RC Companies

[HB390ARL]

I'm new to rc aircraft and have read the posts on which rc company is the best. From what I've read I guess the order is 1 Freewing, 2 Flightline, 3 Eflite, 4 Extreme Flight, 5 FMS, 6 Dynam. I was wanting to know where the LX brand fits in.

[Alpha]

I'm new to rc aircraft and have read the posts on which rc company is the best. From what I've read I guess the order is 1 Freewing, 2 Flightline, 3 Eflite, 4 Extreme Flight, 5 FMS, 6 Dynam. I was wanting to know where the LX brand fits in.

Hi HB390ARL, welcome to Hobby Squawk! A bit of background, I work at Motion RC and lead our development efforts with the Freewing and FlightLine brands, and also as you're aware we also carry the Horizon brands (Eflite, FMS, etc) and Dynam. We don't carry Extreme Flight, however.

To your question about which company is the "best", I'd say that is a very subjective question and one that lacks a universal answer. First of all, by "company", do you mean the manufacturer that produces the product, or the distributor that sells/services the product? I can say that there are instances where good manufacturers are let down by sub-par distributors, and where good distributors are hobbled by sub-par manufacturers, and also instances where there is a good synergy between both and everybody including the customer wins. You'd probably agree that a great product isn't the only aspect of your purchase that you'd factor into your "best" classification --service, availability, spare parts, reputation, budget, etc all influence a buyer's decisions.

Secondly, there is a wide range of RC categories, and manufacturers tend to specialize in a couple of them but never all of them, so it's impossible to say a single manufacturer is "best", because it simply depends on what you're looking for at that time. My RC hangar has contained at what point or another what I'd consider the "Best In Class" in several categories cross the RC spectrum, and they're almost all from different manufacturers. For foam EDFs, I think many would say Freewing produces the widest range in size/price/features/capability. For foam warbirds, that's a toss up depending on your preference for size: FlightLine makes big ones and twins, Eflite makes many singles with the advantage of AS3X, Dynam makes 'em cheap, Durafly is updating itself recently, the list goes on. For foam gliders, I still think the original Parkzone Radian is the "best" in its category. For micro/small sized helos, the Blade or especially XK Innovations product line is hard to beat. For big helos, I prefer Roban. For floatplanes, the Dynam Catalina made me smile. For scale turbine ARFs, I prefer Skymaster or Airworld. For sport turbine ARFs, I prefer CARF. For scale balsa ARFs, I prefer Black Horse. For sport balsa ARFs such as big 3D, I prefer Extreme Flight. For DLGs, I prefer to build it myself. For tanks, I prefer Tamiya. For 1/18 track racers, I prefer WL Toys. You can see where I'm going with this. The list is endless because this hobby is largely populated by specialist manufacturers. Product, Category, Pricepoint.

To answer your question about LX, or LiangXiang, in my opinion they like FlyFly used to be a strong manufacturer in their heyday but their QC and design hasn't kept pace with modern standards, and their service reputation suffered. Accordingly, their star has dimmed considerably over the past ~5 years and most of their products are several years old by now and reflect a time past. Things like ball link control hardware, modern battery space/hatches, modern undercarriage, modern LEDs, modern power systems, and a reliable service network are notably missing. That being said, if you see an LX ARF you're fond of, jump in, just expect to do some work to make it shine. I loved by Su-47.

One of the reasons why you'll notice a few of our Motion RC team on this forum is because we believe genuine interaction with you and the rest of the hobby world is a key element in what makes a distributor stand out. Essentially, you have have direct access to our team that drives our company forward. Along the way, customers become friends, and friends become family, but even if someone never bought anything from Motion RC, I truly believe that they can still enjoy a wildly diverse RC hobby experience and I'm happy to help them in their journey. The hobby is bigger than ANY AND ALL of us, so I prefer to advocate that we ignore "X vs Y" and all just do our part to make this hobby the "best" it can be. We all have a role to play. If you want an LX plane but want them to update their plastic bodied retracts, tell them or tell their distributor. If you fall in love with a plane from _____ company, share your pictures and review online. When you wind up addicted to the hobby and need more space to fit more planes, introduce a friend to the hobby so you can use his garage space, too.

LOL

[RickVB]

...When you wind up addicted to the hobby and need more space to fit more planes, introduce a friend to the hobby so you can use his garage space, too.

LOL

I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read that, Alpha. I would need a new monitor now if I was... LOL

By the way, that's exactly what I'm trying to do with my son, who one day last April, at 5pm you guys overnighted an Apprentice to in Findlay, OH, where he was interning, to start him into the addiction. A year and three more planes later, he's starting to build his own plane from a wood kit. He will be moving out next month, hopefully to a nearby place with a large garage...:)