The Benefits of Radio Controlled Models: Especially R/C Helicopters

Although much of what I am going to talk about in this article can be applied to nearly all radio controlled models I am going to relate here specifically to RC helicopters.

We have all I am sure heard that remote control helicopters are the most amazing fun, exhilarating to fly, exciting, thrilling and at the same time challenging hobby that you can partake in. You only have to take a look at any one of the numerous YouTube videos of a pro flying aerobatics in an RC helicopter – which I assure that the first time you see one you will stand back in jaw-dropping awe – to appreciate this. Even a very modest pilot is something to watch.

Furthermore, I will guarantee you this: anywhere you see somebody flying a Radio Controlled model of any kind you will see a crowd of onlookers. RC helicopters in particular are like a magnet – for children and adults alike. True they might not all be gathered round the person with the transmitter but you just look around and see how many people have stopped what they were doing to watch. With this as a hobby you can’t help but make friends – and that’s even if you don’t join a model helicopter club.

This is one hobby that you can certainly get totally absorbed in, and that’s something that almost everyone benefits from today. Let’s face it we all need something to take us away from the daily stresses and strains of life, away from our worries of work, family and finances to name but a few. Most of us can only take a get away from it all holiday once or twice a year but anyone can find half an hour or an hour every day to lose themselves in their hobby – go down to the park or over to the local flying field and get the blades whirring on one of your favourite helis. Maybe you have a micro-heli, in which case you can even fly it indoors or on those long, cold dark winter nights practice some of those advanced manoeuvres you have seen the experts pulling off on those videos so that come Spring you have got it wired into your nervous system so that you can seamlessly real it off without a hitch when you go back down to the flying club.

One thing that I can guarantee you is this, when you are flying an RC helicopter there will be no room in your mind for anything but 100% concentration on what you are doing. It’s like a meditation and all your concerns will be dissolved...at least until you come back down to earth with your flying machine.

Make no mistake, it can be a seriously challenging hobby but so, so rewarding. That is in the simple nature of achieving anything that is a challenge and this is a hobby where there is always another challenge, always another goal to achieve, ever another level to climb to. If you take a look at the face of anyone who has just hovered a collective pitch helicopter for the first time or successfully flown inverted you will see the immense sense of achievement written all over it. Yet whilst it can be most exacting and require great levels of concentration, once you have got the basics well honed, you can fly within your capabilities and find it very relaxing.

I’m a violinist and I see many parallels between learning to play the violin and learning to fly a radio controlled helicopter. Both are a progressive process whereby over a period of time you develop your skills and in both cases it is an endless learning process; there is always more you can learn. In a recent radio interview Nigel Kennedy said that he had probably achieved 50% of his potential. As with violin, so it is with RC helicopters. There is always another level you can take it to and in the case of the radio controlled hobby, technology is always advancing and this brings in an extra dimension of learning. Not only keeping up-to-date with the new technologies and how it works but more importantly perhaps the impact it has on the practicalities of flying. For example the new flybarless breed of helicopters that just fly differently to the previous flybar type helicopters and the introduction of this have led to a need to adapt to their flying characteristics. It is an ever evolving hobby.

The violin is one of the most demanding and challenging of all instruments to learn. Again the analogy extends to RC helicopters which are similarly placed in the ranks of radio controlled models. With both the reward of achievement is present. Mastering a new level of skill on the violin or a helicopter brings equal elation. The shear satisfaction of playing a piece well or flying your first loops is amazing. You enjoy this and are automatically motivated to seek the next progression...what is next? What more can I achieve? There is always someone you can learn from, always more to learn and you will always find plenty of people willing to share the learning experience with you.

With both, the more you put into it the more you get out of it. The more you play, fly, practice the better you become and the better you become the more you are inspired to improve further.

The benefits however have now been shown to go well beyond what you might reasonably have imagined. A classical music station recently proudly announced on the news that studies had demonstrated that learning to play a musical instrument helped to prevent age related deterioration in mental function, such as senile dementia. I believe that the same is true of flying RC helicopters or planes or driving an RC car or boat for that matter. The motor neuron skills, hand eye coordination, sharp reflex actions required and left brain-right brain interaction of coordinating simultaneously independent movements of the two hands is highly stimulating to the brain and will help develop and maintain mental acuity.

It is also my belief that the stimulation and pleasure of flying helps to elevate mood and thence helps prevent depression. The relaxation and release from the stress factors of life may have a wide ranging impact on health, including lowering blood pressure. This is only my opinion but there is sufficient anecdotal and observational evidence to make it a reasonable proposition.

So the next time you are indulging in your favourite hobby and someone accuses you of playing with your toys you will have a basketful of answers you can give them...above all else it gives you fun and enjoyment but it should not be forgotten that play in children, as indeed in all young animals, performs a most important function...learning new skills, whether they be functional skills or social skills but it is all about development...and play should, I believe, be encouraged and celebrated at any age.

If you have been to some degree inspired by this article to dive into or progress in this hobby if you are already partaking in it then my objective has been achieved. So go out and ENJOY!!!