If you can't afford to own and fly your own full size plane, have you considered the next best thing – a radio controlled aeroplane. Sure, it won't get you from one place to another in the shortest possible time but it can provide you with the thrill and excitement of learning to fly your own plane.

If you are of a certain age, i.e., starting to lose your hair, you may be surprised how much radio control flying has changed. Not that many years ago, when I was growing up in the UK, if you wanted to fly a radio controlled aeroplane, you had to be a serious model builder. I had a friend who would spend hours, no weeks, building his aeroplane before getting anywhere near flying it. He would return from the local hobby shop with this this great big box full of complex plans and balsa wood, tissue and bits of wire from which would slowly emerge a radio controlled aeroplane. Well the bulk of an aeroplane except it would have no radio control system or engine. They had to be bought separately and you had to be an expert to get it all working – especially the glow plug engine which was notoriously temperamental to start. And none of it was cheap. You really had to be an enthusiast to want to spend that amount of money, and time on a model plane.

Well, it could not have changed more, for several reasons.

• the plummeting price of electronics which has greatly reduced the cost of radio control systems
• the increasing miniaturisation of radio control mean that sophisticated radio control systems can now be installed in even the most basic radio control aeroplane.
• the increased strength available in modern materials makes for much more durable models that will survive the almost inevitable accidents – especially when you are are inexperienced
• the development of high power rechargeable batteries mean that electric motors can now be used where a glow plug engine would have been necessary not so long ago

Bring all these factors together and the pile of balsa wood and plans is no longer necessary – you can buy a virtually ready-to-fly radio controlled aeroplane which you will be able to fly, with care, within an hour or so of leaving the hobby shop. So what is available.

At the entry level for serious flyers are the very simple radio controlled aeroplanes which make no attempt to resemble anything from the full size world. They are sold as trainers or “park flyers”and are often most suitable for very calm weather. They are very easy to hand-launch and fly. Once in the air their flying characteristics are very benign and predictable. The dreaded very hard landings are catered for because many of these beginners' aeroplanes are made of resilient and repairable foam and even after many crashes during the learning process, foam trainers will be ready for more. Many of these models have the motor and prop mounted on top of the fuselage so hard landings won't damage the prop, and quite often a bit of duct tape is all that is needed to repair any structural damage.

Move up a little bit in terms of specification and the flying scale models are available. These can still be ready-to-fly with absolutely everything in the box. But they do require more skill and experience if you don't want an expensive pile of scrap on your first flight. Take a look at this radio controlled Spitfire to see a typical and amazing example of a scale model electric radio controlled aeroplane currently available.

The choice of radio controlled aeroplane is not limited to propeller driven models. There is an increasing range of model jets available, but these are still ready-to-fly electric models, but with the powerful electric motors hidden away inside the ducts where the jet engines would be on the full size plane. These model jets are not for beginners though. The smaller control surfaces and aerodynamics mean that you need to have sharpened your flying skills on a trainer before trying to control a radio controlled aeroplane that needs a pilot with quick reflexes to keep it in the air.

All the choices above probably fall into the price range from $150 to $300 or more, but if you can afford more then you may want to think about a giant scale radio controlled aeroplane. These ¼ scale monsters have a wingspan of over 2.4m (8ft) and are accurate replicas of full-size aeroplanes. Many of them use a substantial amount of wood in the construction, for strength and are available with electric or glow plug power. Most will need some assembly work before flying – typically eight to sixteen hours for final fitting out. Needless to say these big models are not usually flown by new pilots – unless they have deep pockets for expensive repairs.

This is just a quick review of radio controlled aeroplanes if you are thinking about taking up model flying. When shopping for your first aircraft, bear this in mind - if it looks very fast, slick, and sporty, then it probably is. It will have lots of “spirit” and be hard to control. Beginner pilots need to develop a new set of reflexes. This requires experience in the air, and experience is a function of time so choose a radio controlled aeroplane that will keep flying, easily, until you have the experience to move on.

Oh, and by the way, you can still buy kits and do it all from scratch, just like thirty year ago if you really want to! 

Finally, just watch the video to see some amazing radio controlled stunts - and it's all done indoors. Incredible!