Maybe. But motorsport often is a feeder towards car racing.

Do they own the property and/or the building? If the answer is yes, that's the secret. The shops and tracks that close don't appear to own the building and/or property.

Hot Rod Hobbies in Santa Clarita has been open for 32+ years and they have 2 tracks, my bet is they have been there that long, because they own the property and building.

I agree that things go in cycles and that RC Racers are fickle, but I think there are a few other reasons why racing is not as popular as it once was. No one wants to work together, no one is willing to leave rules alone/abide by them (this is mainly a problem in spec classes), and no one is willing to agree when it comes to rules track to track, every track seems to have a variation of the rule set, and coming to an agreement on things is rare.

I also agree with you that if RC Racing is going to survive some major changes need to occur and that's not going to happen until people's attitudes change. RC Airfields have stability and many have been in the same spot for decades, because people work together, they follow the rules that have been set, and they volunteer their time to maintain the field and this is a major factor as to why Airfields survive. Another factor in their survival is club dues that in some cases help pay the rent. RC Racers don't want to help set up or tear down, they complain when they have to marshal, some of them expect others to clean up after them, and when it comes to getting a track going they aren't willing to work together and/or want someone else to do the work.

I posted a few links that could really help this hobby out. We all know that tracks are closing because property is expensive, which is why we should start working together to build tracks in our local parks. A lot of you have stated the hobby needs exposure, I don't know about parks in your area, but parks in my area get a lot of use. At this point in time if we want tracks, I think the best trail to follow is the one that skaters blazed to get skateparks built in public parks and they were nice enough to tell us how to get it done, but we have to work together for the greater good. Like I've stated many times, I tried this approach and if people would have been willing to work together I am confident we'd have a track at a park right now.

Hard part about a public outdoor track is winter. It’s basically going to go unused for 6-7 months out if the year. Plus a lot of us don’t run outdoors.

^^ Someone said it earlier, it might have been you. But yeah, the surface RC crowd is rule averse and just want to do what they want. Aviation by it's nature is more dangerous and highstakes compared to surface models. So cooperation and strict adherence to rules are necessary for airfields to work smoothly.

When rules aren't followed and everyone doesn't play their roll, accidents are expensive and potentially fatal when a model collides with a spectator or another operator. A level head is absolutely required.

Surface model racing is more forgiving to stupidity and emotional behavior, so stupidity flies more(no pun) at tracks and basher meets. At an airfield there is no room for carelessness, stupid oversights, and emotional outburst. I think this sets the tone for the kind of people that fly model planes versus those who race cars/buggys.

Good point. I almost mentioned karting.

Good point, I've always lived in California and often forget that a good portion of the United States has to deal with seasons and snow & ice on the ground for weeks sometimes months at a time. My only push back is having a track 6-7 months out of the year is better than not having a track at all and if outdoor was the only option, people would run outdoor if they really dug the hobby. People adapt when they need to.


I think some of the danger you are bringing up applies to surface RC as well and a fatality can occur as well. Someone getting killed by an RC plane would be a freak accident, I'm sure it's happened, but I don't know of any examples. Getting hit in the leg by a 10 pound moving object is going to do some damage, getting hit with a 5 pound moving object will do some damage, getting hit in the head with either can kill you. Someone martialing an off road event can get caught in a bad position near a jump and get knocked out or worse.

Regarding what you said about flyers following the rules and keeping their emotions in check. Imaging if surface RCers took the same approach. Do you know how much better and healthier the hobby would be? Like I keep saying a major attitude adjustment needs to happen and unfortunately judging by your and others responses, people just don't seem to want to do that or put in the work to make a track happen, Someone always comes up with an excuse as to why it's not possible and that is one of many reasons why RC Racing is going to die out once the current crop of racers leave this world.

It absolutely has happened. Of course a flying buggy is going to injure someone also, and they have. But a buggy hitting a marshal is a lot less likely to be fatal because it doesn't have a spinning prop on the front of it. And it probably isn't carrying the speed a plane does.

I wasn't making an excuse. I was agreeing and expanding on your point.

That was the point! Again I was making the connection to what you and zerodefect said about tracks being disfunctional compaired to airfields. I have been fortunate the tracks and meets I visited everyone was largely cooperative, and only a few people tried to buck things.

Ultimately rules being followed at the track and everyone getting along largely comes down to the race director and track owner having a spine. Remember people only do and get away with what you let them.

there's a track in Florida (that i can't for the life of me remember the name of at the moment) who solved that issue. its an outdoor track but the track and pit area are covered. after that it shouldn't be anything a good jacket and patio heaters couldn't fix. disclaimer: iv never been in temps below 40 degrees.

Yeah, it sucks to race outdoors in Michigan in the winter, and some indoor venues as well. The city of Novi (michigan) put in a nice offroad track a couple years ago, and we've had a good turnout for a point series race during the summer. https://www.facebook.com/noviwaterto...tii4ZRZ5P6uMT7

In the case of the Novi track, I believe one of the parks and recreations employees races rc, and got the ball rolling.

nitrous36 Sorry, I should not have called you out.


That's a really awesome looking track, thanks for sharing. I'm sure the dude at Parks & Rec got it going, but I'm sure he had to show the decision makers that it's something the community wanted and needed.

This is where shop owners should step up. If a business owner approached Parks & Rec I think it would have the same type of impact as someone who works at Parks & Rec. The shop owner or one of their loyal customers can start a campaign, change.org would be a good place to start so you can the powers that what you are asking for has some validity. Using a platform like change.org makes it easy to promote your campaign via all of the socials and it takes less than a minute for someone to sign their name digitally.

When I heard about a local park being redeveloped and that they wanted public input, I reached out to them and did my best to explain why an RC track is needed and what type of value it can add to the community. One of the things I proposed to them is building a track that can host a Nationals or large event. Those events bring in people from all over the world and those visitors need a place to stay, they need to eat, etc... If I would have had a shop owner behind me and/or a group of people, what I was saying would have carried a lot more weight and there would more than likely be a track in my area.

What would help us out more than a group of people and a shop owner would be for Horizon and AMain to follow in the footsteps of Tony Hawk and start a joint venture to help get RC Parks built in Public Parks. RC Parks in Public Parks would be good for not only them, but it would also give a shot in the arm to local hobby shops and city leaders should want to help small business' thrive, especially if it's not costing them anything. I guarantee RC Parks in Public Parks would bring in a lot of new users and yes most of them would bash, but some of them would race, especially if the track was used for races.

Consider yourself fortunate.

No worries.

This is the polar opposite of how a race night feels. Just as thrilling. But relaxing. Like fishing.

Entire corner of the park to myself at sunset. It's like bashing, with limitless airtime.

100%

Here in New England there is a distinct outdoor season and then everyone is forced inside, indoor carpet off road, indoor clay off road, indoor dirt oval on the same clay, indoor carpet oval etc.

There is a new outdoor 1/8th track that was just built in northern VT where we have a cabin, I sure hope they have a friendly land owner as summer is very short 40 miles from Canada, this year Summer was a Tuesday.......

I’ve seen pictures and videos from the track you mentioned. Or this one in Texas. They look amazing, and would work if temperatures stayed at around 50 degrees. But over here with winter, was only 6-6 years ago temperature dropped below 32 in early November, and didn’t go above freezing till late January. Before I started racing, I would run when temperatures were in the teens or 20s, as long as the wind was not blowing