How old are you

[Xraycer]

Having been around the block, a time or 2, I've seen just as many know-it-all butthead adults as there are teenagers. I've learned to typically give advice only when asked. I feel there's still value in learning things the hard way.

 

[WickedFog]

Shutting my mouth and listening to the older guys is exactly how I wandered into the job I’m at now with zero experience and was running the board for an entire plant within 7 months. Them older guys know a thing or two… it’s almost like there’s a reason they still have a job after 20 years. Only if teenage me didn’t know everything, I could’ve been here sooner.

Biggest regret growing up was not listening to what my dad had to say. To this day, I find myself learning lessons he already tried to teach me.

I can't tell you how many times I have told my son how much he will regret not listening to me when he gets older, but I can tell ya the last time was two days ago. I am going to screenshot this and show him for evidence to back up what I told him

 

[WickedFog]

Having been around the block, a time or 2, I've seen just as many know-it-all butthead adults as there are teenagers. I've learned to typically give advice only when asked. I feel there's still value in learning things the hard way.

There will always be people like that. But if you know you're not one of them, and can offer a bit of advice, it never hurts to give it if you see someone struggling to accomplish something. What they learn from you they will improve upon, and maybe pass on themselves. If nobody had ever taught what they know, we'd all likely still be walking around with pointy sticks trying to catch our food.

Which come to think of it might be better than where we are now

 

[Littlemotor]

47 here, and been in since I was 8yrs old. Got in, and immediately went racing multiple times a week. Had a few (brief) hiatuses over my almost 40yr run, but never stray far, and always come right back. Sure do miss how big it was in the early 2000’s, and definitely miss the vast amount of super solid forums from back then. I’m sure gonna look funny wheelin’ 1/8 off-road stuff when I’m 85 with my cargo shorts hiked up to my nipples, tattoos, and earrings, with my hat on backward..

@Cheetah928 don’t let the gatekeepers bother ya. Be a good dude, and don’t let the occasional prick rent out space in your head for free. RC is rampant for those guys unfortunately, and it’s not limited toward the younger dudes. Some folks are just nasty, and lonely no matter what they’re into. Lots of us around that enjoy helping those who want it, and we don’t look down our noses at ya for not “coming from the factory” with years of knowledge & experience.

 

[N. Mango]

 

[Suburban_Hooligan]

I'm to young to quit, and to old to change. smack dab in the middle of life at 42.

 

[Xraycer]

There will always be people like that. But if you know you're not one of them, and can offer a bit of advice, it never hurts to give it if you see someone struggling to accomplish something. What they learn from you they will improve upon, and maybe pass on themselves. If nobody had ever taught what they know, we'd all likely still be walking around with pointy sticks trying to catch our food.

Which come to think of it might be better than where we are now

While one's advice(s) are of good intentions, how other perceives that helpfullness may not be that of altruism.
Of course, with your own children, the parent is expected to dispense advices, whether the child wants it or not.

 

[Xraycer]

Go Mango! Go Mango!

 

[Guest D]

45 is almost here I've been broke and fixed many times.....just like a fun rc right

My first rc some time in the mid-late 80's. This thing was a blast to launch off anything and everything. I remember super gluing so many pieces back on

Then I took over the kitchen table building a black Lunchbox in the early 90's. Those where fun. Broke a leg and built a rc10t somewhere in the late 90's. I was in and out of the hobby that whole time, then didn’t touch anything till this last year. Skiing, mtb and jeeps consumed a lot of that time. Now my kids are into it, so I'm back again.

 

[Horatio]

I'm 52 going on 25!

I've been doing RC since about 1978, but had my first proper RC in 1981.

When you're 15, everyone is old. Not all the advice you are given will be helpful necessarily, but it's important to listen and apply critical thinking - sadly missing in this day and age.

On the one hand, seemingly people are all to happy to listen to whatever influencer on social media, but then ignore people who have far more life experience and are offering advice for free.

On the other - people who are old but been doing stuff wrong forever....

Two ears, one mouth - for a reason.

I'm eternally grateful for being fit enough to still do all thie things I love - cycling, hiking, RC etc.

My job has an element of physicality and peril to it that keeps me on my toes. I doubt I'll ever retire. My home will always have stairs and lawns to mow.

Hopefully I'll get to receive my telegram from the king one day....

 

[Littlemotor]

I'm 52 going on 25!

I've been doing RC since about 1978, but had my first proper RC in 1981.

When you're 15, everyone is old. Not all the advice you are given will be helpful necessarily, but it's important to listen and apply critical thinking - sadly missing in this day and age.

On the one hand, seemingly people are all to happy to listen to whatever influencer on social media, but then ignore people who have far more life experience and are offering advice for free.

On the other - people who are old but been doing stuff wrong forever....

Two ears, one mouth - for a reason.

I'm eternally grateful for being fit enough to still do all thie things I love - cycling, hiking, RC etc.

My job has an element of physicality and peril to it that keeps me on my toes. I doubt I'll ever retire. My home will always have stairs and lawns to mow.

Hopefully I'll get to receive my telegram from the king one day....

^^^Well said right there…

 

[Cheetah928]

A lot of older folks know how teenagers can be. Just like my son who just turned 13, it was like a switch got flipped and instantly he knows everything. If you go up to the older guys and are generally interested and ask questions, without being a nuisance, you'll eventually find somebody that will likely want to help you.

I have caught myself being that way to younger guys in my career. If they came to me asking for help without saying "yeah I know" every time I tried to teach them a little machining trick, or teach them how to do things faster, and they actually paid attention, they quickly became my new apprentice. I mentored 3 younger wannabe machinists into becoming leaders in the shops they are currently working at. I took all three of them from being simple debur guys to CNC programmers in less than a year.

You just gotta show the older folks you respect their knowledge and wisdom for them to take notice of you sometimes. But if you get that far, they will teach you things they had to learn the hard way. Just LISTEN, and be grateful. That's what mentor's want from the younger guys.

Not saying I dont respect you guys, but a lot of people at the track I go to act like I'm just a nuisance. I know I dont know every single thing in the hobby, but I know what I need to now for my things, and when I don't knows I can come here and ask. I dont think asking here is an issue right?

 

[WickedFog]

Not saying I dont respect you guys, but a lot of people at the track I go to act like I'm just a nuisance. I know I dont know every single thing in the hobby, but I know what I need to now for my things, and when I don't knows I can come here and ask. I dont think asking here is an issue right?

Yeah, you're fine.

There are guys that are just a-holes. You have that everywhere you go. Once you're sround people enough, you can generally pick those guys out.

 

[Chubaka]

I'm sposed to be 35. My body is 50 and my lungs are probably 75. Got a few battle scars too.

 

[BustedAw11]

39.
Been in the hobby since I was like 8....
My dad built and flew nitro rc planes.
I got into control line planes when I was 7. A flying buddy gave my dad a Christmas tower catalog (if your new you have no idea how epic those where).

I quickly seen a Pic of a 93 rc10gt and knew I had to have 1. Its been on ever since.

Ran mainly nitro until like 6 years ago now.. I run nitro and electric now and have a serious problem with collecting and building old rc's I used to dream and droll over.

 

[Ramp addict]

I got my first RC car from Radio Shack because that's the only place you get one from. That was a long time ago. I got back into it about 12 years ago when I got my son his first RC truck. Both my son and daughter are avid RCers now and I'm running out of space to store all trucks. Maybe I should do an RC yard sale? I have enough trucks.

 

[Horatio]

Not saying I dont respect you guys, but a lot of people at the track I go to act like I'm just a nuisance. I know I dont know every single thing in the hobby, but I know what I need to now for my things, and when I don't knows I can come here and ask. I dont think asking here is an issue right?

You'll always get an element at the club that feels it's their God given right to go around lording it over people. RC Karens.

Mostly though, I've been very fortunate - blessed - to have had brilliant help and assistance over the years when I needed it.

In my late teens, I had great help from a local racer and his dad, who helped me with bargain - partially used - tyres, spare parts, cells, motors, cars etc at a time where I was operating on a very tight budget.

The first ever RC problem I had was how to build Tamiya Sand Scorcher shocks so that they didn't leak. I had to seek the help I eventually received. I was 8 years old. Neither of my parents were able to help me with my build and couldn't believe what I was putting together. No internet. No email.

That first build was a labour of love. I had invaluable help from a couple of enthusiasts and my rig was completed following some phonecalls. The thing is though - I was asking for help and fully appreciative when it was eventually received. Every other element of my rig was built by me. The shocks were eventually sorted by fitting them with alternative seals and fitted upside down.

Some 40 years later, I felt the need to revisit my Sand Scorcher build and reminisce. I built the shocks with better seals and they are 100% leak free this time around!

Perhaps some of the older guys at your club need to read the room better and only volunteer the help when it is sought instead of preempting.

The internet is obviously a fabulous wealth of information, once you know where to look and how best to figure out the signal to noise ratio.

Personally, forums are my first choice.

 

[9x19]

I'm 67, got my first RC car in 1983 at the Osan AB Hobby shop... they had Tamiya or Tamiya, plus HiTec radios. First was the Wild Willys and then the Hornet.

 

[Horatio]

I'm 67, got my first RC car in 1983 at the Osan AB Hobby shop... they had Tamiya or Tamiya, plus HiTec radios. First was the Wild Willys and then the Hornet.

Here's where it all started for me.

 

[Doom!]

Not saying I dont respect you guys, but a lot of people at the track I go to act like I'm just a nuisance. I know I dont know every single thing in the hobby, but I know what I need to now for my things, and when I don't knows I can come here and ask. I dont think asking here is an issue right?

This is why I only fly with one or two close friends. When you get into a larger group "experts" are suddenly everywhere. You get the guys who throw a ton of money at their gear but can't fly worth a danged. You get the guys who just want to chat at you while your trying to fly. You get the guys who act like they own the place.
I just want to fly and enjoy myself, not there to impress or entertain others. These all pretty much apply to surface guys too.

I enjoy bashing and crawling, because I can enjoy it by myself or with a few close friends.

Apparently, I'm not much of a socialite.