The short version of my R/C background
This is to document my madness/passion for the hobby of R/C related vehicles. Cars, Boats & Planes, I have officially been hooked on all three at some point or another.
Boats:
I have been racing nitro powered boats now for about 6 years. I started out with an original Topspeed/O.S. XM combo that I picked up at the local Hobby shop, and it escalated (to say the least) from there. I dabbled with three point hydros for a while, even had a short stint with scales, gas crackerboxes and monos, but ultimately resorted back to my love of tunnel boats. I've owned virtually every tunnel known to man and even a few good performing scratch built wood versions. I have realized that I prefer wood over fiberglass, as I like to build with wood. I currently own two Power Surge Racing Products Villain S1's, two Power Surge Racing Products Nemesis, a Scratch built S.A.W. boat, and a .45 Road Runner Extreme Hydro.
My newest pride and joy would have to be my recently acquired Nemesis that belonged to the man, the myth, the legend, Mike Zaborowski, also known to many as Grimracer. Grim gave me the boat after winning this years Outboard Tunnel Championships, hosted by my home club, Charleston Model Boaters. I am waiting on a new powerhead for the boat and will be racing it, along with my new Villain at the upcoming 2007 Tunnel Champs. I have raced at the 2004 and 2005 International Model Power Boat Regatta and plan on doing it again in 2007 or 2008 (its expensive to fly from Germany to the States for just a boat race, albeit THE BIGGEST BOAT RACE, but expensive none the less.) I raced the District 13 High points and Grand Prix series for a few years, doing well in both. I am the co-founder of Team OvalExpress Racing, along with my good buddy Don Gilbert. We have been, and hopefully will continue to be a force to be reckoned with at a pond near you.
Cars:
It all started back in 1992 with the purchase of my first "real" R/C Vehicle, a Traxxas Hawk Stadium Truck. This was WAY before Traxxas got popular with almighty T-Maxx. I continued with R/C Cars for a long time, making it to the S.C. State Championships back in 1994 ( I couldnt even drive then, I had to have my mother drop me off each day of the races...) after that I raced at a few local tracks, but mostly just bashed around with my buddies and their cars. I got a little more serious with it around 2001-2002 when I stared racing 1/10 nitro truck and 1/8 nitro buggy. A friend from Charleston, Karl Kobernus, and I teamed up and started traveling to alot of local and out-of-town races and doing well. We also ran the R/C Pro Series in 2003 and got our butts kicked, but it was a blast. I havent done any racing since early 2004, but I kept a few cars to play with. I purchased a MTX-3 on-road car from a friend and tried that, only to find out im an off-road kinda guy. I currently have a T-Maxx with a .21 conversion, and a couple Losi Mini-t's ( they are fun to chase the dogs around the house with!)
Airplanes:
The airplane thing started after my wife, Meghan, and I moved to Germany about 7 months ago. I have not been able to find anyone to run boats with around the area, but happened to meet Jeff Sweetenburg, manager at our local Power Zone electronics store. We were in the store to purchase a navigation system, and Jeff was our salesman. He mentioned that he flew helicopters and airplanes in our conversation and he immediately had my full attention. After meeting and talking to his flying cronies, Victor, Breck and others, I soon had my first trainer aircraft. Vicor was kind enough to loan me his G3 Simulator for a few months while I got the plane ready to fly and I spent HOURS on it everyday. I finally got the plane ready for its maiden flight, and ended up solo flying and landing by myself on my first day at the field. Apparently this is not always the case with new pilots, but the Simulator flight time made it easy for me. I have since built and flown a Profile Fun 51 .40 size aircraft, an Extra 330S gasser (sweet plane!), a brushless electric aerobatic plane, and a little foam wing electric plane. I am making myself not buy any more planes until I get more comfortable with what I have. They are really different from the trainer and require much more concentration. It comes easy to Jeff and the guys, so I know its just a matter of practice....
Pictures of everything are soon to come!
~Gabe
Boats:
I have been racing nitro powered boats now for about 6 years. I started out with an original Topspeed/O.S. XM combo that I picked up at the local Hobby shop, and it escalated (to say the least) from there. I dabbled with three point hydros for a while, even had a short stint with scales, gas crackerboxes and monos, but ultimately resorted back to my love of tunnel boats. I've owned virtually every tunnel known to man and even a few good performing scratch built wood versions. I have realized that I prefer wood over fiberglass, as I like to build with wood. I currently own two Power Surge Racing Products Villain S1's, two Power Surge Racing Products Nemesis, a Scratch built S.A.W. boat, and a .45 Road Runner Extreme Hydro.
My newest pride and joy would have to be my recently acquired Nemesis that belonged to the man, the myth, the legend, Mike Zaborowski, also known to many as Grimracer. Grim gave me the boat after winning this years Outboard Tunnel Championships, hosted by my home club, Charleston Model Boaters. I am waiting on a new powerhead for the boat and will be racing it, along with my new Villain at the upcoming 2007 Tunnel Champs. I have raced at the 2004 and 2005 International Model Power Boat Regatta and plan on doing it again in 2007 or 2008 (its expensive to fly from Germany to the States for just a boat race, albeit THE BIGGEST BOAT RACE, but expensive none the less.) I raced the District 13 High points and Grand Prix series for a few years, doing well in both. I am the co-founder of Team OvalExpress Racing, along with my good buddy Don Gilbert. We have been, and hopefully will continue to be a force to be reckoned with at a pond near you.
Cars:
It all started back in 1992 with the purchase of my first "real" R/C Vehicle, a Traxxas Hawk Stadium Truck. This was WAY before Traxxas got popular with almighty T-Maxx. I continued with R/C Cars for a long time, making it to the S.C. State Championships back in 1994 ( I couldnt even drive then, I had to have my mother drop me off each day of the races...) after that I raced at a few local tracks, but mostly just bashed around with my buddies and their cars. I got a little more serious with it around 2001-2002 when I stared racing 1/10 nitro truck and 1/8 nitro buggy. A friend from Charleston, Karl Kobernus, and I teamed up and started traveling to alot of local and out-of-town races and doing well. We also ran the R/C Pro Series in 2003 and got our butts kicked, but it was a blast. I havent done any racing since early 2004, but I kept a few cars to play with. I purchased a MTX-3 on-road car from a friend and tried that, only to find out im an off-road kinda guy. I currently have a T-Maxx with a .21 conversion, and a couple Losi Mini-t's ( they are fun to chase the dogs around the house with!)
Airplanes:
The airplane thing started after my wife, Meghan, and I moved to Germany about 7 months ago. I have not been able to find anyone to run boats with around the area, but happened to meet Jeff Sweetenburg, manager at our local Power Zone electronics store. We were in the store to purchase a navigation system, and Jeff was our salesman. He mentioned that he flew helicopters and airplanes in our conversation and he immediately had my full attention. After meeting and talking to his flying cronies, Victor, Breck and others, I soon had my first trainer aircraft. Vicor was kind enough to loan me his G3 Simulator for a few months while I got the plane ready to fly and I spent HOURS on it everyday. I finally got the plane ready for its maiden flight, and ended up solo flying and landing by myself on my first day at the field. Apparently this is not always the case with new pilots, but the Simulator flight time made it easy for me. I have since built and flown a Profile Fun 51 .40 size aircraft, an Extra 330S gasser (sweet plane!), a brushless electric aerobatic plane, and a little foam wing electric plane. I am making myself not buy any more planes until I get more comfortable with what I have. They are really different from the trainer and require much more concentration. It comes easy to Jeff and the guys, so I know its just a matter of practice....
Pictures of everything are soon to come!
~Gabe
posted by Topfuel443 at 12:29 AM
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