Champ RTF RC Airplane

Experiencing my first RC Airplane

Remote control cars, planes, boats etc. have always interested me, especially as a boy. Who am I kidding; they captivate me just as much now as they did 20 years ago. I suppose the difference now is I can afford to play with some of the more expensive toys that I wasn't able to growing up trying to save every dollar from my allowance.

My first true RC experience was when I was around 12 years old. I had other cheap Toys'R'Us type cars, hovercrafts and tanks, but all of those were your standard plastic $40 toys. I wanted something more real, more durable and more exciting! I saved up allowance and birthday money for years to purchase my first RC-10T. It was a kit RC car that you built from scratch, and when I mean scratch I mean you even have to put together parts of the motor, shocks, wheels. Think of it as a 1000 part Lego piece. Of course at age 12 the build was a bit over my head, so my father helped build it with me. It was a great bonding experience, especially seeing the end result of an awesome off-road race car!

The RC truck was fun, but I always really wanted to fly the RC planes, but looking at over $500 dollars at the time, and the high chance of wrecking the plane and wasting all that money within seconds deterred me too much. Fast forward about 15 years, the desire is still there, but now I can afford to get into it finally! The technology in recent years for RC hobbyists has really advanced, and even better, the price has significantly decreased as well!

Enter the park flyer Champ RTF by Hobbyzone. This plane is RTF ( Ready to Fly) right out of the box. No assembly required other than putting in the battery. The Champ is a great entry level plane to get started with, and helps you learn the basics of RC flight and controls. It is very forgiving in both flight and even light crashes. The plane itself is very light and uses a Lithium-Polymer battery about the size of your pinky finger. The only downside to being so small and light is the plane tends to get pushed around by the wind a bit more than I would like, but if you just fly it in calm conditions it performs great. You can't beat it for just $89.

Check out some of the videos below for a few of my first flights!