What's Your R/C Story
 

This is a thread where you post how you got into R/Cs and how you got your R/Cs and what you do with your R/Cs.

Here's Mine...
I started by getting a big cheap rc camaro from radio shack from my grandpa for christmas when I was 5 yrs old. I ran that up until 2008 when my friend stepped on it and broke the wheel. I was able to get a new one but it was $$. Then the same year, the gearbox split and gears fell all over. I couldn't figure out how to put it back together, so I figured I got enough use out of it and I just junked it. But back in 2007 I got a Tamiya copy 4x4 for my birthday. That was pretty nice. I loved that truck. It ran fast and powerful. Did 35mph. But then some parts broke and I sorta lost interest in it. But in 2009, my Dad bought an Evader St off of craigslist. It was in sad condition. (Servo ruined, worn tires, bad battery, no body, needed adjustments,etc.) So dad and I bought a couple metal servos and some new tires and rims. Got a body off ebay, and adjusted it like the instruction manuel said to. I went threw 6 brushed motors with that thing. Then I once again lost interest. So here in January of 2012, I decide to make this my official hobby. So I upgraded my Evader with metal gears, big pinions, 3S brushless motor and esc, bumpers and wheelie bar, and change the whole drive terrain. Now it's ready but I just have to get a 3S lipo battery and charger. My mom is against it and wants me to get another hobby because she thinks it's too expensive. Well, I don't know. I plan to stay with it.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Well, I got into this hobby a couple Xmas's ago, when my wife (bless her heart!) got me an Evader EXT2.  We have ten acres, so I can run all over the place!  It was my first hobby car since playing with slot cars as a kid. (Anyone here still remember when you had to drive to your local slot car track, IF your city HAD one, and you paid to run, by the hour?)  (I thought not. I'm probably the oldest dude here)  I LOVED it!  What fun!  My buddy came up and tried it, and got hooked too, and he soon had an Evader himself.  So consequently, we started having "race days" where he'd come up and we'd chase each other 'round the yard.  One problem with our yard as far as RC:  TREES.  Not being real good at driving yet, we hit trees frequently.  One would think that an RC car made for beginners would have SOME kind of protection against such collisions, but this was before the Brushless Evader came out, which DOES have a proper bumper.  We started breaking chassis, and other parts.  Of course, we got better at avoiding trees, and to further protect us, we took closed-cell foam sleeping pads and cut them up to use as crash barriers.  Sure reduced car damage!  Surprisingly, even with the stock brushed motor, we started stripping Top Gears. Many weeks/months waiting for replacement parts from DTX.  (Why is it it's always THE part I need that is back-ordered for months?) Eventually, we upgraded to brushless and LiPo (we both bought Castle Sidewinders) And oddly enough, we never had Top Gear issues again!  Go figure.  Even my wife got interested when she saw US having so much fun, so we got her one too.  That interest hasn't continued, so now it's my "2nd" car.  Man we were so hooked, we didn't even want to stop for darkness,  We installed headlights!  Castle wasn't very helpfull or responsive when we had issues with the BL systems, so we replaced them with EZrun systems.  New tires and wheels and other little upgrades and we finally layed out a track.  Not a smooth one, but one more like a combo ralley/short-course that is far from smooth, so it really works the suspnsion and is a hoot to drive.  We have a blast!

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Too long to list.. I've been planning on flowcharting my trades as soon as two or three of my current ones are finished and I can start to get my cars running again haha...

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Oh come on Drifting Narwhal. Just start typing and you'll be done before you know it. you've got some interesting trucks.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I see your online. How about you huntingterminater?</p>

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

had some cheapo's...always wanted a nitro rc.

Bought a used traxxas nitro sport se off Clist.

Havent stopped RCing yet!

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

similar to nitro
had pile of Tyco's and cheaper RC's
broke them a lot
few years back stopped at fish store, and saw them racing nitro RC's in the parking lot
was like AWW DAMN THATS NEAT
bought a used MT1 2 days later
and a savage a few weeks after that, and another mt1 after that....
now have over 20 RC's sitting around [&:]
Will Say I think this is probably the longest I've gone in the past 3 or so years without buying an RC its been like 6 months since I got a new one :D
Outside the lx2e, and some cheap exceeds(talking $80 shipped RTR here when I say cheap) nothings really piqued my interest recently, but they haven't piqued it enough to make me pull the trigger, and buy em.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Had some toy grades and thought they were awesome until they begin to loose power since they just use super cheap brushed motors. Then, finally got enough cash to get an old 1990s Traxxas Rustler that had a newer XL-5 ESC. Then, got a Traxxas Bandit VXL used a year or so later. Then, built a brushless Bandit for my bro's first RC. Then got a Savage XS SS, Traxxas Summit, Losi Micro SCT, vintage Kyosho Mantis GP roller, and now have a Losi Comp Crawler. More to come!

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Ah yeah LX2e all the way lol. I had a lot of toy grade rc's when I was little and the when I was like 9 my cousin came over to my place with the savage .25 I think it was and I thought that was amazing! About 4 years later I got an exceed rc ( poc) and played with that for like 2 years. Got sick of fixing it and traded it for a T-maxx and I loved the real rc cars ( the higher end ones) cause it was all rpm and just tough. And even though it was fun I didn't like tuning it, so I bought a e-revo chassis off of eBay and built on from there! Sold the maxx to finish the revo and I loved that a lot. And then I caught the Buggy bug and I went out and got an Ofna lx2e and I'm loving that also!!!

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

. You mean you had a summit

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I started off using those gosh darn New Brights with the wire attaching the radio to the car, where you could only drive the car only like 4 ft in front of you, lol. Then I moved up to Nikko, with the Orange NSX(supposedly from 2fast2furious but looked nothing like it) which I loved that thing. After that I gave Tyco's Viper a shot, impressive as heck and thats not even with the battery pack. I begged my mom in walmart until tears came down to buy me the battery pack, which was only 14.98. She gave in as I wiped those tears lol!! While owning the Tyco my cousin, who introduced me to hobby grade rc, owned an RC10T2. He had been in the hobby long before me. He let me take the T2 for a spin and it was a freaking BLAST to drive. Until I broke the front arms. He wasn't too happy about the truck, but happy that I was hooked. Eventually he gave me a Kyosho Mini Z, and that was such a darn tease. I got tired of it and started scheming ways to get my parents to get me a T4 back when it first came out. I Thank my mom since she complained saying how expensive it would be. So I had to buy myself another 20 dollar Nikko RC, this time with an RX8 body. I bought that as a Christmas gift to myself, and used it up until the fall of the next year, when my cousin surprised me with a Kyosho Outrage converted to onroad(Just road tires and a Lamborghini Countach Body. This was before LiPo and brushless were released. On a 7 Cell NIMH battery with a Speedworks Buggy Master motor and a Novak 610-RV ESC that thing flew. After that I decided to give drifting a shot for a about 4 years, starting in my sophomore year of highschool. I owned a Tamiya TT01, a year later a TA03F, then sold the TT01. Simultaneously owned an HPI Sprint 2(non-Flux) with a Nosram Motor/ESC, along with the TA03F. I eventually would've had three cars running when I acquired a TA05 roller, but I was on falling out of love with drifting... Once I got to college I eventually sold the trio for money my freshman year. Went on a hiatus from rc in general for two years, then my junior year bought a Schumacher Mi3 setup for drifting, but never ran it the semester I had it. Traded it for a B4.1 straight up, then bought a B44 which I own both currently! Now I will be buying an E-Firestorm Flux next week sometime. Contemplating whether or not to go all out and get a Futaba 4PL to run my Firestorm and b44 on, and switching the Spektrum DX3E to my girlfriend's future B4.1! WHEWWWW!!!! I came a long way what about 'yal???:D

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I took a bit of a different path to get to the hobby.

I raced motocross from the age of 15, until I was 21. When I was 21 I hurt my right leg pretty badly when I cased a jump section. I sat in my recliner in the living room for about 3 months. During that time, I had my sister bring me some RC magazines to read and check out while I was hurt. So I ended up deciding that I would run them until I could ride again, and picked up an HPI MT2. I entered my 1st race with that truck in the novice class, and had a good bit of fun. From there, my ankle wasnt getting good enough yet to ride / race moto anymore, so I bought a Cen Matrix TR Truggy. My 1st race with the truggy I finished 2nd. From there, I decided to try a buggy as well, so I picked up a Matrix buggy as well, and a couple Novarossi motors when my beloved 250 sold. Ad the end of that season, I got an opportunity to run a stock car at the local speedway. I loved it so much, i bought a race car for the following season. I immediately started to excel there as well, and at the end of that year bought a 1983 celica to build into a stock car for the following season. finally last year I sold the 2 matrix vehicles that had been sitting on my garage shelf. I started checking out RC car stuff again recently, and decided to pull the trigger. I picked up a Kyosho Inferno Neo Race Spec buggy (the big brown santa truck brought it to me today) and an Inferno Ve Race Spec as well (should be here tomorrow afternoon) to go run at the local tracks. 

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

oh boy.

I got my first "rc" when I was 5 years old, it was a batmobile with a wire attached to the remote, since then I have loved rc's every year I would ask for them, I have had tons of tyco's, nikko's radio shacks, I always tried to make them better and faster, so when I was 11 I mowed a bunch of lawns and bought my first hobby grade R/c a bandit with a servo operated speed control, since then It was always up to me to buy my own r/c's when I was 13 I bought my first nitro, a worn out nitro evader with a bad engine, I thought myself how to tune with that engine, and since it was so finicky, I can tune just about any engine out there in a few seconds.

I have 3 siblings, however r/c has never interested them, but I bought my little bro a ruckus yesterday for his B-day and it seems like he is going to stick with it:D

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

For me it started about 5 years ago...

I went with some friends to a college hockey game and during the intermissions some guy would go out on the ice and start flying a small plane around and that got me interested. the next day I went to a Local Hobby Shop just to look around and ask them some questions about getting started into flying. While I was there I noticed a few "gas powered" cars they had on display and that really peeked my interest. I remember beign at a Fair when I was little and watching them race and anythign with an internal combustion engines has always got my blood flowing! So I took a closer look at a few of the models they had then I went home and started looking online for some more info from other sources including YouTube then I found this site. I went back to the LHS the next day and bought an HPI Firestorm 10T. I had the usual struggles getting it running and tuned properly but it wasn't long before I got the hang of it and wanted another one. I don't remeber which one I bought next but I have owned many dozens since. I know if it wasn't for Nitro engines I would probably never have gotten into this great hobby. I believe society as a whole is getting lazier every day and people are getting sucked int to electric is easier bit (and it is) But nitro still hold a place in my heart. I hope to always have at least one or two nitros in my garage even if I am getting lazy too and run my electrics than my nitros!

I have never bought another one brand new since that first Firestorm. I am a firm believer in buying used. You can save so much money over buying new even if you have to replace a few parts. This is a hobby and even the new one will need to have parts replaced soon after the purchase anyway so I don't mind having to replace a few right off the bat. I can say that I have never really been burned on a sale, purchase or trade. Overall it has been a great exerience for me. Anyone getting started in this hobby would be well advised to start off with a brand new model purchased locally so you can get answers to the many questions and support from the LHS.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Stopped doing drugs and started burning nitro..what's to know?

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I've always had a few Walmart RC cars or boats growing up. I'm about to tell my age now...as a teenager I traded a skateboard for the Grasshopper buggy!!! Lol That thing was fast!!! A couple of decades later...lol...I finally went out and bought a HPI RS4 Racer and a Stampede (I still have both!!)...from that day on, I've been hooked!! I now have 14 total (13 nitro, 1 E-Revo). Now my son is 8 and he's having fun with his Sportwerks Raven ST. He finally stripped his first spur gear...I'm so proud of him!!! Lol

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I love my E-revo

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I've never owned a Traxxas car. How would you say they are compare to the other brands out there?

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

like taking a cold, rusty, flathead screwdriver, dipping it in ghost chili paste jabbing it in your eye while getting wicked brain freeze with a mint flavored slurpie, while your toes are being eaten off by rabid raccoons while being forced to listento justin bieber sing "baby" as the stench turned milk floods your nose.

however there are people that smile while experiencing the above, why I don't know.

seriously, your not missing a thing. the only thing that is somewhat ok is the 4X4 stampede but its still not worth the money.

ok, maybe I am over exaggerating, but in all honesty, none of thier models are great, the best they have is good and most of the stuff is sub par, but for the price it should be excellent, traxxas was meant to be a affordable durable RTR rc that could get you started in the hobby, and for years it was just that, now they claim to be top dogs, promising this amazing quality and performance and bulletproof durability all at a cost that is too much for even a pro level car, and when it comes down to it, they just don't stack up to any of their competitors, they are weaker, the electronics are cheaper (and burn up constantly), and they require a great deal of hop ups to make the car usable. They are just not worth the money, there is always a competitor that out preforms them FOR LESS MONEY!!!

ECX is how traxxas was, affordable, durable and fun, they don't claim to have outrageous performance, they charge what the car is worth.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I was the kid in the street who had the crappiest RC when I was young so I guess I got into RC as an adult to compensate for that, now I'm the guy on the forums with the crappiest RC. Nothing ever changes.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I have a crappy rc but had a crappier one. (Threw it out).

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

No! You? Exaggerate about your Traxxas hate? Say it ain't so! :D

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

As for me, I got a toy grade RC Indy-style car as a kid - it was a Al Unser Jr. (Domino's Pizza!) car. My best buddy had a similar type, but with a bit more ground clearance. Ran off of like 8 AAs. We ran the heck out of those, then went to hobby grade. I mowed lawns and got an SG Coyote 4WD buggy. Never heard of SG? Neither had I. But the LHS stocked them (but no parts...nice), and the box art was nice, so I got one and it went from there. At the time I was too naive to consider parts support, which brands were best, etc.

Anyway, I got a Kyosho Optima Mid SE next, and a used Falcon. Ran the heck out of em with my buddy.

Then set them aside for a long time, and got back into the game with a used (now "vintage") RC10. Then more modern stuff, as my sig suggests. It's a load of fun, just wish I still lived near my buddy like when I grew up, so we could still race together.

Time to talk a new friend into the hobby. [8D]

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Lol yes. The crawler is just as fun if not more fun with the winch (when it's running, haha).

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I just restored a kyosho outrage! I also just recived a tt01!
<br type="_moz" />

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Alright, here we go! So back my freshmen year of highschool I had a health class, we had to do a project with partners, I was paired up with someone I had never met before! When I got there we worked on the project and started talking about how when we were younger we always wanted to get into hobby grade R/C. Well we started looking at websites and random R/C videos on youtube, before you could blink we wanted to get into the hobby. Around then that was when the slash was becoming big and still new, Short course was a huge up and coming thing! So we watched this video on these guys bashing the crap out of the slash! I went to school the next day and one of the guys that sat at the soccer table at lunch (all seniors) I started talking to one of them and another guy spoke up! We started talking a few days later I got the slash, it turns out his uncle worked at horizon hobby (about 15min from my home town). Him and his boys ran every weekend along with his nephew (my buddy), so it turned to my buddy from health, the buddy from lunch, his uncle and his boys all running on the main street in town late at night and such! Eventually over time we managed to put a 9t on the stock xl-5 without blowing it up, now starting my senior year I own two 2wd slashes (one stock then my first one), the slash 4x4, a stampede, a rustler, a desert truck, a freshely restored kyosho outrage, a losi desert truck, mini lst, an a tt01. I have grown to love the hobby, it kept me out of drugs and trouble. I had something to look forward to when I got home, Just tearing down that slash at 5 pm after dinner and not finishing until 6 am! Now I can do it under a few hours! Time sure does fly!

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

First got a Blackfoot back in '86. Beat the crap out of that. Next year got a used Thundershot for my birthday. Spent all my money on a new 3 stage mechanical speed control for it. Raced that through most of high school. Picked up a hpi rs4 sport in grad school and raced that for few years. Then onto a savage few years back, followed by a nitro rs4, slash and then a baja 5. Now mostly race short course with the slash and a losi 10scte and some indoor road with a xray t3. Now saving up for a losi 5ive t to beat on. Good times.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Well, my grandpa (mom side of family) was huge and widely known in brasil where he flew his Custom built (all by him by hand) RC airplanes. He would sell some, fly some, keep some.  My dad, was always into RC airplanes when he was really young, he was in his late teens and early twentys and met my grandpa at the RC flying place.  They began to be friends even though they had a age difference, my dad always had older friends.  Well my dad fell the grandpas daughter and the rest is history.  When i was little, i always went with my dad when he would fly his RC airplanes.  Me being the different one, was not that intrigued by airplanes and wanted to get into RC cars.  My dad bought my an LST2 for christmas one year.  After a while i realized i'm just not a nitro person.  After a while of torture in tweaking my LST2 (god i hate nitro still.. first RC car nitro, will never go back to it lol), few months after i bought a used electric TC3.  I wanted it for drifting, got into drifting for a bit.  i stopped all together for a while as so did my dad with his planes.  About a year or so of my TC3 accumulating dust,  not too long ago, i began to just have that want to drive it.  Well since that began i am now here with another RC that i bought, my SC10.  I love my 2 electric RCs now and can't wait to start racing with my sc10 as i have yet to actually race with it.  Unfortunately my grandpa passed during 2011.
RIP grandpa, started the RC in my family and i hope to keep it alive for when i have kids.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Anybody else?

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Lots of wonderful "What's Your R/C Story" stories here. Here's mine:

I don't know how old I was (I'm 51 now) but I was really young, say 7 or 8 and I remember my Dad futzing with some airplane (nitro) he called it a glow plug plane or something like that (he still has some of those engines somewhere...) Any who, that made me want a plane and I got a control line plane for Christmas (not the best time to try and fly a plane). You remember those Cox .049 engines? Well I got a few of those, got nicked a few times and never thought about it again.

EXT2Rob - my cousin Eddie use to race slot cars professionally as a teenager and I remember very well going to the "slot car track" and paying (well my Dad paid) and running slot cars. My cousin was in a different universe than my Brother and I but we did get some leftovers that he would give us. He was sponsored and all that so he could spare it. As you may remember these slot cars were works of art; handmade chassis, custom motors, brushes that were Zircon encrusted (I'm joking about the Zircon but he had the best kit...) what I loved were the chassis; God, they were little works of functioning art. That's it for the slot cars.

In 2003 or 2004 my younger Brother got an HPI Savage and I'd visit him every few months (he lived a couple hundred miles away) and he'd be out there with the Savage just having a blast. I think the fumes got me high or something because I really wanted one of those "nitro trucks". At that time I was doing very well in eBay (sorry for cussing) and I had some money in the slush fund (guys, if you don't have a slush fund, start one) and decided I would get a "nitro truck" the next time my Brother visited me. Well he came down in April or May and we went to my LHS (Fairfax Hobby Works in Fairfax, VA - great people and store) and one of the guys there hooked me up with the Traxxas T-Maxx 2.5R (I believe) and we took it home and broke it in that weekend. That thing was a beast (for a noob like me anyway) and had a lot of fun with the kids with it. I stripped the spur gear and it sat for a couple of years until this spring when I replaced it and cleaned her up. Got some new gas and plugs and I've been running her since then.

So, about three weeks ago I logged back into RCUniverse.com and wanted to tune up the T-Maxx and got all sorts of carried away reading about the electric cars/trucks/buggies/truggies...you get the idea. I had to have me one of them things! So I did some research and I decided to get the DuraTrax Evader Brushless, which I think is a great truggy (?) stadium truck (?) for the money. I maxed out on the LiPos and got a decent charger and I have been having fun with that bad boy ever since. I had to make a custom battery tray cover (I hurt arm patting myself on the back for that) for the 8000mAh LiPos I got and it's been pretty care free. My teenage Son just wrecked one of the front shocks so I bought some new ones (I'm buying some shock covers EXT2Rob, for sure) and I'll be running my two little beasties for the next week with my Brother, my Son and whoever else wants a go, when I leave for vacation tomorrow.

I really enjoy running these vehicles; there's something about them that keeps sucking you in (in a good way) and its fun. I don't know why it's so much fun but it is. I don't have a track near me but I know that must be a blast. Maybe I can make a little track on Dad's property when I go on vacation...hmmm. I got a 15 year old Son and he can do the work, my Brother and I can supervise - we have a plan! Visions of grandeur on Pop's Farm, I love it.

Maybe I'll get the T-Maxx tuned as well...

Keep those stories coming.

Have fun,
TSNF

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Terrific story imperviously, I really enjoyed that. There are so many posts I have read on RCUniverse.com in the different forums that have similar stories.

Kudos to your Grandpa and your Dad for getting you interested in R/C. I'm sure that when you have kids you will introduce them to it as well. What a nice family tradition you have going there.

Your Grandpa sounds like he was a wonderfully, talented man, no, a craftsman.

Thank you.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Had a few wired 'remote' controlled cars when young. But swapped some slot car stuff for a school mates well used and abused turbo hopper.
Then got offered a Tamiya Boomerang and Porsche 959 both in pieces with bits missing for $50, got the Boomerang going first and eventually raced it at a local club in '88.
</p>

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I just remembered.. the weirdest way I got into it...
I had this laying around
http://www.emuparadise.me/PSX/Covers...5%5D-front.jpg
Randomly decided to play it...
Started to like RC's and researched a bit

tried to figure out what RC to get..
got this:
http://www.redrc.net/wp-content/uplo...croRally-1.jpg
Got a TA03.. junk but it taught me about how to fix stuff. not fun.
Bought a EMaxx for $20 and used the parts from the TA03 to get it working. Traded the EMaxx for a RC18r brushless (never even got to drive it :( ) and a Mini-Z. Sold the TA03 roller for $60.
Bought a TT01 RTR for $150. Best car I've had... gone now :(
So, att that was a RC18r with no batteries, a TT01, a Losi Micro Rally and a Mini-Z.
Bought a DF03Ra off craigslist for $200 with a brushless system. Never got it working like I wanted it to.
But brushless sytem in the TT01.. fun and reliable drifter for a while.
Purchased F103 Lotus-Honda 99t.
Traded Losi and RC18r for a Losi MRC Ford F150.
Traded Mini-Z for M03 Roller.
Traded TT01 + GTB(BLESC) for DRX roller.
Received CC01 and Kyosho Turbo Ultima.. gifts.
Right now I have a CC01, MRC, DF03Ra, F103, DRX, Ultima, and a M03. Only the CC01 and MRC run :(
Totally would have done a bunch of that differently... someday I'll rise out of this pit of dysfunctional RC's!
Right now a bit stuck, with $80..

Heheh.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

In the 80s my brother and I had a Tyco Baja Bandit truck and a white buggy (can't remember the name).  Then we had a pair of Fast Traxx vehicles and a pair of Nikko buggies later on.  That kept us happy for a while.

Eventually around 96 a friend started talking about getting a "good" RC car and his research introduced him to Traxxas.  In the spring of 97 he somehow managed to buy a Stampede.  It had a MSC with a "stinger" motor and was powered by a HUGE 2000mah NiCd.  My brother then coaxed my parents into getting him a Rustler for his birthday soon afterwards.  So, I was exposed to two Traxxas trucks which got me itchin' for my own car.

I wanted a Bandit at that point because my young teenage impressionable mind figured Traxxas was the hot ticket and it's what I should get.  I tried to scratch up some money to put towards one but it was taking lots of time.  Another friend coincidently said he had some weird car in his closet that his sister's boyfriend left behind and he didn't know what to do with it.  I paid a visit to check it out and learned that it was an Associated RC10 Graphite Edition roller.  He said I can have it so I took the car home and began looking through a Tower sales brochure to find suitable electronics.  I built it up with a Futaba AM radio / servo, LRP ESC and a Trinity motor and battery.  I loved that car and it taught me a lot about the hobby and how the mechanics of RC cars work.  I ran it for a good 5 years until 2003 when I finally bought a brand new car; an Associated RC10B4 Stealth Kit.

Since then I completely geeked out and learned as much as I can about the hobby and eventually dabbled with airplanes and helicopters.  I have bought and sold several different cars over the years.  I currently own about 8 different cars, an airplane and a couple of Airhogs micro RCs.  To this day I still own the RC10 Graphite and the RC10B4 is my weekend racer along side my SC10RS.

I recently picked up a part-time job at a new hobby shop in town as their "RC Expert."  I use the term loosely because apparently I'm one of two guys who is familiar with RC and I have the most experience, so by default I guess I'm an expert.  It puts extra cash in my pocket and I get a reasonable employee discount.

My stepson has an Evader and he's only mildly interested in RC but, my toddler daugher looses her mind whenever I run one of my cars.  She desperately wants to hold the transmitter and touch all the controls.  Maybe she'll be into RC when she's older.  Wouldn't that be something?</p>

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I was a gamer but that started getting boring. Seems quality was not something they keep in the industry and I was looking for something new. Since I was a kid, (I'm 37 now) I watched the RC plane guys fly their planes and always wanted to get into that.I also was having a son and wanted something wecan do together and he could learn mechanics, electronics, etc So I boughta trainer and jumped in. After that I got the RC addiction and bought two more planes (these are not foamies, they are balsa) So I began flying but I started noticing that I needed a large chunck of time to fly and that was something that is hard to come by. Having a new son and doing the family thing doesn't afford me time to RC like I want to. Also the weather in Chicago only lets you fly for a short time. So I started wanting to find another way to get my fix and allow me to tinker in the garage (once a plane is set up there is no tinkering) So I bought an Slash 4wd and began bashing in the area. This allowed me to spend an hour on RC if I have the time and is a great time. I also can drive year round. Now I have decided to branch out in scale off road trucks. Picked up an Axial SCX10 and I am making a defender out of it.

Thats my story and I am sticking with it.

One of the problems I have is being a air and surface guy, I get pushback from people. I do not understand this elitest attitude from people about the other side in RC. If it is this bad between car and plane people what happens with the train guys lol

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Thanks man, means alot.

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

Anyone else?

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

I started two years ago not knowing anything about RC...not even knowing it was a hobby. I was 13 years old, and bought a HPI Nitro Monster King. Now i didn't know anything about RC, didn't even know it was a hobby. I just thought it was something you could buy and run straight away for fun and no maintenance was needed...man was i wrong. I ordered it and figured out i would need things for the car. So what i did was go down to my LHS after finding out it is a hobby, and bought $75 worth of stuff to run this dang thing out of my own stupidity when i could of just bought something online for much, much less. What i was led into buying was a quart of nitro fuel, a glow plug igniter, glow plug igniter charger, a 2000mah 7.4v NIMH battery (which costed $30), and a fuel bottle. So i bring it all home, and my car arrives two days later. My dad and I take it out back and try to break it in and all that other good stuff. We finish break in, and have no idea how engines work, so tuning it was a little bit of a struggle. We never got it tuned, had it too lean, blew the engine, and returned it...i was extremely angry, but not discouraged by any means. What i did next is probably my best move ever. I got my money back and bought a Traxxas Bandit XL-5. When that came in...man did i have fun or what! Thats when the addiction hit. So i used that for a year or so and then got bored of bashing, bought a plane, and now im hooked onto RC planes! I should rebuild my Traxxas Bandit for when the wind doesn't cooperate, but then i get sidetracked by something else that is related to flying, so i haven't been able to rebuild it....if i ever do....

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

since you're so adamant to know...

had a bunch of toy grades, dont really remember them all. mostly cheap ~$10 ones.

i first drove one of my uncle's rc's at 7. i dont know what the first one i drove was but it was fun. i drove several of them over the years until i was 14 and my mom bought me an evader ext with her tax returns. i had fun with that thing. a few months later, i was completely obsessed, thanks largely to us finally getting internet around the same time as me getting the evader. i started wanting a nitro. i had my eye on the cen mg10-mt3. things didnt go that way though. instead, i was at my grandparents house in Indiana and i was hanging out in the basement, which is where their rc's are kept (my grandpa had been flying for over 20 years, my uncle was 24 at this time) and i saw a buggy. i asked about it and a conversation later, i had bought it for $50 (even though they never got the money[&:]).

it was a duratrax axis, which i got with a blown engine and an old servo. after we got home, i talked to my other grandpa (they divorced when my mom was a kid) and he agreed to pay for the parts. we went to the hobby shop and ~$300 later i had the parts for a running buggy. after switching the clutch, exhaust and mounts to the new engine and installing it i took it outside to start it. i couldnt do it. it was a .21 with a pull start and i couldnt for the life of my get it to turn over. we took it back to the shop and asked for help, and he was happy to. he got it to turn over a few times, attempting to start, then it did. i dont quite remember what happened next but i ended up with a roto start and a cordless drill from harbor freight.

i ran that for a couple months before getting fed up with it and giving it back to my uncle, trading the engine for an rc10 and a kyosho ultima (the first grandpa said i could have it too). that rc10 was a blast but the kyosho never ran; it was missing a gear and i had no idea where to get it. i ran that rc10 for sometime. it was the 6-gear goldpan. after stripping the idlers a few times, i got fed up again and drilled 2 holes for the gearbox of the ext, which i had butchered with a propane torch:eek:. in hindsight, i know why i kept stripping the idlers. you see, the diff is a ball diff much like a pancar, with the balls in the spur. i didnt know anything about that and didnt run any. anyway, one day at the shop i asked about the cars in the back and i was told they belonged to he owners. i asked about buying one and he took my back to look at them. i saw another goldpan and asked how much. he said "make an offer" and i offered $20. i handed him the $20 and left with a second rc10:D.

i transferred the running gear from the first over and ran the new one for the rest of the summer and into the winter. i got more into custom rc and built a few brass chassis' for the rc10 parts. come spring, i found out my dad had gotten welfare (the lazy !@#$%^&*) and my sister and i were getting some money every month. thing is, he started getting it about a year before we found out so they gave us both a lump some for that first year. we each got $700 and change. i wasnt allowed to have the money in full (i was 15, can you blame her?) but i was allowed to spend it. i bought a traxxas nitro sport and a few other things (there was about $250 that she "borrowed" for my sis's graduation party. i never saw that money again...). despite my current opinion of the company, i actually enjoyed that truck. it was fast, it was loud and it was my most outwardly powerful rc to date (technically the buggy was more powerful, with a picco engine, but i managed to get this to wheelie, which was astounding to 15-year-old me). i did some custom stuff to that and it met it's fate with a botched custom chassis.

now it's the July of 2010, and i hadnt driven an rc in 8 months. some conversations arose and i got a loan from my grandpa (yes, he was paid back) and bought my first kit, the tamiya df02. i also ordered a futaba 2pl 2.4gig off of scratch and dent for $77 ( reg. 100 something). i ordered it on the 8th and received it the 10th. i paid extra to get it the 10th (it was Saturday) because my birthday is the 10th. a week i came to the conclusion that my 2 year old nimh packs (venom to boot) were no longer good, so i placed a second order for 2 duratrax onyx 3000mah 6 cells and a scratch and dent 220 charger. i ran that thing the rest of the summer and part of the winter.

my mom got her taxes and gave me a decent portion of it (she had taken my sister to a nice hotel for her past 2 birthdays and was doing it again while i didnt get much of anything for my birthdays, plus i was going to turn 18) so i bought 2 evader ext2's, a hobbywing ezrun brushless system, 2 gens ace 5000 4c s2 batteries and a thunder a6 charger (plus some non-rc items). in retrospect, kinda wish i had gotten something else, but you gotta live with your choices. ran the brushless evader all summer again. stuff happened and i wanted another df02, so i bought one back in feb. i put the ezrun in it (i did this with my first one temporarily and it was fun. i tried to make an evader-df02 hybrid and destroyed the df02 in the process) but the gearing and tires proved to be too much for the 4000kv motor (what, they were only mashers:D). i actually managed to burn the coil! in the snow! anyway, i ordered a replacement motor but accidently ordered a sensored motor so now it cogs like hell when you first pull the trigger. havent had the money to replace it yet. since it runs fine once it's moving, i have been running in an oval around the tree in the middle of our driveway (sounds weirder than it is). i plan to start saving up in October (broke this month and the fairs are next month) and combining that money with what i get for Christmas and my REAL early b-day present to get a monster truck.

there, you happy now?

RE: What's Your R/C Story
 

lol, yeah. Good story.