Why is R/C fun?

There are many things that I like about R/C, especially now that I have kids. At the heart of the matter is that having kids means having less cash. Fact. Also, R/C models are something my kids and I can enjoy together.

There is 99% less chance that I’ll get killed doing model racing or flying vs. “real” racing or flying. I have no desire to be the next John Travolta or even worse, John Denver.

I didn’t say the danger is 100% less, as proven by this video that made it’s way to Tosh.0:
(probably not safe for kids – but it is pretty funny)

Like others, I’d like to disagree with Tosh on a few things. I have a full sized car that I used to drive at road courses when I lived in Las Vegas. If anything, full sized driving brought me back to R/C because of the cost. A bargain for a weekend at the track was $300 not to mention $600 in racing tires, and $100 in race gas. $1000 would be a bargain to get a street car on the track, but it’s twice what you need to do any R/C racing.

Plus the bargain $300 track events aren’t always a bargain. I once watched a guy’s brand new Lotus burn the ground at a track event. The corner worker saw a flame coming from near the exhaust and flagged him down. The problem was neither the driver nor the corner worker had a fire extinguisher. Engine fire: 1, Lotus: 0. No one was hurt but I’m pretty sure it put a big dent in that guy’s wallet.

Sure there’s always the danger of a LiPo battery fire in R/C, but you have to do some serious mishandling to achieve this, plus the safety measures to prevent it are minimal.

Also, you can have a sensible R/C car like a minivan or a Corolla station-wagon. Or you can get as wild as you want, that’s the beauty.

You can build and drive whatever car you want, whether it’s a replica of the car you drive to work, or a formula one racing car in McLaren team livery. It will all cost you very little comparatively. You can fancy yourself a rally driver from Finland or an expert drifter from Japan. And you can actually get good at these pursuits without dedicating your life it.

If taking flight is more your thing, you can fly an F-22, or the helicopter from Magnum PI, or even Snoopy’s dog house in the pursuit of the Red Baron. For the budget minded like myself, just fly some crazy contraption you built out of foam, glue and tape from the dollar store. You don’t even need a pilot’s license!