Average member age.

[Doc Hollywood 160]

I really like Tamiya rc I think they have made some really nice buggy's trucks and monster vehicles but I have tried a few clubs and they all say that Tamiya is outdated and no one runs the stuff which I found rather upsetting but my friends are not into RC cars I got in to Tamiya when I went to a model shop and saw the Tamiya range in the window with a lunchbox sand scorcher and wild willy 2 I thought they were ace I must have been only 8 years old. I waited 3 years to get my first ever Tamiya lunchbox at the age of 11 I am now 19 and love driving them as much as I did 9 years ago I still have the lunchbox. I drive them hard and fast but I don't purposely smash them in to walls and brake them I appreciate how much they cost because I buy them my self and the hole point of driving them is to try not to crash like real driving. I cant see the point in computer games I cant stick them especially the violent ones people play. I would much rather be outside in the fresh air driving my RC cars.   

[Mrowka 493]

4 hours ago, junkmunki said:

I did have a go with helicopters once. I spent ages, and not a small amount of money building it, but for some reason it wanted to go back to being lots of pieces, which is exactly what happened the very first time i tried to fly it.

So, i picked up all the bits and that was that.

So fair play to your daughter.

J

For whatever it's worth, the Blade micro and nano copters these days can take some Jackass level crashes and come back for more, and parts are plentiful and easily available.

Also, they are so easy to fly and repair, even i can do it.

[Wooders28 4722]

8 hours ago, Doc Hollywood said:

I have tried a few clubs and they all say that Tamiya is outdated and no one runs the stuff

Where abouts are you? 

Tamiya don't really make competition vehicles ,but there are clubs up and down the UK, that run them, Tamiya Junkies ran (pre Covid-19) down at Robin Hood Raceway ,one of the best tracks in the UK.

[Doc Hollywood 160]

I live around Leicester but I have a very thirsty gas drinking land rover series 2 so cant travel to far.   

[Wooders28 4722]

1 hour ago, Doc Hollywood said:

I live around Leicester but I have a very thirsty gas drinking land rover series 2 so cant travel to far.   

Robin Hood Raceway is on your doorstep!! 👍

I also know a few people down that way, that don't goto to a club, because they run tamiya's, once all this fun ends, you should all get together and car share!

[Jonathon Gillham 4605]

17 hours ago, Doc Hollywood said:

 I have tried a few clubs and they all say that Tamiya is outdated and no one runs the stuff 

 

8 hours ago, Wooders28 said:

Where abouts are you? 

Tamiya don't really make competition vehicles ,but there are clubs up and down the UK, that run them, Tamiya Junkies ran (pre Covid-19) down at Robin Hood Raceway ,one of the best tracks in the UK.

While Tamiya don't make offroad (and yes I know @Wooders28, offroad is the only kind of racing!) but the TRF cars can compete with the best in onroad.  A TRF420 is equal to the best from Xray, Yokomo etc and even the TA and TB cars are very capable in the right hands.  You can also run a F104 Pro in F1 against anything and be competitive since the class rules mean they're all very even.  Pro12 and Pro10 are about the only classes that Tamiya don't compete in, although the RM01 is probably competitive with the right driver, its pretty old now compared to the competition.

[Falcon#5 594]

17 hours ago, Doc Hollywood said:

I live around Leicester but I have a very thirsty gas drinking land rover series 2 so cant travel to far.   

I'm curious, original series 2 or series 2 Discovery?

[Doc Hollywood 160]

Hi @Falcon#5 

I got it slightly wrong it is a series 2A ex military which was built in 1962 but I do own a series 2 Ex military that was built in 1960 and I am totally rebuilding that it is just a chassis at the moment I have been brought up with classic land rovers as my dad runs a business selling the parts for most land rovers and WW2 jeeps.

[Mrowka 493]

On 4/30/2020 at 2:24 AM, junkmunki said:

I did have a go with helicopters once. I spent ages, and not a small amount of money building it, but for some reason it wanted to go back to being lots of pieces, which is exactly what happened the very first time i tried to fly it.

So, i picked up all the bits and that was that.

So fair play to your daughter.

J

To give you an idea of what kind of beating the Blade micros and nanos can take, I present you my daughter's little 70 S, missing canopy and all:

Still flies well.

 

[Falcon#5 594]

20 hours ago, Doc Hollywood said:

Hi @Falcon#5 

I got it slightly wrong it is a series 2A ex military which was built in 1962 but I do own a series 2 Ex military that was built in 1960 and I am totally rebuilding that it is just a chassis at the moment I have been brought up with classic land rovers as my dad runs a business selling the parts for most land rovers and WW2 jeeps.

That's what I was hoping to hear

My Dad had a couple of LWB Series III Landys when I was younger, and my brothers first car was an ex-army LWB Series III also.

I have fond memories of beach driving and traversing the huge dunes where I grew up.

The local 4WD club had an open day one particular weekend, which we attended. (the club president lived next door)

Apparently when we rocked up at the meeting point in town someone scoffed "What's that old thing doing here?"

One of the club members swiftly replied "Mate, those 'old things' created the tracks that your Landcruiser now drives on" - he shut up pretty quick.

The Leyland brothers (aptly names Aussie adventurers) completed the first west-east central crossing of Australia by car in 1966 in their 1958 Landy.

Now on display in the National Motor Museum.

The SWB was the film crew vehicle.

I'd love one myself and make the trek to Melrose South Australia for the annual Land Rover show.

[Busdriver 6209]

Getting back to average age it would be interesting to find out the youngest published age and oldest then we could work out the average?

[Juggular 4964]

21 hours ago, Mrowka said:

To give you an idea of what kind of beating the Blade micros and nanos can take, I present you my daughter's little 70 S, missing canopy and all:

Still flies well.

 

ooh, that looks nice. I've been looking to get small heli, that seems like a perfect size.  

What would be the model and make, please? 

 

[Finnsllc 917]

Guys(and gals) Im 46, the best thing about tamiya is we can afford to do the builds, see something u like........BOOM, its shipped. I never had a lipo setup, guess what, on its way. Never had a "modern" buggy, guess what have 5. our age makes this way more fun now.Oh and i can stay up all night now without getting yelled at. 

[Mrowka 493]

25 minutes ago, Juggular said:

ooh, that looks nice. I've been looking to get small heli, that seems like a perfect size.  

What would be the model and make, please?

That is a Blade 70 S. Normally would have a canopy, but the canopy was destroyed. 

A tough little helicopter, easy and fun to fly, and in the States, available for about $70 RTF.

[retrotx 7]

47 with a couple of younger kids, including an 8-year-old son who I was easing into RC with a couple of cheap and small RTRs, but with the recent virus stuff and having him at home for the rest of the school year, I am now pondering having him jump in the deep end with a new Tamiya kit. 

I had a Hot Shot in the mid-80s, took me almost a year of a paper route, and birthday and Christmas money to get.  Stopped when I was in high school (lack of time and lack of nearby RC fans).

About 15-20 years ago, I went on a spree on eBay and picked up a couple of wrecked/incomplete Hot Shots, a Super Hotshot, a bunch of parts, a Boomerang in need of a restoration, then changed jobs just as I got everything, and so that stuff all went back into storage.

Hopefully going to pull everything out next weekend, and take stock of what I have and what I need to get my original Hot Shot up and running, as well as the Boomerang, and then maybe one of the other Hot Shots (the Super is tempting, but could be expensive).    My goal is to take my original Hot Shot and take it back to a fully stock setup, minus the mechanical speed control *shudders*, and fix up/hop up one of the other Hot Shots to be a fun little park runner for me.

I'm not too keen on my son taking the controls of my older RC vehicles just yet, so I'm looking at a handful of cars that would be suitable for our situation (plenty of pavement, some dirt/mulch, lots of fairly short grass) and that he could grow with.    I'll start a separate thread for that, since I've narrowed it down to a few kits that I have not run, nor have I seen in action. 

[Uranium 41]

15

[howaboutme 247]

The talk of rc helis caught my eye!

I'm 44 and haven't been around here for a few years. However, this pandemic and working from home has given me a bit of extra time and now I'm in the middle of single handedly keeping the economy afloat by getting parts to upgrade my TT-02 to brushless, my HotShot re-re (MIP ball diff, SHS shocks and brushless) and my NIB DT-03 racing fighter chrome edition (brushless).

However, it has also rekindled my love of helis.

In addition to these, I also have a MSH Stretched Mini Protos and a Blade Nano CPS (the precursor to the 70s). Anyone wanting to get into helis, please do your research! I can kill you or at the very least cost you a lot of money. Happy to be back.

[Juggular 4964]

41 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Anyone wanting to get into helis, please do your research!

I'm starting to feel like I'm 14 again and not in a good way!  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, except I wanted an RC car back then. 

Fast forward 3 decades, I know next to nothing about helis.  Except for the fact I have a Kyosho Caliber M24 Schweizer 300c.  But there seems to be a problem with the integrated receiver.  It's not functioning.  Blade 70 S seems to have good reviews. Do you think something else would be a better choice?  

 

 

[howaboutme 247]

43 minutes ago, Juggular said:

I'm starting to feel like I'm 14 again and not in a good way!  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, except I wanted an RC car back then. 

Fast forward 3 decades, I know next to nothing about helis.  Except for the fact I have a Kyosho Caliber M24 Schweizer 300c.  But there seems to be a problem with the integrated receiver.  It's not functioning.  Blade 70 S seems to have good reviews. Do you think something else would be a better choice?  

 

 

I was the same way w/ rc cars...had the original hotshot as a kid so came back w/ the re-re a few years ago. Cool photo, looks like an old helibaby canopy/body.

The blade 70s is good. In fact, I'm looking out for a used one to replace my nano cps. I would recommend starting w/ the 70s and fly either indoors or outside on a non windy day and always on grass. the safe mode is good for beginners and will help you get your orientations. Once you're good w/ that, it's a whole new world when you turn safe off and go into full collective pitch mode. Expect to take a few weeks to even to even be able to take off. But it is as addicting as anything else rc, maybe even more. if you can handle the nanos, you can fly bigger as they are more stable. But don't listen to the old school thought of bigger the better, not true anymore because of how good small helis are. good luck!

[Juggular 4964]

3 minutes ago, howaboutme said:

Expect to take a few weeks to even to even be able to take off.

I have RealFlight 5.5 upgraded to 6.   

I can manage things with fixed wings, but I crash every heli within 60 seconds.  So I'm expecting it's going to take much longer. 

 

[howaboutme 247]

9 hours ago, Juggular said:

I have RealFlight 5.5 upgraded to 6.   

I can manage things with fixed wings, but I crash every heli within 60 seconds.  So I'm expecting it's going to take much longer.

 

I totally forgot about SIM. If you're serious about learning a SIM is a must. I personally use AccuRC but all of them are fine. Just worry about hovering, small but CONSTANT stick movements are needed. The key to tacking off in full collective pitch mode is to pop the heli up into the air once you've reached the adequate headspeed. A good tx specifically made for air would help as you can adjust settings in the tx that will make flying a bit more controlled. Good times!

[junkmunki 846]

11 hours ago, Juggular said:

I'm starting to feel like I'm 14 again and not in a good way!  I had no idea what I was getting myself into, except I wanted an RC car back then. 

Fast forward 3 decades, I know next to nothing about helis.  Except for the fact I have a Kyosho Caliber M24 Schweizer 300c.  But there seems to be a problem with the integrated receiver.  It's not functioning.  Blade 70 S seems to have good reviews. Do you think something else would be a better choice?  

 

 

Thats a good looking heli. I'd get one of those.

Is it modern 2.4ghz, or nintage?

J

[Juggular 4964]

8 hours ago, junkmunki said:

Thats a good looking heli. I'd get one of those.

Is it modern 2.4ghz, or nintage?

J

Unfortunately it's a vintage, long out of production.  It has no gyro to help controlling it. All manual, I think. 

The worst part is that it's all integrated.  I can't replace the receiver or speed control or whichever it is wrong with it.  I'm holding onto the zombie heli, in hopes that I'll learn enough about helis and replace the guts with modern stuff later.  

I hope other companies make Hughes 300 or Schweizer 300.

 

[Mrowka 493]

There's quite a few companies that produce scale helis, especially in larger sizes, or conversion kits. 

These guys have a wide selection of  scale offerings:

http://www.heli-scale-quality.com/overview-of-all-hulls.html?___store=uk&___from_store=uk

Thing is, scale helis tend not to be especially aerobatic, if that's your thing, and they are rather fragile in a crash.

[Mrowka 493]

I learned to fly helis on a Blade MCX 2. I currently mostly fly 130Xs and other small copters. I've never had a simulator.

When I was a kid, I hardly knew anyone with an r/c helicopter. They were complicated, fiddly, fragile, and didn't really fly all that well, unless you were some kind of super pilot, someone with nerves of steel, the motor skills of a neurosurgeon and the situational awareness of a top athlete. Even then, crashes were inevitable and often spectacular.

Also, the helicopters were expensive. I did some back of the envelope calculations, and I figured that in the mid 1980s it would cost at least $1,500 US to get started with flying helis. And that doesn't include consumables, and further assumes that you didn't crash.

If I had told my parents that I was going to spend $1,500 on a toy helicopter, they would have checked me into rehab because I would have just had to be on something.

Then I was given that little Blade co-axial as a gift. I am not blessed with good reflexes, hand-eye-coordination or situational awareness, but I became obsessed with that little helicopter, coming home from work, charging the one battery I had as soon as I could so I could fly. 

And that little helicopter proved that even I could do it, I could learn to fly.