Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Getting Started Flying Radio Controlled Model Airplanes

The popularity of radio controlled model airplanes has exploded in recent years. You can find RC model airplanes for sale in most toy and sporting goods stores. There is no shortage of complete packages on the market that sell for less than $50, though I do not necessarily recommend these bottom drawer systems.

The process for learning to fly model helicopters properly is very similar to what I describe here, but I will be focusing on airplanes.

Learning to fly RC is not hard, but there are right ways to do it and wrong ways to do it. Too many times I have seen a young man by himself at a local park trying to teach himself how to fly. That is the wrong way. It quickly leads to crashed airplanes and frustration. A much better approach is the one I outline here.

Local Hobby Store

Before you do anything else, find yourself a local hobby store. They specialize in helping out beginners such as yourself. They don't bite, and they will respect your budget by not steering you to equipment you cannot afford. Their prices are very competitive, and the advice is well worth any small price premium. Just make sure you are speaking with somebody that knows about model airplanes. Hobby stores carry products for many different hobbies such as RC cars and model rockets. If they have a reasonable selection of model airplanes in stock, there is guaranteed to be somebody on staff that understands them.