Originally Posted by
Antares100
Not taking sides,as I have both electric and nitro, though I fly, don't drive. But PLEASE see the new post today, "Another Lithium Polymer Fire". Not judging, but this could happen to ANYONE, so electric has it's own list of problems. For a young man who may have a low attention span (as we ALL did at that age before it was labelled ADD), supervision of both the child and the batteries and/or fuel/engine is a necessity, NOT an option. And not supervision 2 rooms or 100 feet away. After the fact, armchair quarterbacking is worthless. At the least, there could be a mishap. At worst, it could be tragic. Again this applies to both methods. R/C is a great pastime. Good luck to you and your son.
Right on - on multiple points.. I started flying last year too(electric only at this stage..), went to a meeting of the local club, and this older very experienced guy (with one of those multi-thousand Euro jets...), emphatically made the same point to everyone: BE CAREFUL WITH LIPOS.. He had several stories of real and near disasters (including ones involving charging receiver lipos in jets full of kerosene...), and definitely made an impression on me. All my lipos, from 1s to 5s, are all now in lipo bags, and I try at least to be a bit paranoid about them. My wife, after seeing various youtube vidoes, plus an E-revo go up in flames at the local park, and the tip of my thumb ripped off from my own MT4 G3 (my own dumb fault...), wishes I would just stick with nitro... Brushless and lipos can definitely be dangerous. I'm not saying that to overstate the issue either - but to correct the idea, suggested here..., that they are absolutely fool-proof and that it's not necessary to learn about and be halfway cautious with them.