There are many miracle sures out there to help people recover from serious illness. There are also many people out there with incurable diseases.

For some, the objective will be to keep them stimulated and undertake tasks or hobbies with them that will extend the sick person’s dexterity to aid in recovery.

RC cars could go some way to helping them achieve this, particularly for the young.

The dexterity needed to operate the speed controller will help hand to eye coordination. The concentration needed to maintain the car on line etc. will stimulate the mind. By building the car, painting it with their own choice of colours and fitting any decal will promote creative thinking. Getting out and meeting people will give them experience of interacting with others could have a twofold effect and may even help the other people as well.

RC car enthusiasts do not need to be super fit, there is little physical effort involved for the average person, but it does offer stimulaton and an interest which could be far better than just sitting around watching television etc.

This is by no means a miracle solution to aid recovery or make someone’s life a little more enjoyable but being able to offer an outlet to take their mind off the actual illness and enjoy some quality of life may help. For some, it is certainly worth considering!

You never know, it could change their lives and following recovery from an injury, the person may continue with the hobby and take it to the next level.

There are of course some pre-requisite thoughts that everyone looking to start out in RC cars such as favourite colours, bodywork design and whether they want to use the car off-road.

This list is not exhaustive and one of the best ways to find out about these things is to go to your local club and chat to other racers and of course make use of the internet.

Once you have made those basic decisions however, you need to get down to the technology and select the RC car that meets your requirements and is within your budget.

Job done you may think?

But not necessarily!

Not all RC kits are ready to run so you may need to buy some additional kit/parts.

It’s not too much but there would be nothing worse than spending all your budget on the car only to realise that you do not have all the equipment you need to get up and running.

It is therefore important that you ensure you fully understand what is included with your car and what else you need to buy in order to get it up and running so ensure you check with this out with the supplier beforehand.

In fairness, most suppliers include full details of what is included in the kit and detail other equipment needed so this shouldn’t be too traumatic.

There are of course, many factors to take into account when choosing your car and it is worth thinking about some of these factors before buying your RC car.

These factors can include:-

Performance – Are you looking to win races or just run your RC car around your local track or open space? If it is to win races then do a bit of research and check out race results - look at what cars are winning? Has it won on more than one occasion? – Is it therefore a consistent performer?

Popularity – You can save a bit of time by having a look down at your local club and see which cars are the most popular. The most successful RC cars will generally be the more popular cars amongst racers.

Maintenance – If it is a popular car down at your local track/club? There is a good chance that there will be someone at the track that will help you fix and maintain your RC car to ensure your car performs to it’s potential.

Spares – Is it easy to get spares in the UK? It isn’t going to be much fun if you have to source all spares from overseas and wait forever for them to be delivered. This is valuable racing and fun time wasted.

1:12th Oval tracks are usually used for racing Mini Stox, Saloon Stox, Hot-Rods, Stockcars and Bangers.
As the track name suggests, these RC cars are raced around an oval shaped track which are generally indoor.

There are numerous clubs up and down the country and not all tracks are the same size with some being relatively compact in comparison to others.

Because most, if not all tracks are indoor, clubs are able to offer racing all the year round but it is worth noting that many club competitions take place during the winter months when the weather is so unpredictable and does not particularly favour outdoor racing.

Most competition meets will include Stockcars and Bangers at the same time with the mini saloons and hot rods being raced at a separate event but this will of course depend on circumstances.

Most clubs will endeavour to provide some trophies to be awarded covering all ages, abilities and categories. With H&S as it is, most clubs will also cater for disabled access.

Whilst there is of course a strong element of competition at any such race event, never forget the focus is always on everybody enjoying themselves and having fun, so enjoy!

The BRSA website offers details of many of the clubs and tracks so you should be able to find one local to you which doesn’t involve too much travel.

If you are into off-road racing or just running your car/truck/buggy off-road, you are, in all likelihood, going to experience some damage to your RC at some stage.

If this happens too often, you could get extremely frustrated and lose valuable fun time so upgrading the vehicle and “beefing it up a bit” with some stronger kit could well help you enjoy your racing etc. for longer.

Have a look at purchasing a stronger drive-train and using a set of heavy duty dogbones, axles and outdrives.

You will need to be careful to ensure that you purchase only those parts that will fit RC cars but by doing so you will protect your engine and chassis etc. twisting and bending from horrific crashes.

It is also worth remembering that off-road racing will undoubtedly involve jumps at some stage so it is really worth thinking seriously about replacing your shocks with more heavy duty versions and ensuring your tyres and wheels are up to the job.

Off-road racing for an enthusiast is all about being able to maintain stability, direction and speed throughout, and your RC car/truck/buggy will inevitably sustain damage.

Keep yourself up and running and look at upgrading to some heavy duty kit if you are constantly having to replace your standard parts.

No matter which type of RC cars or buggies you are into, all will have three critical components in their radio control systems: a transmitter, a receiver, and one or more servos.

These three items are very much interdependent so it is important to ensure that all three operate effectively if you are to give yourself a chance of competing to the best of your abilities.

Your RC transmitter will include an on/off switch and should, also have space for the crystal which determines the channel you’re transmitter will function on. This will avoid interference to/from other RC cars during a competition etc.

You of course need the steering control mechanism, which could come in the form a thumb wheel or a knob.

Controlling the speed and braking needs some skill. This is operated using the Throttle triggers.

RC systems operate proportionally, meaning that cars steer, accelerate and brake in proportion to the amount and speed of the input you give the steering or throttle.

Due to the importance of effective control and the association between speed, acceleration and braking, depending on the complexity of your transmitter, you may have some additional controller functions to help you keep your RC car on that racing line such as:-

• A Servo Reversing switch
• Trim knobs
• Steering dual rate

Deciding what you need to include in your toolbox will cause dilemmas, especially for the novice enthusiast.

It is worth spending a little time thinking about this matter before going ahead and putting your entire tool collection in the boot of your car because carrying too many tools could cloud matters.

In the early days, it is worth keeping it to the basics; after all, too much choice and you could find yourself carrying out so many adjustments and checks that you cut into the time you planned to actually have fun racing your RC car.

Equally, don’t think that you need to buy specialist tools as many kits etc. include a few basic essentials. Additionally, a number of basic tools used for everyday jobs around the home will do the job just as well.

Remember, the more tools you carry with you, the heavier your toolbox so balancing the “must have” tools with the “would like” tools can require some decision making.

The Basic tools enthusiasts need to carry with them could be an assortment of small, precision flat-head and Philips-head screwdrivers, some standard and metric spanners, an assortment of hex wrenches and some large and some smaller long nosed pliers.

You can build this tool kit as you knowledge, skill and experience builds. Spend your early days getting to know about RC cars.

The fine tuning and adjustments can be built upon later.

Just like a real car, RC cars and buggies need regular maintenance.

Once you have finished running your car for the day (or sooner if needs dictate) you need to complete some after-run maintenance.

All radio controlled vehicles, whether electric or nitro need some kind of after-run maintenance and here are a few tips on the things to check before putting it away.

1. Particularly if you have been using your RC car off-road, then you want to give it a quick clean. Use a soft cloth and a toothbrush for those harder to reach places.

2. Check the car over for signs of physical damage such as broken parts or cracks in the body. Make sure the tyres haven’t come unglued.

3. For nitro RC car owners, drain the fuel tank. Nitro fuel is alcohol-based and susceptible to moisture (water) mixing with the nitro fuel which can cause some serious damage to your engine.

4. Dirt and other debris can get stuck in the air filter so clean your air filter out periodically to ensure your nitro engine at optimum performance.

5. Add some after burn oil to the cylinder head of your nitro engine to keep everything lubricated

6. Check the tyres for cuts and gashes replacing as necessary

7. Check those shocks and top up the oil as necessary as these can take quite a battering

8. Check and tighten any screws that may have come lose during use

9. Remove batteries from the controller to prevent corrosion

10 Remove your electric RC battery packs and put on recharge overnight if racing your car again the next day.