The Hobby We Keep Coming Back To

One of the remarkable things about the RC hobby is the length of the relationship people form with it. Radio control isn’t a hobby you usually try for a summer fling and stop. RC hobbyists are hobbyists for life!

Many discover RC through family, especially from a parent. But sharing a love of radio control isn’t only a generational thing, it’s shared throughout the community! Some hobbyists discovered RC from a neighbor who repaired planes in the garage with the door open. Others may have seen an RC basher jump through a park and gotten the urge to try the same thing.

In a recent YouTube video, we asked for your comments about your experience with the hobby. What we saw was the magic of the RC hobby and the way we keep coming back to it. @CalebT_RC has been in the hobby for nearly 19 years, having picked it up at age four. @PUCHOAL traces his hobby experience back to a Radio Shack in Chicago in 1988, when he was eight years old and a buggy changed everything.

@larryvicary5344 spent his childhood dreaming about flying a radio-controlled plane, and it wasn't until his 60s, thanks to modern technology and beginner-friendly aircraft, that he finally made it real. Today he owns twenty planes, from micro to jets.

Sometimes life gets busy and we may set the hobby aside, but recent technology has been allowing more people to return to the hobby with ease. Do you remember when all RC airplanes were powered by an engine and you had to have fuel every time you went to the field? They were difficult to maintain with a busy work/life schedule. Now that most RC planes use an electric motor, it’s easy to come back. Less down time for maintenance and fewer materials needed for entry, we’re seeing a flood of people return to the RC hobby.

@Monowheelmelody stepped away from the hobby for years before coming back, then promptly bought ten cars from ARRMA and Axial in six months. @54321alonzo flew a single E-flite Blade mCX helicopter for years as a kid, put the hobby down when life got busy, and recently returned to find the old joy waiting right where he left it: "The hobby helps me feel like a little kid again."

And after a lifetime spent in the hobby, we pass it on! @NathanCantwell has been in the hobby since he was five years old  - 41 years and running now - and now gets to hand that same excitement down to his own children. @GmTech18 still remembers the exact day he landed his first plane in one piece as a kid, and is now teaching his children to do the same.

@rubenzamora1608 remembers racing RC cars down the end of his street as a kid, hauling a bag full of batteries, completely certain this was the greatest possible use of a summer afternoon. Now he watches his own child bash ARRMA GROMS and tenth-scale trucks and quietly maintains his own collection of EXBs and crawlers, because it was never just for the kids.

All of the stories we read in the comments shared the same sentiment: