Went to my first RC show yesterday

the doog

I honestly don't get RC. Don't the batteries last like, 5 minutes in most of them before you have to recharge them? What fun is THAT?

Ditto That for fly time--don't they only fly for a few minutes before you're done?

I don't get it.

There are RCers who say the same thing about our hobby - they don't get it.

I know what you mean. I ran across some old pictures last weekend as we are packing for our move. I found a picture of my Ultra Sport. I decorated it red with a big black monokote raven on it, after the Extra 300 Raven demonstration plane. The next picture under it was the de-kitted version, made me sad. Funny, I had pictures of a Great Planes F-15, somebody's sport scale BF-109 and several others. I didn't even remember those. I must have sold them, but that Ultra Sport, I'll never forget.

MC

I built a Telemaster40 and learned to solo and land with it. It survived several light small crashes but came back every time. I had a K&B 40 glow with a large tank, forget how many ounces. I would stay high and lightly drop the flaps and cut back slightly above idle and would soar for at least 45 minutes. Sometimes I had to land cause my neck got soar from looking up for so long. It just about flew itself.

But years later I attempted to teach my son to fly (who was about 12 or so) when he put that smooth flying Telemaster  in a high speed death dive. I grabbed the radio from him but it was too late. I was only able to salvage the receiver and servos. The NiCad battery pack got  damaged. I still miss that big plane.

Denzel figured that out, and he was hammered.

plasticjunkie

flying a Goldberg Eagle .40 sized trainer

My first training plane was a Sig Kadet Senior, my next step was the GB Eagle. Very nice flying plane. My favorite by far was the Great Planes Ultra Sport 60, until I used it to dig a hole while flying around 75mph inverted about 3 feet above the field. The elevator is reversed while your inverted ya know. Well I forgot that little fact.

Years ago I went to a local field with a guy that worked with me just to kill a bit of time during lunch and noticed a young lad flying a Goldberg Eagle .40 sized trainer. I was explaining to my buddy about the fundamentals of RC flying and safety when the lad nervously called me over to him and asked me to please land the plane for him since his instructor had not arrived. (sound familiar Dawg?)

I grabbed the Futaba 4channel radio and set up for the final and landed that Eagle really easy. He was lucky that I came along otherwise he would have lost a very nice flying plane.

The hardest part of RC flying is making a decent landing and many beginners will make very hard landings or stall on approach or turn the wrong way as you face  the plane and the controls reverse. For that reason I like slightly face in the direction of travel while looking over my shoulder so not to confuse right or left.  It only takes a wink of an eye to loose a plane.

RC planes have set endurance records of many hours in the air.  Fuel powered models only need batteries for radio gear.  For larger models fuel/engine power is still more common than electric.

Stave ;

The only Biplane I had was the old Stearman , I chose it specifically because the way it handled . Sure do miss that old bird !

I have a 3D biplane. Swings a 14' prop and will fly around 20 min depending on how much I firewall it, which with the power to do 3D stunts, I don't firewall it often.

Like Don said though, you get ready for some flights on the weekend and get rained out, that's a bummer. At that point I work on my builds. I only fly about once a month in the summer season anyhow. My fingers don'r work so well between 20 - 40 degrees. Iv'e been flying RC for 25 years now.

Steve

They have batteries now that would astound you ;

   Now I do know my Helo will fly for a full 40 minutes between charges ( Lithium-Ion) ' On my boats I use an automotive ( well , actually Mororcycle 12 volt gell cell . )  That is 60 amp hours of power !

      I have , in the past used a regular old car battery in the boat ( Mr Darby ) for both power and ballast .That thing needed a lot ! I have a " Super Cub  "now that flies for 30 minutes between charges that again is lightweight Lithium-Ion.

I honestly don't get RC. Don't the batteries last like, 5 minutes in most of them before you have to recharge them? What fun is THAT?

Ditto That for fly time--don't they only fly for a few minutes before you're done?

I don't get it.

Now there you go !

    See why I stay with floaty thingies ! I have never lost a boat or ship to a marine disaster . Really ! How can you when you've taken that spray foam ( the good stuff ) and filled every empty cavity with it ?

     The battery and motor areas are sealed in Plexi boxes with a screwed on top equipped with a watertight flange and seal . I had one that everyone swore my vessel would sink .

    A fellow R/C buff had a " Pickle-Fork ( racing boat ) with the largest gas engine he could fit in it . He put it in the lake out of sequence . Gas goes last there .

     Well , right after start-up he headed across the lake . Threw the throttle forward ,The joystick broke off ! Well , he was headed at my passenger steamer at about forty real miles per hour .

The impact was spectacular . I wish I still had the film .

     The Pickle-Fork blew into a gazillion pieces ( it was balsa . ) My ship faltered and at a 30 degree list was running around in circles .The forward super-structure was still hung up in what was left of the race boat . Both chunks of wreckage still attached to the rest of my poor ship !

    Believe it or not My ship was doing just what it was supposed to . I had set the controls up so if there was a problem and the ship got no signal from the transmitter it was to circle till it was turned off or re-acquired the signal ! The collision had ripped off the antenna

I was able to hit " Boost " ( " illegal in those circles " ) and the rudder came to full center and she moved toward me at speed with all this crap hanging .

    Final result .One broke guy . He lost his $ 7,200.00 "Pickle-Fork " and according to club rules , had to pay for the replacement or repair of my vessel ! The appraiser of the damage was a museum level type who knew the market value of such things .    

     He shocked me when he told the race boat guy , he owed me $ 8,000.00 ! Hell , I didn't think my boat was worth that ! The hull was damaged beyond repair ( too many cracks ) and the hours I took to build it were figured in at my market rate for a client model !

    His insurance actually had to pay for the loss ! We all had to have insurance coverage in case our prop driven vessels hurt someone . I have seen those planes you speak of . No thanks !

Common story! I was at an air show and there was R/C too. Guy sends up his helicopter about 100 feet, promptly nose dives and flies to small pieces right in front of us.

As he's walking over to it, I hear "well there goes $ 5,000".

John Eaton flies electric ones indoors. That does sound like fun.

I tried my hand at RC stuff about 25 years ago. Bought a Great Planes PT-40 kit, then had to buy all of the extras to build it (tools, iron, glue, radio, receiver, servos, engine, etc.). All together, it set me back around $500, and this was back when I was a corporal in the USMC, with a wife and two kids, and not making that much money. Anyways, it took me around two months to get it built, but it came out looking pretty good, especially for a first-time attempt. I had a friend, who was an experienced RC flyer, who said that he'd help train me to fly it. So, we agreed on a d ate and time to get me started. So, I'm out there, awaiting him to show. While I was waiting, I decided to crank the engine and burn a tank of gas through it (I was told this was good break-in procedure). Once that was done, I decided to gas her back up and practice my taxiing while I awaited my friend to show. Wow! That was pretty fun, and easy! Well, I decided that I'd go ahead and do some touch-n-goes while I waited. Got the plane at one end of the EMPTY parking lot, got her going, pulled back ever-so-slightly on the stick.....wheels still on the ground......pull back more........wheels still on the ground.........pulled back all the way......PLANE IS ON IT'S NOSE, CLIMBING LIKE CRAZY!!!! So, naturally, I panicked (wouldn't anyone?), pushed the stick fully the other direction, and after a total of maybe 7 seconds of flight, I drilled a hole in that parking lot with my brand new PT40. It was at this time my friend walks up, looks at me, looks at the plane, and simply says, "Couldn't wait, could ya?". I looked at him, then looked at the ground, and replied, "Guess not." He just walked off. The plane was demolished, but I was able to sell the electronics and engine (miraculously, it was ok after being power-driven in to the asphalt) for about $250. Needless to say, I never ventured back into that realm of flight ever again. I'll just stick to static display models. Easier on the wallet, even when you power-drive one into a wall.

I had seriously considered the hobby... then I went and talked to some of the guys at the local RC strip (asphalt runway and all!!! Not even a mile away from me)...I know there's entry level stuff, but when I go, I like to go "all in". Best to just stay away!

Was at an airshow, some years ago...the had an R/C demo...Saw an (r/c)F-15 with real jet engines...thing was close to 20 feet long, announcer said the price tag was over $150,000. Hopefully, that is the only aircraft explosion that I ever witness!

I used to do RC and other flying models before a move to a part of the country with not-so-great weather.  Gave up flying models and turned entire attention to shelf scale.  Being all set for a flying weekend, then shut up by foul weather is the pits. I can go down to my shop in any kind of weather other than when we loose electrical power.

Yeah, imagine seeing thousands of dollars going down in flames in a matter of minutes. Ouch!

Especially when you watch youtube videos of them turning into smoking holes....