Is this hobby really for me?

[jakegazzard]

I was thinking last night, is R/C helicpter's really for me? I mean crashes, yesterday when the raptor did a backflip into the floor, the broken bits in repair will cost over £40. This may not seem a lot, but planes for example, £5 wood glue and your done. Maybe next year i may carry on with it as i will be at work earning money so i can pay for repairs ect. I will upload yesterdays photos and video later.

[jakegazzard]

oh yea, and new rx

[Mart61]

It's a tough question, Jake. You are right, this hobby is expensive. I certainly question myself if it's one that I can afford and, in truth, I often come up with the answer - a resounding "No!"

There's a whole host of things I should be spending the money on, not the least of which is doing much needed work on my house.

But I love this hobby, the friends I have made and the good people of this forum.

However I am not fully aware of your situation, Jake, but when one finds one's self asking such questions, the answers often turn out to be not those we really want that we nonetheless know to be the truth.

[Guest]

I cannot fly yet and although its untested in hover yet i have just spent £130 repairing my blade from a very minor crash (long story read my unusual crash threads)
The way i look at it is if i give up i will always wonder what its like to actually take off and just fly it away and make it do all the things i want then bring it back and land and think to myself wow look what i just did that's why i have to keep going

[Mike W]

Jake ... why not buy a few spares each week and that way when you crash it takes the initial sting out of costs .. Now me I tend to want to sell up and give up for different reasons like family and not enough time flying but I know at the end of the day if I sold all my stuff I would regret it and just ended up buying it all again ... The choice is yours .. but if everytime you fly your worrying about the costs of crashing then I think its time to look for a cheaper hobby .. and I not being elitist either .. I dont drink and only go out now and again so my extra money is for my hobby

[dam74]

Due to lack of work of late, things getting tight and other hobbies I've had to put the heli lark on the back burner until things work wise pick up. I haven't flown the heli for a while and feel like I should get back out with it again but I'm dreading that it will cut out again midflight causing more cost.

[Tim Procter]

but when one finds one's self asking such questions, the answers often turn out to be not those we really want that we nonetheless know to be the truth.

Martin you are correct.

IMO if people are asking this type of question on a public forum then you really are looking for a way out.

If you are flying a 30 size heli or larger then you are looking at a repair bill of £100 or more on average, And yes you will have more Jake.!!!

Sometimes a little less, sometimes a lot more.

I had a dumb thumb moment with my 700 a couple of weeks back doing an inverted auto.

Repair bill was £200.

Its the sad part of this hobby, Either get used to it or get out.

Firm statement but true.

This hobby is expensive. Period.!!!!!!

[toetapper]

I echo what Tim has just said, if you haven't the money to repair your heli when the worst happens it makes the whole thing alot harder,thats the thing about our great hobby, the highs are very high and its all fantastic,but its also gut wrenching when you stuff one in.

Si

[Smoothound]

Due to lack of work of late, things getting tight and other hobbies I've had to put the heli lark on the back burner until things work wise pick up. I haven't flown the heli for a while and feel like I should get back out with it again but I'm dreading that it will cut out again midflight causing more cost.

I've been here on and off for about a year now. I fly rarely and when I do I only take it real easy nothing stupid which does get a bit boring

I've recently sold off some stuff so I can convert my 500 to V-Bar and for some unknown reason I've ordered a 50 nitro as I miss my Knight. More stuff will be sold to fund the build of that I expect and the fleet will shrink down to possibly just those 2 helis.

Work is a nightmare round here currently, plenty of jobs if you want to go into care or cleaning but naff all else

To Jake, Helis are expensive even if you have plenty of money let alone on limited funds. As you say you can patch up a plank but a heli needs new parts 99% of the time it's not a glue and bodge job sorry

[madgooner99]

Like we said yesterday Jake you have two problems:

1. trying to learn to fly heli's but only being able to turn up at the field once every 4 to 6 weeks isn't going to work

2. using second hand stuff has caused all your crashes....you can't really do this on a tight budget

My advice is to crack fixed wing, get your A, then move onto heli's when you have transport and more cash

Ray

[raptormark]

jake buy a sim thats the only outlay you will have no crash repairs and u will learn loads of it my boy started end of feb he has had some bubby lead but most on simm he flew solo yesterday so it works

[trillian]

jake buy a sim thats the only outlay you will have no crash repairs and u will learn loads of it my boy started end of feb he has had some bubby lead but most on simm he flew solo yesterday so it works

Yeah, I was going to ask Jake, if you have a good sim because that will get you over one of the steepest parts of the learning curve. In the very beginning you need to get to a point where you can hover and have a basic feel for the controls without having to think about it too much and this just requires training that hand / eye co-ordination which is where the sim is a great tool.

[rapt50]

Like we said yesterday Jake you have two problems:

1. trying to learn to fly heli's but only being able to turn up at the field once every 4 to 6 weeks isn't going to work

2. using second hand stuff has caused all your crashes....you can't really do this on a tight budget

My advice is to crack fixed wing, get your A, then move onto heli's when you have transport and more cash

Ray
__________________I HAVE TO AGRREEEEE WITH RAY.....

SORRY MATE ....FIxED WING (planks)are CHEEP ,,,, HELIS .........WELL not so cheep

[jakegazzard]

Im going to postpone helis for a while, i will concentrate on my planes.

[Rctintin]

I think that is a wise decision Jake, the plank flying will help you with orientation, flying towards you (nose in) etc. Come back to the heli's when funds allow.

Hope to still see you around here though mate,

Cheers, Rob