General Chaos indeed. Heres my Christmas RC warning and funny story about 2 RC's and a 4 year old.

[Custnam]

Well yesterday I was out bashing my 8th scales up and down the street and there is a neighbor that has a 4 year old grandson that LOVES the RC's. A future Arrma owner no doubt. Well I was talking to them about how it works, the controls, etc. And they were hinting that the grandson wanted to touch the controller. Well I stupidly said OK and while I held it and had my hand on the wheel the plan was to have him pull the trigger just a bit and I would steer it up the block for a couple seconds. (Stupid idea I know). Well instead of pulling the trigger he pushed it in reverse and my Notorious went full bore right towards grandmas legs (and she was holding the grandson). Just in time I threw my own leg out and took the full bore of it before it hit her. This would have been a disaster, especially if she would have fell. They werent mad or anything and laughed it off. I thought well since that was a dumb idea I would go get the WLToys 144001 1/14th scale and let him try the same thing with that since it wouldnt hurt anyone. Emphasis on "anyone".

So I went and got the 144001 and he was screeching with joy as I drove it over to them. He wanted to try it so bad. So I set things up the same way. Grandma holding him, while I held the controller and steering wheel. And he was suppose to "PULL" the trigger and I would steer it for a few seconds. Well he did it again and pushed it in reverse. This time everyone jumped out the way and I tried to stop it, but it went full bore in reverse slamming into the curb. And this is where my diff case mod I had done to make the LC racing towers fit ended up being a stupid idea. I had to dremel a slot into the diff case to make the LC Racing towers fit. And I knew I was compromising the integrity of the plastic when I did it, but it was a choice of grinding the plastic a bit, or the towers. Anyway the rear diff case split in half right at the weak point I had created. They were all upset and apologizing, but I said it was totally my fault. I explained to them if you arent willing to have these break and fix constantly this hobby isnt for you, so I was use to it. Ironically I already had new diff cases on the way, and will be ordering LC racing diff cases and diffs to try them out on the 144001 soon enough.

I guess the moral of the story is don't let kids touch your RC's, no matter how nice you are trying to be. Let the parents buy them a Walmart one and I bet they would still screech with joy at that age. Anyway thats my Christmas RC story. Pics of the damage below. Could have been a lot worse. Disclaimer: (No humans were harmed in this stupid idea of mine.)

 

[r4nd0m]

haha - nice story, a typical one I'd say for RC - I bought my 2.5year old a 1/28 scale to get him used to it but grandad wanted to buy him a carrera slot car track (rated for 6+ I must say) - I did set it up and when watching the little one and his cousin (5 years) I knew why they put an age to it - you need certain understanding and skills you may not have yet developed at that age let it be forward of backwards or pressing a button only at certain levels instead of full chat and letting it rip ... they were both so frustrated I had to box is again ... didnt even bother charging the 1/28 (waiting for mine instead) ... on the flipside the little one almost perfectly handles my MPC to be able to produce a beat ...

 

[Baldingo]

Kids and RCs....oh boy
I had a similar situation when I let my nephew pull the trigger on my Nero. He ended up ripping the controller out of my hand and slamming my spotless Nero into the back of my car at about 40mph.
Needless to say my Nero isn't spotless anymore....

Can't blame him too much for it. It's hard for a 9 year old to not get impulsive after watching an 8th scale truck wheelie up and down the street. Besides, half the fun of this hobby is wrenching

 

[Custnam]

Besides, half the fun of this hobby is wrenching

Exactly. Nothing I love more than having a bunch of new parts to install and sitting down to get to it!

 

[arrmadillo]

Thats a bummer, I don't let newbs drive my cars anymore from past experience. My neighbors kids, 4 and 6, always want to drive my rigs when I bust a pack in front of the house. Hate to tell them no with 50+mph rigs and concrete curbs and parked cars.

 

[arrma_tigger]

If I let any newbie drive, I do the throttle - and they do the steering.

 

[olds97_lss]

If I let anyone drive my RC's that has never driven one, I adjust the throttle and brake epa's to 25%. 40% if they are old enough to have a wallet on them.

 

[Custnam]

Lesson learned.

 

[Notorious J]

Well yesterday I was out bashing my 8th scales up and down the street and there is a neighbor that has a 4 year old grandson that LOVES the RC's. A future Arrma owner no doubt. Well I was talking to them about how it works, the controls, etc. And they were hinting that the grandson wanted to touch the controller. Well I stupidly said OK and while I held it and had my hand on the wheel the plan was to have him pull the trigger just a bit and I would steer it up the block for a couple seconds. (Stupid idea I know). Well instead of pulling the trigger he pushed it in reverse and my Notorious went full bore right towards grandmas legs (and she was holding the grandson). Just in time I threw my own leg out and took the full bore of it before it hit her. This would have been a disaster, especially if she would have fell. They werent mad or anything and laughed it off. I thought well since that was a dumb idea I would go get the WLToys 144001 1/14th scale and let him try the same thing with that since it wouldnt hurt anyone. Emphasis on "anyone".

So I went and got the 144001 and he was screeching with joy as I drove it over to them. He wanted to try it so bad. So I set things up the same way. Grandma holding him, while I held the controller and steering wheel. And he was suppose to "PULL" the trigger and I would steer it for a few seconds. Well he did it again and pushed it in reverse. This time everyone jumped out the way and I tried to stop it, but it went full bore in reverse slamming into the curb. And this is where my diff case mod I had done to make the LC racing towers fit ended up being a stupid idea. I had to dremel a slot into the diff case to make the LC Racing towers fit. And I knew I was compromising the integrity of the plastic when I did it, but it was a choice of grinding the plastic a bit, or the towers. Anyway the rear diff case split in half right at the weak point I had created. They were all upset and apologizing, but I said it was totally my fault. I explained to them if you arent willing to have these break and fix constantly this hobby isnt for you, so I was use to it. Ironically I already had new diff cases on the way, and will be ordering LC racing diff cases and diffs to try them out on the 144001 soon enough.

I guess the moral of the story is don't let kids touch your RC's, no matter how nice you are trying to be. Let the parents buy them a Walmart one and I bet they would still screech with joy at that age. Anyway thats my Christmas RC story. Pics of the damage below. Could have been a lot worse. Disclaimer: (No humans were harmed in this stupid idea of mine.)

View attachment 58365

The true moral of the story is that you are a kind person who looks upon the joy and happiness of others, and are unselfish enough to know how happy that child was going to be when he touched that trigger. That boy will definitely remember the day the man let him try his super cool rc car, and probably ask his grand parents to get him one on his next birthday. ????

 

[Custnam]

The true moral of the story is that you are a kind person who looks upon the joy and happiness of others, and are unselfish enough to know how happy that child was going to be when he touched that trigger. That boy will definitely remember the day the man let him try his super cool rc car, and probably ask his grand parents to get him one on his next birthday. ????

No doubt. I just hope they took my advice and start him off with a Walmart throw away. His Dad took a picture of the 144001. Not sure if that was because he was interested, or it was for his son, or neither.

 

[Lefty_Al]

Exactly. Nothing I love more than having a bunch of new parts to install and sitting down to get to it!

I relate to this. Took 7 cars out to show a mate's kids all about RC... 3 hrs later I had 5 broken and 2 working. Wasn't concerned about the broken ones, I either had parts are home or were only a few days wait from ebay. I find it quite relaxing to work on broken cars.
I explained to my mate that wrenching is part of the hobby and to expect to get his hands dirty.

 

[jondilly1974]

I was at the park with my granddaughters this past weekend and two kids I didn’t know came up and asked if they could take a turn. I said sure and let them rip the Granite. One of the two knew what throttle control was. The other was all or nothing. Even after I explained it to him he drove it like he stole it ????‍

 

[Gonz.]

This made me lol. Is that bad?

My son is not allowed to let any friends or family, young or old, try his car when he's driving it. On the rare occasion I let anyone drive it it comes down to whether I can be bothered to limit the throttle on the controller.

A couple of weeks ago a good friend's 10 year old daughter was keen to have a go. We were at an RC track so I said she could have a go on the open grassy area next to the track. There was no one else around. I turned the throttle down to 25% and instructed her that if I said STOP she was to let go of the throttle altogether. To her credit I only had to say stop once and she did as was requested.

I would much rather disappoint someone than risk someone getting injured.