I know I have not been posting much here, but I have been reading a lot. I started many years ago with gas engines, but lost interest after crashes and money problems. I got an electric for christmas that had about two flights and then the circuits inside failed to work and I had no throttle control(it was stuck at mid throttle) and I didn't have enough power. I then bought the Avistar plus an OS .40 LA from tower and have flown it yesterday and a couple hours today. I'm having lots of fun and I can't believe how much help I've received from this website! I have had no instruction and I have paid for it both mentally and monetarily, but the Avistar is still in one piece! I just had one question. I hear lots of people here talk about getting licensed. Is that required, how much does it cost, and what do I get out of it? Any rosponse would be appreciated. Thanks.

Congrats but you'll find that a GOOD instructor is the best insurance in r/c flying and he'll be one of the most influential reason for you to stay in the hobby......

Hey Orange, Its not a license its a membership, you have to join the AMA in order to fly at sanctioned fields or events,, you "get" secondary insurance if you fly at those fields only,, and you get a 1 year subs. to the Magazine, and I think its $58/year... so if your parkflying or on your land its only gonna be a high dollar magazine............even your local club if you have one will probably have to be AMA in order for you to fly... Rog