Tue 22 April 2025

I was on a Signal video chat with my siblings today, and when I mentioned something about RC flight as an analogy for a person's health (being "three mistakes high"), my brother looked confused and then amused when I explained what I was talking about.

Oh, quick explainer, I'm not talking about UNIX(-like) init scripts. I'm talking about Radio Control: the hobby where people put planes made of foam and/or balsa in the air and fly them as if they were in the pilot's seat.

I haven't flown RC in nearly a decade. Yes, I have a drone. No, I don't count it as flying RC. Not in the least. Why? Because there's so much avionics on those little things that you are not flying. You're just playing Space Invaders in the sky. Now, don't mistake me: there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, and I enjoy flying my drone from time to time.

But... that "flying" isn't flying. It is, at the very least, not piloting. It's more like driving.
Is driving fun?
Well, yes. I live in Texas. Driving is a part of life here, like it or lump it. And I do enjoy it, to a certain degree. There's a certain feeling of freedom in it.

But driving is far removed from flying.

How exactly?

Viscerally.

When I fly my little DJI Spark drone, it's genuinely enjoyable. That little thing is pretty powerful for its size, and it can do a lot of neat little tricks, even though it's a fairly old and limited drone.

But my knees never got weak when I was flying my drone.

The first time I flew my RC plane (which contained NO avionics, and required the pilot's input to stay in the air) my knees shook violently. My adrenaline was through the roof. The maybe 10 minute flight time felt like half an hour. And this was a fundamentally stable plane, designed like a motorglider: passively self-righting, well balanced, it could maintain level flight with minimal input from even a beginner pilot.

But the first time I flew it, my entire nervous system went into hyperdrive/hyperfocus. I was a wreck, and I loved every second of it.

Oh, same for the second flight.

...aaaaaand the third flight.

Yeah, pretty much every time I flew, my hair was standing on end. It was the most exhilarating and rewarding hobby I've ever had.

For my second plane, I built one from dollar store foamboard (the kind you use for signs or school science projects) using free plans I printed out (and a motor/radio I purchased) from FliteTest.

Well, for complex reasons, both planes ended up taking rather ferocious dirt naps in due time. I put away my RC transmitter for good around 2015-6. It was getting harder to find places to fly, people were getting more and more nervous about "drones" (please, please never refer to a fixed-wing RC craft as a drone, unless it's self-piloting, or something (yes, those do exist).

But as I reminisce about the unreasonably vivid feeling of flight and freedom I got from standing on a patch of grass with something that looked like a cross between a portable radio and a game controller in my hands, I realize how much I miss it.

I'm going to have to look into joining a local flying field.

See you in the air!

100 Days to Offload 2025 - Day 22

Category: Life Tagged: 100DaysToOffload Hobbies Humor Life Non-religious post Non-technical post Social Media Video