At the start of time, there was the Mini F1..
Hello to everyone again.
The other day, I went to the Qatar Golf Club to see my son participate in a local competition. On my way back, I heard these huge whirring sounds, saw a few cars parked on the roadside and people standing on an elevated platform with strange little black boxes in hand.
Not being one who can hide her curiosity, and fully disbelieving the story of the curiosity killing the cat, I jumped out of the car and moved towards the place. What I saw made my jaw drop. People were racing miniature radio-controlled F1 cars. It was a sight to behold.
Those mean little monsters could reach speeds of up to a 100kmph. Although I forgot the exact specifics, it’s damn powerful. I saw the owners of the little cars come packed to the hilt with spanners, screwdrivers, the odd mixture of petrol and ethanol (I think) and a lot of spunk and verve as well.
Just as in a real F1 race, these guys pulled cars out of the specially made tracks, made adjustments to the wheel, filled fuel, gave it a test run and back on track, all in less than a minute. To say that I was impressed would be a major understatement.
The track itself was special, made of mud. It had twists and turns and it had elevations and depressions. The track had unpredictability written all over it. What I liked the best were the ‘drivers’, standing on top of the world, carefully calculating which twist of what knob would send their cars flying over the dunes.
The atmosphere was electric. I learned that they meet once every week, on Friday evenings. People are welcome to watch. Do go there if you have the time, it’ll be well worth it. If the ‘mini F1’ can be so much fun, then I can’t imagine what the real one would feel like.
I hope Qatar’s ambitions of hosting the real F1 would come to fruition one day. Go Qatar!
A starter heli for people on a budget is the "LAMA v4" heli by E-Sky (some other companies also have similar ones). These "twin rotor co-axial" helis are very stable, with the downside that these are mostly indoor helis. You can fly them outside on very calm days, which is like 1 in 60 in Qatar :)
http://rcqatar.com/rc-chatter/helis-for-absolute-beginners/
IF you are planning to get a new heli, the Trex 500 is a good one to start with. Not too small, and not too big.
Please see discussions on this topic:
http://rcqatar.com/helicopters/trex-500-the-perfect-starter-heli/
http://rcqatar.com/helicopters/second-step-in-helis/
This thread has developed much since I posted it... I am so glad that a few people found it useful.
But it really was a scene to stare at. Mesmerising. Alex, raver, UKEng and all others... hope you have a fun time in that helicopter thingie you're talking about.
Hope to be there some day with my camera too...
If you are interested in taking this hobby further, please consider joining http://www.rcqatar.com , as there are lot more folks there who can help answer your questions, or join you on your trips to the field.
Good On Ya (australian language) fisherman. Seems you have real interest now
I put my mobile number in my earlier comment above so if you need any info and help, feel free to give me a call. I will be more than happy to get you started.
Hi Mandi.....I believe the P-51 Mustang was the fastest prop driven plane before the jet age took over (pls correct me if I am wrong). Hope to see you also flying real soon.
thx raver..sure i will be there on the runway soon
i started to do some home work on the net to find more and more about those little plans :)
300 km/hr! That's incredible! Reminds me of when I was learning to fly and I asked my Dad what his max speed was in the P51. 350 knots - unbelievable (for a single engine prop)! Hope to join y'all as soon as I get back to Doha.
Mandi
Hi fisherman
Soooooo glad you had fun. Pity there were not a lot of pilots. Guess the wind kept them away.
Some friendly advice... if you intend flying helicopters, don't get the Trex 250 as a first heli. Yes it is cute and small, but these small helis are tricky to control. You might end up more frustrated than satisfied. I have the slightly bigger Trex 450 and it is a handful.
Anyway, tell your friends and bring them around to have a look. We are always looking to promote this wonderful hobby. Hope to see you on the runway sometime.
i been there arround 2:15 only on e pilot was there and had some problem with the radio signal intrfearance so he crached on plan .
then near the beginning of the run way where the abolition block was located i found another pilot he was qatari lying helicopter ,then another qatari came and one more Italian also....
it was fun with all this winds to see those pilots doing there best to control this machines wooooow man it was really fun we chat every thing and i think one of those days i will be having my won plan .
i left around 5:30 and i was thinking to get an
ALIGN 250!!!!!!!!!!!!!
thx for the invitation and tell u the truth it was FUN
i used to have those mini 4WD thingies back in college but this was way WAY cooller!.. =)
"You cannot propel yourself forward by patting yourself on the back."
Thanks for the info.. Sounds great..
Thanks
Hi Brit
To get started in flying model aircraft you are looking at around 2500 to 3000 riyals. This will include plane, engine, radio, fuel, and other bits and pieces needed on the field to keep you flying. The biggest investment will be your radio gear. If you intend to own more than one plane, or planes and helis, then a decent radio with model memory and at least 7 channels is recommended. This can be used with all your models. So it will be a one-time purchase.
You will also need to join the RC club (part of the Qatar Scientific Club). That is 300 riyals for first year and 200 for future renewals. This will get you a membership card which enables you to purchase gas powered planes.
The prices I mentioned above are for a basic trainer model, and a standard 4 or 6 channel radio with basic features.
Once you get going, you are looking at running costs like fuel, glow plugs, which are not that much.
Sooner or later you will have a crash. Depending on how bad it is, you mabe able to get the plane repaired, or you will get a new one. It is then a matter of pulling out the engine and radio from the wrecked plane and installing in the new one, and up you go.
Last point for now....you will not stick to one plane, I assure you. Once you catch the bug, you will find yourself buying more. If you see a pilot flying a scale spitfire doing low passes just feet infront of you, you are going to want to get yourself one. It is just that addictive.
I am putting my mobile number here. If anyone has any questions and needs more info, they are welcome to call me and I will do my best to give them "the bug". I have had some success so far with my friends :) Mobile is 5867948.
Fisherman, sorry I can't make it today afternoon man. I hope you enjoy what you see. Pls let us know through this forum what you saw and your impressions.
I'm interested.. Any idea about the start up costs ?
raver
thx for the invitation
i will be there by 2PM today ( Friday 26 \3\09) in shaa allah
i will take the direction with me so i will not be lost
also my Video camera :)
see u there
You can get a lot of information about all of this at:
http://www.rcqatar.com
The directions to the RC airport near Al-Khor are here :
http://rcqatar.com/rc-in-qatar/the-only-official-rc-airfild-in-qatar-the-al-khor-airfield/
The directions given in the above link by anwar should be clear enough. We usually go early Friday, around 7 am. That is the best time for us to fly as much as we want, because in the afternoons (2 pm onwards), there are usually too many planes in the air at one time including jets, helis and aerobatic models. Like I said earlier, the jets are very expensive and tha last thing I want is for my plane to have a mid-air with one of them. So we fly mornings. Usually there are about 4 or 5 pilots in the mornings, while afternoons, on a good day you could have as many as 15. Most will have more than ome model, so the variety of aircraft is great.
My advice is to go in the afternoon to see not only the fast jets, but the magnificent flying skills of the aerobatic pilots. I mean these guys will absolutely WOW you with their precise control. It is as if they are actually sitting in the plane.
By the way, there are many Qatar Airways "full size jets" pilots who fly model planes and they say that it is more challenging than the real thing.
Anyway, do come up and have a look, you will not be disappointed. That I can guarantee. We are a very friendly bunch and we will be happy to tell you all about this great hobby and what is needed to get started in it.
The location of the airshow in AlKhor is not where the RC (remote controlled) model aircraft/car activities take place. The car activities are near the Golf club, and aircraft activities are at an RC only airport (the location on which is posted in one of the above replies).
What a blast from the past! I mean literally!
My first boyfriend (years ago) used to be so into his radio controlled model plane that if I wanted to spend time with him, I would have to go to the open field to see him and his plane!
That is so cool!
I used to have mini racers for my Scalextric set, but this is way above that level.
I wonder if theer are mini F1 babes also?
i was in the last air show in al khor but i did not know that u do mini F1 there!!!!!!!!!!!
If you want to see what these are capable of, and how quick you have to be on the sticks, see the videos here :
http://rcqatar.com/helicopters/3d-flight-training-for-helicopters-some-resources/
Addicting :)
Excellent stuff.. wouldn't mind trying it myself..
Details of the car racing track and are video are available at :
http://rcqatar.com/cars/video-of-temporary-racing-track-near-the-golf-club/
Raver...
exact location and timing please
Woderer, if you liked what you saw with the cars, then you should come up one friday morning to the special dedictaed airfield where we fly our radio controlled model planes and helicopters. I guarantee you will be equally impressed.
If you were to go on Friday afternoons, then you will see something that will absolutely blow you away....radio controlled scale model "jet powered" aircraft. By jet powered I mean miniature jet engines using jet fuel that sound and smell just like the real thing. These planes will esily reach the 300+ km/h speeds and they are trylu a sight to behold. All owned and flown by very skilled pilots. The have to be as one of these babies can cost well over 50,000 riyals.
Us poor buggers fly the cheaper "normal engine" powered planes.
If anyone is interested in coming up and having a look let me know so we can coordinate.
it will happened since there are much ppl fund of the mini F1 :))