RC Guides: Cars, Planes, Helicopters, Drones and Boats
Six guides cover everything on SwellRC: one for each kind of model, plus one for the batteries, motors and radios they all share. Start with the guide for your model; each one explains the basics and links to every detailed article on that topic.
By Kyle HilsonUpdated: October 2026
RC CarsVehicle types, scales, electric vs. nitro vs. gas, radios, maintenance and 1/5 scale buggies.
RC AirplanesChoosing a first plane, building in foam, balsa or 3D print, learning to fly and the rules.
RC HelicoptersCoaxial to collective pitch, sizes, setup and a step-by-step plan for learning to hover.
RC DronesToy, camera and FPV drones, connecting to a phone or controller, and registration rules.
RC BoatsHull types, drive systems, waterproofing, building your own and running safely.
RC BasicsLiPo batteries, brushless motors, ESCs, servos, transmitters and binding.
Where to start
- Completely new to RC? Read RC Basics first. Ten minutes on batteries and radios saves a lot of confusion later.
- Buying your first model? Each vehicle guide has a “choosing your first” section that explains what to look for and what to avoid.
- Something not working? Binding, ESC beeps and cut-outs are the most common problems; the binding guide fixes most of them.
How these guides are written
SwellRC is written by Kyle Hilson, who has been in the RC hobby for about 20 years. Most of that time has been spent with boats, building many of the parts himself, alongside a King Motor Baja 5B, home-built electric and nitro planes and an RC helicopter. Where a guide draws on that experience, it says so. Where it doesn’t, for example with drones, the information comes from manufacturers’ documentation and official sources, and we say that too. We don’t publish made-up tests or reviews of products we haven’t used. If you spot a mistake, please tell us through the contact page.