Wow, your wife orders for you? I had the luxury of several local shops in the past around me but one by one they have all closed or carry very limited parts now. Most of my purchasing is done online after the wife has gone to bed or when I'm at work. I abandon my paypal account when I haven't sold anything lately and its empty and strictly use money orders as to not tip off the wife who does our banking. I hate sneaking around this way, but what else is an addict to do?

My addiction runs a little deeper, not only being a plane addict, but I've also been an RC car and boat addict with several $1,000+ offroad vehicles, scale crawling is one of the most expensive aspects of the hobby in which you spend tons of money to make something look realistic and pretty then to go drag it over jagged rocks and essentially destroy it. The biggest expense to surface vehicles is the constant upgrading which has happened in no part to the countless upgrades offered by the multitude of companies out there, now back to my planes. On the other hand, once I finish a plane, it's done, no further expense needed till I crash it, which hasn't happened in about 10 years. This justification to my wife that another plane is needed because they last so long has never worked. Lately, I spend more time on the simulators, both aircraft and on road racing to help satisfy my need.

I currently have 14 planes and 2 helis, about 7 in service. Unfortunately, I have had to slow down in my hobby purchasing lately after my wife has been out of work for almost a year, not to say I've stopped completely, I've just slowed down....remember, I'm an addict. I get those warm fuzzies just thinking of building a particular model, setting up the electronics, and flying it for the first time. My wife doesn't really even notice new stuff in my garage cause there is just too much of it to keep up with. My addiction has gotten so bad, that I have purchased some planes with no intention of flying them, I just like looking at them hanging up in my garage. If your like me, there is a rush I feel when I walk that new kit or RTF box up to the counter to pay for it, or when I see that box UPS just left at my door with something from tower, hobby people or whoever.

Now for the dark side of this addiction. I've gone out of my way in purchasing new planes/cars by hiding cash, lying about the purchase price, or slipping out to the hobby store after work and making up stories of where I was, you name it, I've done it. I finally got caught one day when I put $800 on our credit card for a new helil, so I only deal in cash now. I could sit here and justify every purchase but I wont, we know why we do it. Its the pack-a-day some guys smoke, its the case of beer every weekend, or the hefty green fee and golf club collection. It's what keeps me happy and sane in this crazy world where I feel I have little control on anything else but a toy plane.

PS. My future wants (needs) are an Eflite SR120 heli and a great planes Fling, oh and maybe an alpha or Parkzone F4U Corsair to replace my aging GWS model