R/C Enthusiasts

[skorpion]

Try the Syma S107: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8499000606.  It's a $20 toy yet it is amazingly stable and controllable. My wife bought me a different chopper for Christmas and it was fun but very unstable and hard to fly.  The Syma is well built and it was shocking how stable it was.  Sure it's just a toy but for $20 it's a load of fun.  (True, you can only fly indoors; or outdoors at dawn or dusk if there is no wind.)

those are neat little choppers, my friend has one himself, but im more into something a bit bigger like this.
http://www.amazon.com/Cobra-Channel-Mid-Size-Helicopter/dp/B002MUC3G0/ref=sr_1_12?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1319755041&sr=1-12

costs more, but looks nicer and probably handles just as good.

[olds442]

i'd like to know how a $200+ R/C car is for a kid.

maybe i just dont like R/C planes as much?

agree i have a 400$+ T-MAXX 2.5 with some upgrades like a 100$ 3.3r engine and 2 speed transmisson that is now a 3 speed and that was about a 50$ mod. and a spooled rear axle. goes about 65 MPH and has water proof servos and its 4wd drive. and a snorkle kit.

with 33% nitro fuel costing 40$ a gallon its not a cheap kid hobby.

[Devil 505]

Count me in Perd.

[skorpion]

agree i have a 400$+ T-MAXX 2.5 with some upgrades like a 100$ 3.3r engine and 2 speed transmisson that is now a 3 speed and that was about a 50$ mod. and a spooled rear axle. goes about 65 MPH and has water proof servos and its 4wd drive. and a snorkle kit.

with 33% nitro fuel costing 40$ a gallon its not a cheap kid hobby.

i used to have a 350$ R/C car that went about 40KM/H with a supercharger and R/C dragracing tires. it was electrical, thats a good thing, but it took somewhere around 10 hours to charge up fully.

[PFactorDave]

i'd like to know how a $200+ R/C car is for a kid.

maybe i just dont like R/C planes as much?

Well...  I've been in the RC hobby for a long time.  I can tell you, that we airplane guys have a wry comment and occaisionally a sneer for the RC car guys for good reason.  You see...  Your "car" might have cost you a couple hundred dollars, but you don't really risk much.  Any mope with a fat check book can buy one and drive it around.

The same is not true for aircraft.

In fact, most (yes I said most) people who buy an RC airplane and try to fly it without having an experienced RC pilot help them, crash it.  If not on the first flight, on the second or third.

And this doesn't even take into account the blood and sweat equity that those of us who build our planes invest into the hobby.  You want adrenaline?  Try the first flight on an RC plane that you scratch built from paper plans, hundreds of hours of work invested, hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars invested, knowing that you can do everything right, but if there is a mistake in your build (an unintentional twist in the wing, a bad joint, CG in the wrong place) or worse an uncontrollable event like a bad gust of wind, or electronic hit that blanks your control for a few seconds, everything will be trashed...  Destroyed...

Yup, RC cars are really kids toys, and as an RC airplane guy, I reserve the right to look down upon guys who think RC cars are the same thing...  

[F22RaptorDude]

Nothing toyish about RC Nitro or pro electric cars   

[PFactorDave]

Nothing toyish about RC Nitro or pro electric cars  

Ya there is...  They're just faster versions of the same toys.  Crashes have very few consequences, relatively speaking.  

Don't get me wrong, my RC planes are toys in every sense of the word...  They're just more serious toys then any RC car!  And I reserve the right to mock the car guys.  The only RC guys above me on the food chain are the guys who fly the big, scale ducted fan planes, and anybody who flys a Predator Drone (not really, since they don't have to pay for it if they crash!)      

[Sol75]

I'm in 
 been flying/building for about 30 years now! Started when I was 6!
I fly Turbine Jets, Electric Ducted Fans, Warbirds, and Helis.......I giggle when I hear someone compare my turbine RC's to an RC car

I also tried cars, even got into racing, it just got so boring.. so.. 2 dimensional.. bleh...i'll stick to planes and helis!

Here's a link to my youtube channel, have a couple of videos up now, got a lot more footage to download and edit to put up there, just haven't had time!

http://www.youtube.com/mreinhart75

[gpwurzel]

Got a 190 foamie, helicopter (nicknamed bushes - guess why!!) and yes, a car lol.......which I use to chase the cat  (cos I'm good like that)

Once finances permit, want to get a set up where I can wear the goggles and "fly" from a first person perspective (ssssshh, no telling the wife)

Wurz (oh, I'm in)

[skorpion]

Well...  I've been in the RC hobby for a long time.  I can tell you, that we airplane guys have a wry comment and occaisionally a sneer for the RC car guys for good reason.  You see...  Your "car" might have cost you a couple hundred dollars, but you don't really risk much.  Any mope with a fat check book can buy one and drive it around.

The same is not true for aircraft.

In fact, most (yes I said most) people who buy an RC airplane and try to fly it without having an experienced RC pilot help them, crash it.  If not on the first flight, on the second or third.

And this doesn't even take into account the blood and sweat equity that those of us who build our planes invest into the hobby.  You want adrenaline?  Try the first flight on an RC plane that you scratch built from paper plans, hundreds of hours of work invested, hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars invested, knowing that you can do everything right, but if there is a mistake in your build (an unintentional twist in the wing, a bad joint, CG in the wrong place) or worse an uncontrollable event like a bad gust of wind, or electronic hit that blanks your control for a few seconds, everything will be trashed...  Destroyed...

Yup, RC cars are really kids toys, and as an RC airplane guy, I reserve the right to look down upon guys who think RC cars are the same thing...   

so your saying "kids" are incompitent of flying an R/C plane, when that doesnt even interest them?

ok.

i just dont see why people who drive around R/C cars get based so much, its their interest, and why would anyone else give a single crap about it?

[PFactorDave]

so your saying "kids" are incompitent of flying an R/C plane, when that doesnt even interest them?

Not just kids...  Adults too.

Their "car" hobby is fine, glad they enjoy it.  It's just less serious then RC planes.  RC planes are cooler.  Case closed.   

[skorpion]

Not just kids...  Adults too.

Their "car" hobby is fine, glad they enjoy it.  It's just less serious then RC planes.  RC planes are cooler.  Case closed.  

thats your opinion. just because you say there "cooler" doesnt mean i think so, i think R/C cars are cooler. why? because i think so. and why do you say that R/C planes are more serious? yes you have wind/electrical problems to worry about, but what about the shocks/electric/tires/engine crapping out on you with your R/C car? theres at least a million types of cheap foam planes to choose from if your a begginer, and theres a really easy learning curve to the R/C car. if you want to jump into the fun instantly then a R/C car is your path, but if you wanna fly a plane you have to worry about everything thats more than 20 ft in the air in your area. with R/C cars you have to worry about everything on the ground that can get caught in the car, such as twigs, mud, water ect... that will ruin it.


not to mention you have to actually CLEAN everything off your R/C car depending on what you were doing.

[skorpion]

Also, what about R/C tanks? those are probably even more fun than cars/planes combined. if only the gun worked *sigh*

[PFactorDave]

not to mention you have to actually CLEAN everything off your R/C car depending on what you were doing.

You've obviously never been around a nitro or gas RC plane if you don't think they get covered in oily gunk.

Other then that...  Tongue in cheek bud, look it up.  You take things too seriously and need to lighten the hell up.

[Sol75]

im ot sure the right term is "less serious".. perhaps less intense? less demanding? less "risk to investment of time and money"?

Example:
If you get a radio hit, and crash your truck into a tree, you are out a couple of hours time, and maybe 50-100 in repairs?  If I am in a low pass @ 180-200mph with my Turbine F-104, and I get a glitch, i slam into the runway, a great big fireball ensues (yes, turbine RCs explode and burn just like the full scale), and all of a sudden my wallet cries to the tune of 6000-7000 bucks, plus the hundreds of hours invested in building it.

I am in no way saying one is "better" than the other, just the RC aircraft definitely require a higher level of dedication, skill, and monentary investment... Cars certainly have their place as well, but are simply easier, less risky, and less demanding of the operator.