I'm not concerned about most people.

But time, and time again, the RC mooches, always "struggling" on the RC budget. Bumming rides, parts, fuel, entry fees,.......are liars.

So I don't feel bad for them. If I have pay to play, so should they.

International event?

Fair enough.

I didn't meet up with him to discuss hosting an RC event and like others have stated flyers do not like surface RC folks. That topic happened to come up at some point during our conversation and I was not at all surprised.

I emailed a few members of the club because I was interested in flying. I asked a bunch of questions and instead of ignoring them, brushing me off with a half assed response, or answering them via email, one of them replied and asked me to come down to the field so we could chat in person. He wanted to make sure I got started off on the right foot. He told me he hates seeing people waste their money on planes they aren't ready for (every newbie wants to jump right into flying an EDF) and/or on things that won't help them become a better flyer.

This is one of the big differences between flyers and surface RC folks, flyers care a great deal about the hobby, that it keeps going and they will bend over backwards to help a newbie and they are very encouraging. They also like the member I met up with want to make sure you are doing it right, that you don't get discouraged, and they want you to stick with it and are more than happy to assist new flyers any way they can. Flyers have a much better attitude and they enjoy talking to others like strangers who walk up to their pit table asking a bunch of questions about the hobby and if they are too busy or don't know the answer they'll kindly point you to someone else.


Not as much money as you'd think. Compared to surface RC, getting into flying is dirt cheap. ESC's and motors for planes are dirt cheap. Batteries, cheap. Mini RTF Park Flyers start below $100, extra batteries are less than $10 and the best park sized trainer the Hobbyzone Sport Cub S2 is $159 RTF, batteries are under $10. I've looked at some really awesome planes, all under $500 and that's on the high side, most of them are right around $300. EFlite UMX planes top out at $200, the average price of a UMX is $160, all of them are BNF's with brushless motors. My radio, a Radiomaster TX12 was under $100. Planes also don't need a lot of repair work or parts when you crash, just a bit of tape. No buying tires, no trying to keep of with the Jones, no battery/ESC/motor wars, no spending a bunch of money on hop up parts, etc... There is a reason why there are people always at the field, it's affordable, family friendly, and relaxing.

That is comparing 2 total different things. I have never seen an RC flying club holding competitions for their clubmembers. Most flying clubs are based on a gathering and fly for fun. On many RC car clubs that is still the same but with (club) competitions there needs to be a set of rules, not only to prevent people go crazy on insane speeds and so undriveable cars (like bashes for a first time on a track can be) but also to keep the costs down and the competition high with an as equal possible power plant. And then several things will play a role...

1) people with a commercial background (sponsor or shop) try to push their brands
2) racers driving other competitions want to use the same setup on club races (over here the ENS setup is for many national and local races leading)
3) Members of large and small tracks have different ideas of what speed is needed
4) Yes, new classes are pushed by racers for own gain of winning finals.

airfields are just the "bash spots" for flyers, right? i suspect they're not doing highly organized events that dictate the equipment you use and requires you to spend 8 hours at the field for only 20 minutes of flying time.

i'm not sure it's a fair comparison - rc bashing is also pretty big and if federal regulations restricted rc car operation to specific "car fields" I'm sure you'd see just as much activity there. a better comparison is probably drone racing which as far as I can tell seems more obscure than car racing.

Finally something we can agree on! I've said for a long time RC racers are their own worst enemy.

Now about flying. I did RC planes for a couple years. Miss it too. All fliers are members of the AMA. You have to be to fly at any field. And really no one bats an eye. In that world there are something like 100 different classes of competition, including a couple of pylon racing classes. But over 90% of AMA members never enter a contest. They just want to fly. And they go to the field when they want. Some in the morning, some afternoon, and some evening. You go for a while, fly a couple times, talk with the others and go home, hopefully with your plane in one piece.

Flying works out cheaper because you're not chasing technology. As long as it files you don't need to replace anything. You may want a new plane but the old one is still good. RC cars go stale very fast.

There are assholes in flying too. Just not as many. I guess this is true of any hobby.

Fixed wing and helicopter pilots tend not to mix. Just an attitude thing. They can get along if they're willing to cooperate.

And you wanna talk expensive? Electric pylon racing. These things are ludicrous fast. Imagine this, you spend $300+ for the best lipo battery you can find. Use it for one race. End of the day you throw it out because it's no good any more. Yikes!

Their 10% that enters pylon races, pattern events, or simple air shows (vote for your favorite flights), still outnumber halfway decent RC racers, I'll bet.

There still is plenty of downtime, wait before flight, at bigger events. Regular club days are just like our practice days.

The difference is, their downtime is enjoyable in a nice scenic park with shelters and grills out. RC racing is often a junkyard in comparison.

Their flying sights are nearly always as classy as a golf course. Our race tracks, are mostly fairly awlful, with few exceptions.

I enjoy flying more. It's fun, like bashing used to be, before it got boring. Maybe it's the extra skill required to fly, or maybe it's just plain cooler.

One of two things you assume this because that's not what you see going on at fields in your area and/or neither of you know a thing about the flying community, because you are both wrong.

My local field holds major events on a semi regular basis and there is a storage container on site where equipment for these organized events is stored. People travel from across the world and country to attentd some of these events and the same can be said for other events & races held at other fields around the world. At every event I have seen advertised there are always several major sponsors and giveaways. There are spectators at these events.

Earlier this year my local field hosted an air race that happens to be a point series that several airfields across the country host. No, flying is not all based on gathering and flying for fun, a lot of people compete. There are also competitions based on aerobatics(?) and those guys take it very seriously and are always flying. Do some homework there are many air related competitions/events held annually around the globe. And the competitors have to practice somewhere, where do you think they do that? Another thing that flying does what surface doesn't, it draws spectators.

Here is one organization that organizes pylon racing, NMPRA. No recent results posted in quite some time and I can't explain that, but I can tell you the series hosted a race at my local field for at least 3 days earlier this year.

My 1/8th scale outdoor box, is also my toolkit for airplanes. Same gear.

EZup isnt needed for club days. Recommended on big events so you csn park in a quiet spot.

So, similar gear to nitro RC racing. With the addition of a tuning stand, instead of a starter box.

It wouldn't surprise me one bit if the guy in this video IS sponsored by Bud Light.

Sorry, but this is incorrect. My local field does not require an AMA membership and from what I was told most that fly at that field are not members. I know that most fields do require it and most of those fields to my knowledge also require you to join a club to use the field. I am incredibly fortunate, my field requires neither, because it is located within a public park.

There are also flyers that never go to an organized field, some just go to the park.

That is extremely rare. Every field I've ever been to requires AMA, membership in the local club, and you need to take a flight test before you can solo. Maybe things have changed.

Can you imagine taking a driver's test before using an RC track?

okay, but let's try to compare like-for-like because I feel like you're just trying to prove me wrong more than listening to the point I was making. At a track, organized competitive events are the norm and open track days are the exception. From what you say, it sounds like airfields are the opposite - open use days are the norm and organized competitive events are the exception.

My point is that at an airfield you're probably not locked into being there for at least 8 hours just to get 20 minutes of flying time the way you are at a track, and I'm willing to bet that goes a long way in explaining why airfields are busier - they typically provide a more flexible, accommodating experience than rc tracks.

You are correct, it's rare and there are also no tests required to fly at my local field. I don't think things have changed though, I think my situation is unique and it's only that way because of where my local field is located.

I know your comment was in jest and I find it funny and here's how I imagine it, if they required you take a test to drive an RC on a track the hobby would be dead. I would also bet that most people racing wouldn't pass, including myself.

Again you are wrong. Organized events at my local field as stated are the norm, not the exception. Most track days like most days at the airfield are open. Racing is only occurring a couple times a week at most, yes I know there are some tracks that host races more frequently, but that's not common and some tracks don't host a race every weekend. Also some race programs don't last all day, which means the track is available for practice before and after the race. Practice days far out number race days. This applies to both air and surface.

If I raced off-road, this would be my local track, Hot Rod Hobbies. They race 3 times a week, Tuesday and Saturday are off-road, which means the track is open for practice for 5 full days and Friday is oval night, which means the track is open 6 days a week for practice.

Regarding being "locked in," that all depends on how busy the field is and/or how many people entered into the event. Unlike an RC car you just can't put your plane in the air, you need to wait your turn, which means there are days you may be there for 8 hours only to fly for 20 minutes, but like someone else said hanging out at the airfield is radically different than hanging out at the track. The people that fly are nicer, easier to talk to, they enjoy a good conversation. Like someone else has mentioned airfields tend to be in a very nice environment, the last time I was there I had a discussion about that with another flyer. And as someone else pointed out, if you are "stuck" at the airfield you can pull out a grill and make some lunch.