Fishmasterdan

That is a very common fear and very understandable. It really depends on what class you fly. The new SSC class uses low cost .15 powered engines like the OS 15LA or Magnum 15XL, both are under $60.

Of course, alot of people fly informal combat and just tie streamers on their tails and go after it and fly till all the streamers have been cut, no rules, no time limits, a blast and a very good way to get into the sport.

In SSC class, we fly the .15's with 8x3 props, which keeps the speeds below 50mph. This is important to decrease the distructive mid-airs that are apart of the sport.

the important parts of the plane are the engine and rx. Most fly the alsolutely cheapest servos possible, like the tower 12 for $100 specials. This along with building the planes with armor and protecting the rx from mid-airs helps keep the costs very reasonable. There are some weeks where I go without getting more than a prop cut or two on my planes, and other weeks I destroy several planes in one day.

The secret is building VERY cheap airplanes. like the spads that cost about $10 per airframe. These planes are built of foam, plastic and other durable materials that are put together to survive most mid-airs and keep flying. So a distructive mid-air usually only costs you $10. If the airframe is destroyed or unflyable, you take the rx, servos and engine and just transfer it to a new $10 airframe.

Don't even think about flying your balsa specials in combat, it will be turned into a pile of scrap wood before you know it and will discourage you before you even get started....

R/C combat is very additive, and will make boring holes in the skys any other way seem very boring by comparison. I haven't flown a sport plane in over a year since flying combat, and I fly just about every weekend!