPV. He was given that title by Horizon's former team manager because of his marketing background within Horizon and his passion and ability for flying. Steve says it's a lot to handle on top of his other work but that it's also an honor. Steve Petrotto: It's a lot of fun. We got a lot of great guys on there. They're all huge enthusiasts. They're great personality. We don't just choose [00:01:30] them on ... Speaker 1: Looks? Steve Petrotto: No, not just looks, although we do have Phil Freybott. Phil Freybott: What's up guys? Steve Petrotto: I think that's a good one. Shout out to Phil. But we do have a lot of ... Everybody on the team is an awesome personality. They're easy to walk up to and talk to and for me, that's the biggest thing. I don't care if you come out here and win every time, but if somebody comes up and asks you a question, you need to be a nice guy and that's really what I look for. Speaker 2: Right. What's the biggest difference to you between fixed wing and the quadcopter? Steve Petrotto: Well, jeez, the biggest difference? Speaker 2: Maybe just in ... [00:02:00] Well, put this two different ways, in flying one or the other? Steve Petrotto: In flying? Fixed wing FPV is very different than a quad and a lot of the quad guys tend to say, "Oh, I don't like it," 'cause its footage is so shaky, but we're going 150 miles an hour constant, whereas these guys are doing up to 80, 90, 100 maybe in bursts. Speaker 2: Straight shots? Steve Petrotto: Yeah. Speaker 2: Right. Steve Petrotto: Yeah, a straight shot through a couple of gates and then start slowing down. I think that's the biggest difference though. There's no time for turning around. When you can't turn around, you can't stop, you can't hit the brakes, you gotta just get it and you have [00:02:30] to line your line-up every time perfectly and to me, that's the biggest difference. Speaker 2: Is there a lot of math that goes on inside of that or when you're learning how to do it maybe? More so than in quad? Steve Petrotto: I think a lot of it comes down to feel but a lot of it is there's not so much math, but maybe getting the lines right. I know at the Worlds James and I really worked hard on making sure that we were fast enough to beat the fast guys, which we spent a lot of time on that. That was actual math 'cause we went through and looked at Drone Nationals footage, [00:03:00] we calculated their speed based on a Google Maps map, we drew the map out in Google Maps, did the speed calculations and realized how fast we needed to go. We had a spreadsheet going for every pilot. It was a little ridiculous but we did well in the Worlds. Speaker 2: It's awesome. I'm just like ... Steve Petrotto: It's like what any Indy car team would do really in real racing. Speaker 2: That's true, yes. Steve Petrotto: Look at your competition ... Speaker 2: Yeah. Steve Petrotto: ... find out how fast they're going and what you need to do to beat them and that's all we did. Speaker 2: Right, and fix your specs based on that. Steve Petrotto: Yeah, exactly. Speaker 2: Yeah, let's talk about Worlds. Steve Petrotto: Yeah. Speaker 2: You guys were sweeping the competition. Steve Petrotto: Yeah. Speaker 2: Literally, [00:03:30] I think you literally did sweep the comp- ... one, two and three right? Steve Petrotto: One, two and three. Horizon sponsored all of Team USA and USA sweeped the entire event ... Speaker 2: Right. Steve Petrotto: ... regardless of what it was so maybe not freestyle, but everything else. Horizon's team, Team USA, all those guys, sweeped the event, and it just shows you how many good pilots are in the US. Speaker 2: I guess seeing the footage that came back from Hawaii, from everyone including some of our own just regular camera footage, was just phenomenal. Did you ever think, six years ago [00:04:00] coming with Horizon, that that would be something that would be like casual weekend? We're gonna go to Hawaii, fly. Steve Petrotto: I've done some great events with Horizon but Hawaii is just an incredible place. I've been there before but doing it ... first of all getting paid to go, thanks Horizon, but being there as a pilot and competing at that level is just ... it was a dream come true. I don't think any of these guys, especially the FPV community since most of them are really new to the sport, ever dreamed that there would be such an event like that, especially in a beautiful place. Speaker 2: Right. Steve Petrotto: Not at all, I never thought it would happen. Speaker 2: [00:04:30] What would you say to somebody who flies quads and is like, "I don't know if I would be very good at this whole fixed wing thing." Steve Petrotto: I've let a lot of guys try that are a little afraid of it, but to me it's a different experience. I wouldn't say it's harder, but you definitely have to take your brain out of the closet. The footage is not glass smooth like in a quad. You do get buffeted from the wind and it's a totally different experience so I think any of these guys here could be really good wing pilots, it's just a matter of getting them in the seat and giving them the product to do it. Speaker 1: As a brand manager [00:05:00] at Horizon Hobby, Steve has a different and arguably more insightful perspective about where the sport is going. Speaker 2: Where do you see it in even just a couple of months? Steve Petrotto: Couple of months I think we're gonna see some massive video improvements. Already events are starting to get it down. I see the cost of entry reducing more. From my business point of view and at Horizon we're always striving to get to that business ... to that price point where someone can come in and get a product and go out and have fun and it be a good experience. That's the biggest thing for me. Speaker 2: Right, because if it's a terrible experience, nobody wants to do that. Steve Petrotto: Yeah, they don't wanna do [00:05:30] it. They spent their money and now they're never gonna come back and so we lose them as an enthusiast and it doesn't help the sport, so driving that person to a cost point that's good and also a good experience, that's the key. Speaker 2: It's perfect. Steve Petrotto: Yeah, it's perfect. Speaker 2: Right.