Yeah, I gotta agree with that. Tower is one of the better on-line RC sources. There are others, of course, Horizon Hobby is another. But, I must say that I really endorse supporting your local hobby shop. Many will match the mail-order prices. Unfortunately, when this recession started, and without being political, as far as I can see, it's still going on, the only two local hobby shops went out of business. The owner of the best one we had around here told me that when all that started, his business dropped to the point where he was making just enough money to pay the rent. He had to pay expenses out of his own pocket (electic power, water, and so on). He did this for a year and finally closed the doors. The owner of the other hobby shop retired and closed the shop.

The closest one now is about a 45 minute drive, and they have mainly car and electric plane RC stuff. So, it's mail order for me and I keep it with the two big ones, Tower and Horizon. And, they give me what I want at a very competitive price.

As far as radio systems is concerned, I tell folks that what steered me was what my instructor was using when I learned to fly. That happened to be Airtronics. I now have two Airtronics and two Spektrum radio systems, and love them both. I have had Futaba and one other system that I can't remember the name.., both basic four channel radios that came with RTF aircraft, and they were adequate for their purpose but not very expandable (not computer radios so on model memory or any other electronic variable controls that computer radios provide).

If I were asked directly for a specific recommendation, I would say "Ask your instructor".


CGr.