Are you on the hunt for a new RC hobby? RC hobbies can provide hours of entertainment no matter which radio controlled hobby you decide is right for you. This page contains some brief information about each of the main RC Hobbies and makes some recommendations for you to get started in the right direction. Since this is a hobby website, we generally won’t recommend the entry level models but if they provide a great value and great quality we will certainly bring those products to you. We don’t want you to waste your hard earned money on a hobby you’ll hate or even worse a product that’s not going to bring a quality experiences. Let’s get started!
RC Cars – The #1 RC Hobby
The king of all RC Hobbies is the RC Car. Radio controlled cars only move in 2 dimensions (it shouldn’t be flying under normal circumstances), they are inexpensive, they can be driven by anyone old enough to ride a bike, and they are easy to repair. The real question comes down to what you expect from your RC car.
Want speed? Some of these cars can move upwards of 70+ mph! Obviously this isn’t for an eight year old to play with unless they are extremely responsible and an amazing driver. Certainly it shouldn’t be their first car. You can expect to pay around $300 for this type of setup.
The great thing about these Traxxas RC cars are that if a part breaks you’re not out $200 or $300. Traxxas makes a full line of replacement parts for those unfortunate accidents. Honestly that’s why I recommend these cars. They take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’! Do yourself a favor and spend a few extra bucks and have these cars for the next couple years. Its a great RC hobby to jump into.
Wanna off-road? Some of the RC trucks have monster tires and can rip through some pretty rough terrain. You can build an obstacle coarse are race your friends. Lots of fun can be hand with this off-road RC cars. Here are a couple products in the $200 price range.
Here’s another article we’ve written about RC cars to help you figure out exactly what you need to buy to meet your expectations in this new RC hobby.
RC Airplanes – High Flying RC Hobbies
Ready to add the 3rd dimension to your RC hobby? RC airplanes take these exciting hobbies to a whole new level. They are great fun but if you buy the wrong setup – its over! The best way to learn to fly is with a park flyer. These are simple RC airplanes designed for the beginner in mind. The airplanes are can’t stall. Basically they are designed to always fly, so short of flying it into a brick wall you’ll be cruising over the rooftops in no time.
So yah, for under $100 you can jump feet first into the RC airplane hobby. Now this just scrapes the surface of this hobby. If you’re interested in seeing the upper end of this RC hobby check these planes out.
Yup, $1300 gets you a Ready to Fly (RTF) F/A 118 Hornet capable of 130mph! Pretty amazing stuff. Obviously not for the beginner, but here at NotSoBoringLife.com I like to give you both ends of the spectrum of the hobby, so you can set your expectations accordingly.
The last thing I’ll mention about these planes is that both of them are Ready to Fly. There are several other categories of RC airplanes if you enjoy the construction phase of a hobby.
We’ve got one other resource to checkout on RC airplanes so give that a read and hit the skies!
RC Helicopters – High Flying RC Hobbies
A few years ago some major technology breakthroughs like Lithium Ion batteries and miniature low cost accelerometers/gyros caused a massive surge of RC helicopters into the RC hobby scene. Now for about $20 you can get some really cheap RC helicopters that are actually pretty fun to fly. Below you’ll see a super cheap RC helicopter that over 153 people on Amazon have reviewed which means about 10,000 actually purchased this product, and nearly every single one loved it!
Its got a gyro to stabilize the flight, its electric so no gas, and you can fly it indoors. Pretty amazing stuff. These lower cost RC helicopters are a super fun but should be respected. Their rotors are whipping to get these lightweights in the air. If you got a RC helicopter as a gift but you’re ready for something with a little more power check these guys out.
The top end of the spectrum is a $1500 helicopter that is capable of things you can’t even imagine. These are simply amazing machines that cannot be appreciated until you witness it on youtube or see it in person. Check this out.
Pretty crazy huh?
RC Boats – An RC Hobby for the Water
Yup, you can even take your RC hobby to the water. There are several different types of RC boats to choose from like the power boats, sail boats and even airboats. There are also several super small boats you can drive around in a swimming pool. Its pretty cool stuff.
If sailboats are more you style then check out this product. This boat is ready to sail and is really a class above most of the toy boats you’ll find.
If you’re looking for a boat that will rip up the water, check out this racing boat capable of 28mph across the water. Hope you’ve been practicing with a cheaper boat, because 28 mph across the water is equivalent to 70mph on land.
And if you want to see the top end of the RC boat scene check out this monster.
Before we move to the conclusion, you should check out our other article all about RC Boats.
RC Hobby Conclusion
As you can see RC hobbies come in all shapes and all size and really all price points. What you need to buy really depends on your experience level and just how extreme you want to take your new hobby. I prefer to start out in the middle of the range ($200 – $300) price range and try out the different aspects of the hobby. If I love it I’ll make an investment into the next level and really hone my skills.
