The Radio Controlled Airplane
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You are looking for information on the radio controlled airplane and on RC flying in general?
Then here is where you will find as much as I can scrape together! Having come back into flying after a long lay-off, (life got in the way!) I have been astounded by the changes in the hobby.
Too Much Choice
In a lot of ways, RC Flying used to be a lot easier than it is now. There was a lot less choice for one! While choice can be a good thing, it can cause a lot of confusion too. The speed of change nowadays is also a problem.
The huge choice and the speed with which the choices change and expand make it difficult to know where to invest ones hard earned cash. In the ‘good old days’ the choices were around for some time and therefor well tested. Everyone knew the options and it was easy to get good advice.
The advice went something along the lines of -
‘So you want a trainer? Sure, you can choose from this list.’
‘But there's only one!’
‘Yup that’s it.’
This seemingly very limited opportunity was actually a blessing in disguise. When you pitched up at the field with your pride and joy, everyone there had flown or probably actually owned one and it was really easy to get help both with set up and with learning to fly.
RTF / ARF
RTF (Ready To Fly) and ARF (Almost Ready to Fly) did not exist so you had to build the thing first and this had a slowing down effect. By the time it was ready to bring terror to the local sky you had soaked up a surprising amount of general knowledge about flying a radio controlled airplane and how they worked.
The danger with ARF is that in a matter of hours you can translate a rush of blood to the head into action behind a radio control transmitter. This is a huge problem as, sorry to say, flying a radio controlled airplane is not an instant gratification hobby.
There is a lot of critical information to assimilate mentally and also a lot of stick time needed to supply the necessary level of muscle memory before you get anywhere near to being a competent pilot. So as I say, some sort of slowing down mechanism which teaches at the same time is a big advantage.
Here we have this huge choice and no matter what you choose, someone will tell you it is a load of rubbish! This will be counterbalanced by an equal number of folk telling you how great the one you chose is!
The one side cancels out the other and there you are back to square one again.
Cheap Rubbish
Just when you thought it could not get any more complicated, add in the rip off angle and the waters get really deep and murky.
Rip off angle I say? Yup, there is, as usual, a lot of cheap rubbish out there. By cheap I don’t necessarily mean low priced either. There is also a lot of really good stuff at astoundingly low prices as well!
Why Come Here?
How do you find a way through this mess?? Well that is where I come in. I plan here to explore all sorts of issues of interest to anyone flying or hoping to fly a radio controlled airplane.
I will be adding a new article regularly, all written by my own fair hand (Well, typed on the KB anyway!) I will be doing this in conjunction with my blog and as I have my own ideas about how things should be, it should all be good clean fun!
I will also be digging out items that are of use to anyone interested in flying radio controlled airplanes. These items both for sale and for free, will be things that I think are good value and will definitely be worth your while to check out.
While you can’t get a better deal than for free, sometimes the bought ones are also a good deal and shouldn’t be ignored.
Anything that I recommend here is something that I have personally used and like.
For my recommendation check out the ‘Links To Recommended Items’ on the left of the page under the navigation bar.
So, bookmark this site and The Radio Controlled Airplane Blog and keep coming back for the next instalment of the world of the radio controlled airplane by me! Feel free to comment in the blog.
I am busy uploading the site changes – please see our ‘New Stuff’ page.
NB.
This is a dangerous hobby!
We deal all the time with potentially lethal machinery or chemicals. If you wish to grow old peacefully and with all your bits still attached and in original condition, you need to accept responsibility and pay attention.
Please be sure to read our disclaimer.
NB2.
If you are a beginner into this hobby, or even just an interested passer by, I have found a really good ebook that will fill in all the basic blanks for you. No matter what aspect you want to know about, there will be a section for you. No matter if you are interested or just unsure, this book will give you the overview.
To be sure, it is another of those inexpensive items that if you buy it at the beginning, it's sure to save you from making expensive mistakes!
Actually, after more than 25 years in the hobby even I found stuff of interest and things that I needed to be reminded about in it.
Our Hobby is a very complicated one with so many specialities that you tend to get tied into your particular niche and, with the modern speed of development, get left behind by others. As I said this book and it’s bonuses fill in the blanks. It is well thought out and a really worthwhile buy. (And cheap enough to be a no-brainer!)
Save Yourself some Money! Click on the image to check it out -