BLOG: Mitch Wilson, Austin TX Web & Multimedia Developer – Austin, TX

RC collection, so far

"Hey, these are just tiny, crappy toys!," you exclaim. Well, not exactly. They are toys. They are tiny. (These are all lined up on my desk in front of my keyboard.) And they're cheap and most importantly, fun! My RC collection, so far, includes three helicopters and two cars. All run on simple AA batteries. As a kid, I always wanted rc vehicles but they were too expensive and complicated. As an adult, these things are totally affordable and a breeze to setup and operate. Like a delicious fast food meal, a quick break playing with these micro rc vehicles takes the edge off my daily grind at work. Yes, play with them at work, but be contientious of co-workers. These gizmos sound like micro weed eaters on full throttle, esp. the helicopters. How did I get into this, anyway?

Thanks, James, wherever you are. You know who you are. You had that PiccoZ heli in your cube over in IT when I came to meet about the flash media server. You didn't even fly it; just my seeing it was enough. But anway, it all started with a micro helicopter and visions of cheap fun. Now I have three micro PicooZ helis and two Zipzaps cars. And a recently acquired Special Edition Muscle Car Power Upgrade Kit, including several motors, gears, tires, and wheels. Fun.

The Micro Helicopters

All three of the helicopters costs between $20 and $30 each. They all fly decently, due to their proprotional throttle and steering. Yes, two channels only, so no forward or reverse. Once they get some momentum after turning you can get going. A trick is to attach a weight to the nose so it tips forward to provide thrust. Starting top left, my newest micro helicopter, the Ecoman Microgear Hughes 300 Fairy. The middle helicopter is an older Ecoman Microgear helicopter. And the final heli on the right is another version, the Air Hogs Havoc.

The Micro Cars

I have two ZipZaps cars. These are 1:64 scale fully functional radion control cars. These things are cheap. $10. My current models don't have proportional controls. The SE models, that I'm planning on buying soon, do have proportional controls of some sort. I'll find out. Anyway, pictured above starting on the left with the cars, is the ZipZaps Barricade Transformers model based on a Ford Saleen s281 Mustang. The other three cars you see actually just bodies. Going from left to right, is the ZipZaps Bumblebee concept Chevrolet Camaro, a '70 Ford Mustang Boss 302, and a '70 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda.

I'm working on the second car to modify it's performance. I have several options for engines and gearing and tires in the new upgrade kit I bought. I love the Mustang body, of course (I'm a big classic Mustang fan). So Mustang it is. Regarding the engine and gear set, I don't yet know. I have to learn about those.