RC: The Hobby We Share

Happy Father’s Day from the team at Horizon Hobby! We asked employees around the company for some favorite memories of the hobby we share; radio control. RC can be a multi-generational hobby and a way for parents and kids to get together and have fun.

It starts with a simple spark when you ask, "Want to try this?"

Every great hobby story has a moment of ignition. For the RC community, those moments happen on driveways at home, parks with friends, and airfields and racetracks in the community. And almost always, there's a parent nearby when the spark catches.

"I never thought that my dad taking me to a local RC air show would open the doors to such a wonderful hobby." – Ethan Ater

Sometimes it's a dad borrowing an RC buggy from a friend. Sometimes it's a grandfather building or repairing a gas-powered RC plane on his workbench. Sometimes it's a mom surprising a four-year-old after surgery with their very first RC car. The form it takes doesn't matter. What matters is the invitation, the simple act of saying: "come see what I love."

Another employee, Casey Bouman, described watching his father at the races:

"It was very entertaining watching him pay extra attention whenever my car went by his marshal station, whether I was on the edge or just floating through the bumps."

That image, a dad posted up at a marshal spot, leaning forward as his kid's car blurs past, captures something universal for us all. The hobby is just the vehicle; love is what's really being expressed.

The wheel turns as the hobby continues

The kids who once watched their parents fly planes and race buggies eventually grow up, and one day they're the ones holding the transmitter while someone smaller looks on with wide eyes. It may be a three-year-old obsessed with chasing an ARRMA OUTCAST around the yard; a five-year-old who loves the RC truck more for the ride than the driving; a two-year-old daughter who fills the bed of her dad's Axial with flowers and commands it to "green, go." These are the ordinary/extraordinary days when a hobby becomes a heritage.

“Ten years ago, my favorite co-pilot was none other than the heavy little bundle on my back. As I flew my beloved RC plane, I kept thinking to myself: one day, I must share this beautiful sky that I love so much with you… Now,  watching you hold that plane from behind, I realize this is truly the proudest moment of my entire flying hobby.” – Chris Wang

What begins as play has a way of becoming something much more lasting. More than one employee at Horizon credits their entire career to a parent who showed up, handed them a transmitter, and made the time for the hobby we share.

“When my son was really little, he used to carry around a transmitter and think he was flying. He figured out he was not in control at about two-and-a-half. We started him on the sim at four and soloed on a ParkZone Corsair at six-years-old.” – Aaron Shell

These kids aren't passive passengers in a parent's hobby. They're becoming the community's next generation of builders, racers, pilots, and storytellers. One father was filled with pride as he told us about how his daughter shared her new birthday present, and ARRMA TYPHON, with other kids at the park. It’s what this hobby is really about: purpose, passion, and friendship.

RC isn’t the point – it’s how you get to the point

Planes, buggies, boats, crawlers, helicopters… these are genuinely wonderful things. But talk to enough hobbyists and a pattern emerges: What people remember is the feeling of being included in something their parent(s) loved.

“My daughter loved every minute of it and she always comes back to me and asks me to watch the video of her and I driving the RC boats. She will cherish this video for a very long time!” – Ryan Kephart

Whatever the shape of your story, the heart of it is the same: someone loved this hobby enough to share it, and that changed everything.

You built more than you know.

Happy Father’s Day!