What age to start RC ?

[nastety92]

I'm wondering when your little ones have started getting into RC's? I have a 2yr old little boy and I can't wait to get him a small RC.

I think he's a little to young right now but next year I'm thinking of getting him a 1/16th or 1/24th scale truck.

Thanks,
Nick

[K1RC]

I've seen 7/8 year olds driving at my local track, I started when I was 10ish but tbh its up to you. So long as they're old enough to understand the principle then any age is old enough just bear in mind the cost of fixing it every 5mins!!

[brainanator]

I tried my nephew at about 4, 5, and 6. At 4 I think he was a little young, no throttle control really, didn't understand to slow down (ever). He just liked making it go fast.
5 was better, though he still lacked a lot of control. Closer to 6 he started to get the hang of it a lot better.
Now I didn't see him much and only had like a battery pack with him at a time. I'm sure with more consistent coaching and starting off with some slower vehicles he could have had it down a lot sooner. This last summer (I think he was 8) he was doing great with my savage and crt.5!

[Thirdgen89GTA]

My 4yr old nephew was like that. Though part of the problem I didn't anticipate was just how large the controller is for a 4yr olds hands. He still loves playing with his 16th eRevo. I bought him the brushed version, no reason for the speed of the VXL.

He's turning 5 next month so I'll see how much improvement he's made in controlling the car. He always asks me to take the car out with him. And he always wants me to bring the big truggy out. Cause its like 5x the size of his eRevo. He doesn't even want to drive the truggy, he just takes the body off and stares at all the wires, moves the truck around a bit and watches all the mechanical stuff go. Maybe its the pan chassis with all the exposed mechanicals. The exposed spinning diffs, the driveshafts. You can watch them work pretty easy compared to a revo where most everything is enclosed.

[nastety92]

Originally Posted by Thirdgen89GTA

My 4yr old nephew was like that. Though part of the problem I didn't anticipate was just how large the controller is for a 4yr olds hands. He still loves playing with his 16th eRevo. I bought him the brushed version, no reason for the speed of the VXL.

He's turning 5 next month so I'll see how much improvement he's made in controlling the car. He always asks me to take the car out with him. And he always wants me to bring the big truggy out. Cause its like 5x the size of his eRevo. He doesn't even want to drive the truggy, he just takes the body off and stares at all the wires, moves the truck around a bit and watches all the mechanical stuff go. Maybe its the pan chassis with all the exposed mechanicals. The exposed spinning diffs, the driveshafts. You can watch them work pretty easy compared to a revo where most everything is enclosed.

My little boy likes pushing around my truggy as well when it's off. When he first saw it moving under it's own power he was scared but now he wants to chase after it.

I wonder who makes the smallest transmitter?

Thanks for the help guys,
Nick

[Thirdgen89GTA]

I think a classical stick style would work better. You can use a neck strap to hold the Tx up leaving the hands free to move the sticks around. And with the current design of game controllers I'm surprised pistol grips are still around and as popular as they are. Then again, I still prefer the pistol style even though my first R/Cs used the stick style.

[nastety92]

Originally Posted by Thirdgen89GTA

I think a classical stick style would work better. You can use a neck strap to hold the Tx up leaving the hands free to move the sticks around. And with the current design of game controllers I'm surprised pistol grips are still around and as popular as they are. Then again, I still prefer the pistol style even though my first R/Cs used the stick style.

I just got a small cheap heli for my birthday and it has a controller that looks like a PS3 controller. It's very easy to fly but the controller is still pretty big.

Can you give me an example of a classic stick style controller?

Thanks again,
Nick

[Thirdgen89GTA]

Aka 2ch stick style.

[nastety92]

Aahhh now I understand. I'm hoping I can find a smaller pistol style transmitter that will be small enough to fit his hands. My DX3S is fairly small compared to my older DX2.

Nick

[Thirdgen89GTA]

My nephews problem was that his hand wasn't big enough to hold the grip, and work the throttle at the same time. so he was holding it with two hands and half the time he gave up and just pinned the throttle and barely steered it.

He's more mechanical, but I don't think he's going to be a R/C junkee. Loves trains though. I think he's going to be a petrol head though. He asks me if I "brought" my "White car" all the time. He loves my TransAm. He loves hearing the engine rumble and riding in it. Though, I can't really take him for a ride yet. He's too small for the front seat, and the rear seats are so low slung with the B-pillars in the way that he can't see anything but sky when sitting in it. Maybe its the T-tops, those provide a nice view of the sky.

[Overdriven]

My nephew started when he was 4 yrs old, with his very own Tmaxx no less. I limited the throttle a bit, lots of coaching before hand and during too. If you don't coach during kids get brave pretty quick and nail the throttle then a stationary object shortly after!

The size of the controller is a problem for the younger kids. My nephew had a hard time getting his finger around the grip and onto the trigger to pull it, braking was next to impossible for him. The best controller ended up being a 3pk, fairly thin grip and the drop down wheel extension helped him hold everything better. I wish we had the time to get him to a track now and when he was younger (he's 10 now) as I know he'd be even better than he is now.