Kraton RC Etiquette

[Littlemotor]

If someone whom does not know me from a can of paint decides that it’s completely normal to expect me to just let their kid “play with my stuff” out of the clear blue sky, then they clearly do not have the mental fortitude to foresee ANY of the downsides of that situation; let alone actually respect said “stuff”, nor give two shitts about the consequences. Entitlement is beyond ridiculous anymore I swear..

That being said-if a youngster is politely watching, and their parent does NOT pull some total bs like in the OP; I’ll turn down my throttle EPA, and offer MY SELF no problem at all. At the end of the day, it’s up to FUTURE players to keep the hobby around, and I try to be a good dude.

 

[Hector_Fisher]

I think this topic inevitably leads to a conversation about RC politics and reminds me to always facilitate people having positive interactions with the RC community.

About a year ago, some clown was driving his RC at the local skatepark and hit a young girl, sending her to the hospital. I don't know the guy (if I did I'd have some choice words for him), and didn't see the incident, but what I did notice after that incident was that I've never felt my "right" to freely operate my RC at parks and open spaces was more at-risk. Even though my friend and I operate very safely IMO, and often have our own younger kids around with us, and stop driving when people are nearby, we still would get mouthfuls from people threatening to "call the police" (not sure for what), or that we were "endangering their kids", and overall had very negative interactions with people just about every time we went out to drove.

It was a stark reminder to me that politics generally don't favor the minority. And that it can take 1000 positive interactions to build good faith, but only one dumb person to have it all taken away. It's easy to find videos online with RC'ers "taunting police" or pissing off the local karen, but it makes me wonder if those really help the hobby.

I'm considering that maybe saying "yes" more often (with a plan for beginner RC'ers to an RC safely) would be the *sigh* better thing for me to do...

 

[KnowAir]

Sure little Johnny can try my rc, but first I need mommy or daddy to sign this waiver and make a $1500 cash security deposit..

 

[KnowAir]

I think this topic inevitably leads to a conversation about RC politics and reminds me to always facilitate people having positive interactions with the RC community.

About a year ago, some clown was driving his RC at the local skatepark and hit a young girl, sending her to the hospital. I don't know the guy (if I did I'd have some choice words for him), and didn't see the incident, but what I did notice after that incident was that I've never felt my "right" to freely operate my RC at parks and open spaces was more at-risk. Even though my friend and I operate very safely IMO, and often have our own younger kids around with us, and stop driving when people are nearby, we still would get mouthfuls from people threatening to "call the police" (not sure for what), or that we were "endangering their kids", and overall had very negative interactions with people just about every time we went out to drove.

It was a stark reminder to me that politics generally don't favor the minority. And that it can take 1000 positive interactions to build good faith, but only one dumb person to have it all taken away. It's easy to find videos online with RC'ers "taunting police" or pissing off the local karen, but it makes me wonder if those really help the hobby.

I'm considering that maybe saying "yes" more often (with a plan for beginner RC'ers to an RC safely) would be the *sigh* better thing for me to do...

Public image goes a long way.. and letting someone inexperienced use a high powered rc could easily result in bad publicity on top of hurting our wallets.. tough call. I mean I remember being a teen skateboarder back in the eighties and shunned for that, was hard enough for skaters to find a place to skate..tarnishing the skatepark from bad rc experiences can set both groups back very easily. These challenges are compounded by the self entitlement commonly found in today's society..
Makes me sway towards saying no even though I do indeed want to promote our hobby.

 

[ahr43]

My RCing generally tries to stay away from any interaction with the non-RC public. Only run my RCs at home during the week when school is in session and never on weekends in my residential area. That minimizes interaction with the public and generally negates any requests by passers-by to run my car.

Weekends I seek out an industrial area for RC running. No residential homes, no kids, no animals and minimal motor traffic. It's as isolate as I can get without having reasonable access to any RC track.

Drawing on and quoting Hector_Fisher, post #42 above, "It was a stark reminder to me that politics generally don't favor the minority." Very possibly why our hobby does not have community support in the way of RC parks or run sites. Result is, as a hobby group, we are stuck with running where we can. That's always a dicey do. That and there are so many disciplines within the surface RC niche: bashing, boating, crawling, drifting, off-road running and racing, on-road running and racing, RC speed runs and RC drag racing immediately come to mind. Hard then for a community anywhere to come up with a one-size-fits-all approach to providing RCs a place to run.

RC air seems to have managed this challenge with its private flying fields. RC surface (hard surface and water) hasn't broke the code yet. RC air is fortunate to have a powerful lobby in its membership to a national organization. Until surface RC can find a way to represent itself nationally to the general public and esp. elected officials holding the purse strings, we as hobbyists will continue to have to seek out run sites on our own. Inviting yet again, repeat experiences OP relates at start of this thread.

Whew. Long post.

 

[KnowAir]

My RCing generally tries to stay away from any interaction with the non-RC public. Only run my RCs at home during the week when school is in session and never on weekends in my residential area. That minimizes interaction with the public and generally negates any requests by passers-by to run my car.

Weekends I seek out an industrial area for RC running. No residential homes, no kids, no animals and minimal motor traffic. It's as isolate as I can get without having reasonable access to any RC track.

Drawing on and quoting Hector_Fisher, post #42 above, "It was a stark reminder to me that politics generally don't favor the minority." Very possibly why our hobby does not have community support in the way of RC parks or run sites. Result is, as a hobby group, we are stuck with running where we can. That's always a dicey do. That and there are so many disciplines within the surface RC niche: bashing, boating, crawling, drifting, off-road running and racing, on-road running and racing, RC speed runs and RC drag racing immediately come to mind. Hard then for a community anywhere to come up with a one-size-fits-all approach to providing RCs a place to run.

RC air seems to have managed this challenge with its private flying fields. RC surface (hard surface and water) hasn't broke the code yet. RC air is fortunate to have a powerful lobby in its membership to a national organization. Until surface RC can find a way to represent itself nationally to the general public and esp. elected officials holding the purse strings, we as hobbyists will continue to have to seek out run sites on our own. Inviting yet again, repeat experiences OP relates at start of this thread.

Whew. Long post.

I think a lot of what has been created within the RC flight community came about due to necessity..both privacy and safety concerns there. While something similar may or may not ever happen in ground RC's, I hate to think the gov is going to dictate where I can or can't drive my rc's. They've done enough to cut us off at the knees in other aspects of life IMO. I actually run my rc's 100% at home, or at least for the last 3 years, a luxury indeed, hasn't always been the case and could change down the road. I live rural so, no real exposure to the public while I'm running my toys.

We had an incident years ago when we took rc's on vacation to the beach. A 6 year old boy wanted to try my wife's 1/8 scale 4s MT.. didn't end well. He grabbed a handful of full throttle while our 6 year old nephew was down in a hole he had dug in the sand.. he stood up at just he wrong time and had a 10lb rc truck smack him in the chest. Knocked him over backwards, he had tire tracks on his chest and forehead, but wasn't actually injured. Whew, thank goodness! That was it, wifey was horrified, as were nephew and sister in law (mom). My wife lost interest in rc's pretty much after that,LOL. Shame, I had her hitting ramps, backflipping and stuff.. Now I run rc's solo 80% of the time..

 

[ahr43]

Agree, KnowAir. Therein lies the conundrum. Seeking public funds or access to public facilities brings with it regulation. Very often resulting in the users or potential RC users losing interest in the access. Brings to mind the old adage, "Be careful what you ask for, you may get it. . ."

Personally, I'd like to see the major RC manufacturer's lobby as a group on behalf of the RC in general. They do well in supporting RC racing and racing facilities. That covers about 5% of the hobby. The other 95% of us are more-or-less left to our own devices at the mercy of the inquiring public. There's a whole lot of us out here in OP's position that would like to not have to poach skate parks, city, county and state parks, highways, by-ways, streets and roads to ply our craft.

Dunno. Tough nut to crack. Easy to buy an RC. Tough to find a place to run it. OTHER than a racetrack - where, by the way very often that 5% would rather us 95% didn't spoil the manicured surfaces. Not intending to drive the wedge deeper between basher and racer, it's just the way it is.

Regarding RC accidents. Recall back '08 RC drag racing Greg was marshalling downtrack in shutdown and got hit by a 1/10 scale electric top fuel dragster at ~100mph. Broke his ankle it did. Destroyed the car. And further back in the day when I raced 1/8 nitro bug, marshalling there was hazardous duty (probably still is) and that was with experienced drivers and marshals.

In the hands of the in-experienced, a hobby-grade RC can indeed be a risky do. By-the-way, interesting thread this is.

 

[NitroK]

When I bash its always a quiet area away from the public; construction site, field or the beach. On rare occasions, someone may turn up to watch or ask a few questions about the rc car. Can my son try it was a first for me. I just want to enjoy the experience and get home without breaking anything.

I have noticed two distinct issues over the years, Firstly, rc cars have gotten a lot faster, especially after all the mods suggested on this forum. Secondly, peoples' general awareness about their surroundings has diminished, greater importance placed on looking at their phone rather than the 50mph car heading in their direction. Combination of these two factors is an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Horatio]

When I was a kid, I never got to drive anyone's RC cars but my own. I remember seeing a Holiday Buggy down the park near Watford, and a Tamiya Sandscorcher in another playing field near Harrow - but there would have been zero chance of 'having a go' - I was 7.

I built my Sandscorcher when I was 8 - after saving pocket money and requesting parts like batteries and chargers for birthdays and Christmas etc. I'd saved a whopping £80 and needed another £40 to get my Acoms radio.

Once it was built, there was no way other people were going to wreck my ride. Well - my old man had a go with it (I could hardly say no!) but it was the first and last time.

Forward wind 40+ years - plenty of people have driven my rigs at RC racing clubs - we often just swapped our transmitters and investigated each other's setups.

However, when I'm running my cars at a park or other (safe) public place, if people ask if they can drive them, I explain that the rigs are expensive, hand built and potentially dangerous in the wrong hands. Actually - they're always potentially dangerous!

My wife nearly run herself over with my Baja 5B SS. She was doing so well - and brought the car back towards her - but when attempting to brake momentarily blipped the throttle. Thankfully, it hit the fence post we were both standing behind. It wiped out a suspension arm!

RC cars hurtling around at 60+mph are no joke.

 

[Saladshooter]

I’ll turn down my throttle EPA, and offer MY SELF no problem at all. At the end of the day, it’s up to FUTURE players to keep the hobby around, and I try to be a good dude.

If I am going to be encountering other people, I usually think ahead and bring a smaller, slower RC with me. I enjoy teaching others and even teach folks how to fly my GPS based drones. I just let them know before giving over the remote that I will be stepping in if there is any problem and right next to them.

I wouldn't hand over anything that I didn't think someone inexperienced could handle and am prepared to take the loss if I have made a mistake in judgement.

 

[Littlemotor]

Public image goes a long way.. and letting someone inexperienced use a high powered rc could easily result in bad publicity on top of hurting our wallets.. tough call. I mean I remember being a teen skateboarder back in the eighties and shunned for that, was hard enough for skaters to find a place to skate..tarnishing the skatepark from bad rc experiences can set both groups back very easily. These challenges are compounded by the self entitlement commonly found in today's society..
Makes me sway towards saying no even though I do indeed want to promote our hobby.

^^^^THIS.

If I am going to be encountering other people, I usually think ahead and bring a smaller, slower RC with me. I enjoy teaching others and even teach folks how to fly my GPS based drones. I just let them know before giving over the remote that I will be stepping in if there is any problem and right next to them.

I wouldn't hand over anything that I didn't think someone inexperienced could handle and am prepared to take the loss if I have made a mistake in judgement.

^^^^ and this.

 

[RC-Dude]

I don't let others drive my cars or fly my planes. Let everybody destroy or maintain their own toys. Don't see the point of paying for luxury for others to use. Too much damage potential. No appreciation of the work the rc toys need. And accident potential.

When driving rc cars I keep away from people. One time a kid came and told me about micro-plastics resulting from rc car tires wear and tear. (Rubber, not plastic !!!) Yeah right, never go to bed most people die in bed. Most dangerous place on the planet.

I think you really need to pick who you drive rc cars with when bashing. Some people just race like total freaks. Way to close for comfort with too little real ability to handle the car.

Rc time is recreation time. No need to answer questions how far I can drive/fly, what happens when I crash, what it costs etc.

When someone with an Karen attitude irritates me while driving I just start talking about how we need Trump back, electric cars having cool engines but ridiculously inefficient batteries, election fraud or artificial climate change. I just need to pick the right topic. Not long and I can drive in peace again.

Important to keep the fun going.

Just like this bird freak who came to check if we are actually bothering birds at the flying club to see if it needs to be shut down. Then he told me all the different birds he could hear and recognise. (Seems they feel comfortable or they would be somewhere else - duh?!?)

 

[blaster27]

Look if a child or parents asked me, I would just say sorry. If I were flying a drone , I would say. Hell sorry. . Give me a break. What do I have to do ?. I am not running my RCs to make good public relations.If I were ,I would have brought a puppy, not my fast and dangerous, RC. Oh look Johnny wants to shoot your BB gun. OK, DUhhh.. It's all up to you. Oh better idea. Don't take them out in public.. Grow a pair and say no, sorry. Or take a chance.

 

[Rowdyray]

Didn't mean to come off as a curmudgeon earlier. Years ago it was easy to explain that they're expensive and fast. These days kids have never been told no. It makes it a lot harder If confronted alone. Usually I'm testing an upgrade or repair. Many times it's some of my fastest ones. That's why It's easier to pretend the battery is dead.

Been promoting RC since 1985. Raised 2 boys by myself. Got them into it. 4 or 5 kids being raised by single mothers hung out so much I should have adopted them. Lol. They got into it. With my help. Their kids and my grandkids have RCs. When we get together to bash, it's a dozen people and 3 dozen RCs. Not uncommon for others to come over and watch. Hard not to. We know others want to drive them.

I've always kept an older one around for just that. These days it's an ECX Circuit. Recently updated to brushless running on 2S. My oldest son has a Traxxas Bandit. Did the same thing. Fast enough to be fun but, not dangerous. My least favorite DIL, (long running Joke), loves little kids. Has the patience of a saint and knows how to drive them. She usually runs interference. Shows them how, and we get to carry on.

Every situation is going to be different. Handling it correctly is what's important.

 

[razorrc]

I drive inside a locked BMX park. That way nobody else can get in. Safer for them.

 

[NitroK]

I drive inside a locked BMX park. That way nobody else can get in. Safer for them.

You have a great and informative youtube channel. Excellent rc air control.

 

[KnowAir]

I drive inside a locked BMX park. That way nobody else can get in. Safer for them.

Hey Razor, can I come and bash at Razor's bmx park?

I have to say, I'm a firm believer in self preservation. I mean, if someone whom I don't know, or is of questionable judgement enters my bashing space, then I will either stop, announce or avoid said person(s). But, if someone whom I feel "knows" better enters my space without regard, well, they're responsible for their own wellbeing I feel. Also, I have been called reckless by those closest to me more than once soo..

 

[GamwToInsomnia.gr]

Several times I've refused to give the controller to kids to play with, for obvious reasons. Even if you don't care if they break it, there's a risk of it hitting someone, and apologies are worthless there!

 

[CrashBoom]

I usually let people drive my stuff if it's a safe area, I like showing people the hobby and it's fun to watch people having fun. You can always crank the throttle down.

If they don't break it, I will

 

[blaster27]

Hey Razor, can I come and bash at Razor's bmx park?

I have to say, I'm a firm believer in self preservation. I mean, if someone whom I don't know, or is of questionable judgement enters my bashing space, then I will either stop, announce or avoid said person(s). But, if someone whom I feel "knows" better enters my space without regard, well, they're responsible for their own wellbeing I feel. Also, I have been called reckless by those closest to me more than once soo..

You are responsible if you give the remote to anyone, who does not know better. . Ok you have good judgement. . If they goof it who pays?

In this day and age , I saw a 12 year old boy struggling through a rain storm. We live on a dirt road. Thought about giving him a ride. Nooo way. I don't want anyone to think that I am a predator. Sad but true. Give a kid the remote that you don't know and good luck.

Seems to me times are changing.