Man On A Mission

Q&A WITH RICHARD TRUJILLO, SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPER FOR HORIZON HOBBY

Q&A With Richard Trujillo, Senior Product Developer for Horizon Hobby

As an RC enthusiast, there’s little doubt that you are aware of or even own some of the many influential radio controlled vehicles that our special guest has worked on, overseen and managed into reality. Richard Trujillo has been in the industry for the better part of a quarter of a century now and it’s safe to say that he’s pretty much seen and done it all.

The Senior Product Developer for Horizon Hobby got his start from an early age first as a young RC buff, then on to a hobby shop where he became an awesome manager (I know this, because he was this writer’s manager at that hobby shop), eventually finding his way into a position at Team Losi, and then even bigger and better things at Horizon Hobby. Let’s sit down with Trujillo to pick his brain about all things RC as he sees it.

Can you tell our readers a little about your

RCCA: background?

RT: I’m a Senior Product Developer for Horizon Hobby. I’ve been with Team Losi/horizon for 25 years now. I started out in the shipping department and did everything from team management for Losi, to running the

Losi website, working on the instruction manuals, sticker sheets…you name it, I probably did it. About 12 years or so ago, I became a product developer. I’ve worked on TLR, Losi, ECX, Vaterra and more recently Axial. I think I’ve developed over 35 vehicles, maybe more, I can’t remember them all, haha. Recently, I worked on the SCX10 III and Capra platforms for the Axial brand.

What kind of work does the Senior Product Developer

RCCA: for Horizon Hobby do?

RT: Basically I work with our team on what type of vehicle or product we want to bring to market. From that point, I will put a proposal together that discusses everything from what it is, why we should make it, what