The Power Of A Hobby
This week I went to Lillesand, Norway and had the chance to meet a few guys that introduced me to their hobby, mini-plane flying.
The wind and temperature conditions were perfect (as they informed me) so we went out to a little airfield that is actually dedicated to these mini planes!
The guys, all Norwegian locals told me they have been flying these planes together for over 17 years. The group of them in total has about 50 mini-plane enthusiasts though they added that about 30 are really active. This I learned meant they fly their mini-planes over 10 +/- times a year, sun or snow.
During their time at the controls, these guys have discussed life events ranging from births to deaths in their families and everything inbetween. To them this is more than just a hobby, but an opportunity to meet and share life events - all around taking turns on the flying field.
I watched in awe at both the ability of these small planes to reach incredible heights and speed, while wondering if I would get a turn. Nope, no offer. After paying greater attention I found out why, as this hobby included great skill with their massive control pads containing up to 12 switches and dials that controlled everything from the landing equipment to little lights on the wings!
I was kindly reminded by this experience that hobbys are more than just fun - but also uniting and create communities that truly treat one another like family.
Though my hands never got to make a plane fly - I was humbled by the lesson I learned by watching them in their craft.
Josh :)
That is beyond cool, while some are fishing these rock star are flying mini-planes. How dose one even get into this? I gotta say, I would have been a little more disappointed if they didn't let me at least touch the controler. I mean come on, just let me pretend I'm flying it. Do you think this will become your new past time?
Haha I know right! Apparently with an average investment of USD$300 for a "beginner" plane its not entirely tough to get into, and there are communities around the world doing this. There are even competitions in the... do we say... sport. They did offer for me to try a simulator at one guys home but timing didn't allow :)
For me, I am very dedicated to my charity challenges so will keep this on the back burner until maybe later on .
Thanks for the comment @kubbyelizabeth :)
Did you say $300?! I would put this hobby on the back burner unless of course you makes 3x that value from this post, then maybe you should use those funds to invest in it. Just a thought
Yes, lets call it a sport so they will accept us into the cool kids club :) If you do find the time, please post again about the simulator, I drove a truck simulator once during a field trip and it was surprisingly more challenging then I thought. Shot my hopes of retiring and traveling the world as a truck driver . -Low point in my life haha.
For your first 3 RC planes, I strongly recommend battery powered styrofoam planes. Anticipate that you will crash at least 3 times per flight. Because of the light weight, you can simply brush them off and fly them again.
It brings a tear to the eye to think of someone spending 100+ hours building a plane, only to crash it on the first flight.