RE: DEATH TO R/C?????????
Tigerdude,
I am sorry to hear about this happening to your friend. It's always a kick in the gut to see a good friend leave us like this.
As for staying in the hobby. You don't need to sell your stuff. There are ways to stay in this hobby. I got in the hobby when my dad passed away and I inherited the trainer that he had. We was going to learn how to fly and never did before he passed away, so my goal was to learn to fly to honor him. Unfortunately it was probably THE WORST time financially for me to get into what can be an expensive hobby. My wife and I were just starting a business so every spare penny we had went to keeping the biz running. Initially I didn't have to spend money because my dad had bought everything needed to get started... trainer, radio, engine, support gear (starter, glow driver, fuel pump, etc...), and fuel. So I was able to learn with what I had. But of course I got hooked on the hobby so I had to find a way to be able to stay in the hobby. There was no way I could go out and buy new stuff. So I looked around for used stuff whenever I could. Hit swap meets and find bargains. I was the master of trading. I would trade computer work with buddies for planes, and I actually got a radio this way to. I have been building balsa models since I was 8 years old, so I was pretty good even when starting in RC. I built a couple of planes for people to earn money for the hobby. I did repairs for others to help finance the hobby. I'm just trying to say that if you want to stay in the hobby there are ways to do it if you get creative about it. Another thing I did was not always fly different planes. For a long time I flew my trainer and a 40 size Long John (stick type plane) because that's all I had. I flew the covering off of these planes. They may not have been pretty but at least I was flying.
From what I have seen on here it appears that you have all the basics to get started in flying. You can start learning to fly with the basics. Why am I pointing all of this out?? Because I know what it's like to be hard pressed for money. In fact, there was a point in the business that we were just about ready to lose everything.. the business, the house, and our cars. We did manage to save them all and turn the business around to making a living with, but it was really scary for awhile. But during that time I was still able to get out and fly (on my limited budget of course) and having this release for my tensions helped to get me through the tough times. You will need some way to relax or you will lose your mind, trust me here. And being able to get out and fly will surely do that for you. Even if you are flying an old trainer, you're still getting to get out and fly. Plus, the people that I met flying actually helped me out as I made some great business contacts that I still have to this day. Plus, for the most part flyers are a great group of guys and you may just meet somebody that will help you out in the long run.
As was said above, selling your stuff will be a major disappointment. You are only going to get pennies on the dollar selling your stuff so it's probably not going to do much to bail you out. Since you've already paid for it all just hang on to it.
I do hope that my experiences can help you out in your situation.
Ken