Joining your local RC Club is a great way to start!
Choice of first model is very important!
Don’t be too ambitious with your first model!
Why Radio control modelling? The hobby of modelling is both rewarding and challenging, especially great for children as an introduction to engineering and learning patience and skills to equip them for life. It’s also a fine hobby for the entire family, no longer the bastion of the old man with pipe! More and more families are now enjoying building and flying model aircraft together. But most of all the hobby is FUN!
Is it an expensive hobby? It can be as expensive or cheap as you wish to make it, we would always recommend getting in contact with your local club (we’re a very friendly bunch!) and getting some advice first, an awful lot of money can be saved by getting good honest advice rather than looking at all those lovely glossy magazines and websites showing you the latest “super jet” that “anybody can fly!”... Remember, club members are not sales people; they are not trying to sell you anything.  More than anything they want you to succeed in this hobby. So at the start try to keep it as cheap as possible, again this is where a good RC Club comes in, most clubs will have members who are willing to help out, not only with great advice, but most clubs will have models and equipment that members are willing to sell saving you a lot of money.
Don’t try to run before you can walk! It gets expensive.... Like starting anything new in life, it’s always best to begin “at the beginning”, just like you’d be rather foolish buying Ferrari a day after passing your driving test, you’d be equally foolish buying that shiny new all singing all dancing 150mph Jet you can see on that modelling website for your first aircraft! Yes it may look stunning, and you may want to feel like “Tom Cruise” flying it, but you’ll soon be put off this hobby when it comes crashing into the ground at 150mph within a few seconds of taking off turning your once loved model into nothing more than confetti  on the ground! Learning to fly is a skill developed over many years, it takes hours of practice and can be frustrating, but the rewards are wonderful, so it’s always best to get some advice about the right model to start with to ensure your continued success.
Can I learn on my own or must I join a club? Learning on your own is perfectly feasible but much harder than learning with people who have “been there” and taught many other people how to fly successfully, however at the very least you should be insured! Models can do a lot of damage to both people and property, so being fully insured is the very minimum you require before even considering launching that model for the first time! Also, the land you fly your model on, is it legal to fly on? Do you have the land owner’s permission to fly? Because of the inherent dangers of model flying at the very least authorisation must be sought from the land owner before flying, you are solely responsible for your model and all consequences of crashing!
Joining your local club is the way most people learn to fly, it’s safer, quicker to learn and in the long run much cheaper simply in the cost savings of broken models. You will meet likeminded modellers who are more than willing to help with any problems you encounter.
So what should I do first? The first thing to do is contact your local RC Club, all British Aircraft RC clubs (well, the vast majority) are overseen by the British Model Flying Association (the BMFA), you can find your local club by getting in contact with the BMFA who will point you in the right direction towards your local club. Most clubs will allow you to come down for the day and see what it’s all about, any maybe even let you have a fly of the clubs “trainer” model, just a taster! From there it’s all up to you, but listen carefully to any advice given, feel free to make notes about which models you should be looking at and why not ask if somebody at the club is selling one cheaply? Most people eventually will advance past the training model they started with, giving you the opportunity to snap up a bargain before anyone else!  Remember, crashing your model is going to happen.  It is an inherent part of the hobby, so your first model should be simple to fly, cheap to fix, and cheap to purchase. If your ready to get started why not get in touch? We’re always happy to help new and prospective modellers get a head start in this great hobby!
2025 Membership Is due now!