Radio controlled flying contraptions are wonderful. Building a model from scratch or from a kit gives me a physically tangible sense of accomplishment that is rare in my day to day work. Seeing the craft actually fly elevates the accomplishment further into a feeling of pure joy and hopefully that feeling is sustained as the craft lands safely. Crashes are inevitable but the opportunity to learn from the experience reduces the chance of it being a repeat occurrence in the future.
I’ve blogged about my life long fascination with flight and how I started back into the hobby last year. There are a lot of options these days when getting started but I recommending starting inexpensively and learning key fundamentals. Please do not start by spending tons of money on that ultra cool ready to fly foam jet and rushing out the same day to fly it. That is recipe for disaster. Your hundreds of dollars will be in broken pieces all over the ground in no time flat and that discouragement may keep you from trying again.
What was helpful to me starting out and continues to be helpful is a movement called FliteTest. I describe it as a movement because of the awesome community that has blossomed out of what originally started as a YouTube channel. FliteTest specifically works to help people get into the hobby safely without a huge investment. They provide tons of free content through their well made videos and free build plans. With a few pieces of Dollar Tree foam board, tape, hot glue, and a some electronic components you can have a well performing R/C aircraft is short order.
If you are at all curious about R/C flight check out this beginners series below. Also head on over and join the FliteTest forums where you’ll meet many great people eager to help you get started.
If you enjoy the series or have any questions for me please let me know in the comments!
Feature Image Attribution Flickr with logo added: Keoni Cabral