Basic Remote Control Car, Truck, Boat, Airplane, Helicopter, and Other RC Vehicle Information

Basic Remote Control Car, Truck, Boat, Airplane, Helicopter, and Other RC Vehicle Information

If you're new to the radio control toys hobby, you'll want to know some knowledge about functionality, range, size, and power basics before you decide on the model that's right for you. 

Some of these basics are merely "nice-to-know," while some are absolute "need-to-know." Some of this info represents "direct impact" knowledge toward your final decision of the exact model, manufacturer, scale, and motor type that best suits your current situation. 

Your initial decisions depend on if you're buying the RC model for yourself, your kid, your grandchild, or if it's a present for a friend. This article assumes you've already made that selection, as well as whether you've decided on a car, boat, truck, airplane, helicopter, or construction equipment - and that you understand what level of experience your selected RC vehicle requires. 

Function refers to what type of control you have over the model. Your choices for function are: 

Single-function (goes straight when moving forward, and turns left while traveling in reverse). 

Full-function models go forward, backward, turn right and left, stop, and, in the case of construction equipment, lift, dump, load, and perform most of the functions of real life construction machines. 

Designed mostly for pre-schoolers, multi-function vehicles move forward, in reverse, steer one direction only, and stop. 

Range is how far from the transmitter the model can go before it no longer responds to the control signal. This distance varies for the different remote control toys, but most toys fall into the range of 30-feet to slightly more than 180-feet. Outside interferences sometimes block, or weaken your signal. These interferences include things such as weak batteries, other nearby toys operating on the same frequency, citizen's band (CB) radios, cell phones, and nearby high-voltage transformers. 

Find the range stated on the package, and in the product description. 

Scale tells you the size of the RC, or chassis length, in relation to the real thing. A 1/24-scale mustang is 24-times smaller than the Ford Mustang you buy off the showroom floor. The smaller the fraction, the smaller the vehicle, and sizes range from the smallest at 1/32-scale to the largest at 1/8-scale. Keep in mind that the larger the vehicle the higher amount battery charge or fuel it consumes during operation. 

Two kinds of propulsion methods power remote control toys. Those are NITRO (internal combustion) and battery. NITRO requires the additional purchase of liquid fuel. 

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Smaller electric RCs operate on AA batteries, which you'll usually purchase separately. Larger electric vehicles use rechargeable battery packs in one of four different Ni-Cad voltage versions. They are: 4.8-volt in a blue package, 6.0-volt in black packaging, 9.6-volt packaged in red, and the yellow package containing 7.2-volts of power. 

The 4.8-volt rechargeable battery packs usually are included with the model. 6.0v and 9.6v may or may not be included. Check the product description to see. 7.2v models normally don't include the battery pack or the charger. Buy that separately. 

The transmitter control also needs either a 9-volt battery or multiple AA batteries. Sometimes the manufacturer includes those, sometimes not. The product description, and/or the packaging should tell you if you must make that an extra purchase. 

You now have enough information to lead you to the final decision as to which radio control vehicle fits your needs and desires. Make your selection carefully and you, or your giftee, will enjoy many hours of fun with your RC model.

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