Lenn Korobanik (middle right) and the RC Nation staff.
Image Credit: RC Nation
January 09, 2024 - 6:00 AM
If you can drive it, float it or fly it, there are people in Kamloops and the Okanagan operating a remote control version of it.
Lenn Korobanik stumbled into the remote control vehicle scene in Kamloops and loved the hobby so much he decided to open up his own shop dedicated to all things remote control.
“I kind of tripped over it by accident. A friend of mine put the controller for his (remote control) car in my hand and said ‘try this’... I fell in love with it right away,” Korobanik said.
He started in late 2019 and by June of 2020 he had signed a lease and opened up RC Nation.
READ MORE: Remote control cars, trucks stolen from racing event in Kamloops
“It was kind of a whirlwind that has led to my appreciation and love of the hobby even deeper,” he said.
He used to work for Ford selling full-sized cars so he modelled his store like a remote control vehicle dealership. RC Nation has a new section, a used car section, and a parts and service department.
Korobanik is enthusiastic about every genre of remote control, drift cars, race cars, off-road rock crawling cars, planes and boats too.
Kamloops has remote control racing leagues and drifting competitions. There are model airplane clubs and Korobanik plans to start a remote control boat racing club in the spring.
When the world locked down for COVID, Korobanik found remote control driving was a way to stay social.
“When lockdown happened RC was great because we could be outside together having fun and ten feet apart just ripping around having a great time together. It’s a very social hobby, it has a technical aspect to it as well. For me the attraction is the social side of it,” he said.
He says anyone can get started driving and racing remote control cars.
“It’s one of the lifebloods of the hobby, inviting new people to get started. My experience as a new person was great. There are lots of (racing) categories for new drivers, my first time I got whooped by some 10 year olds, all the way to professional drivers who have sponsors,” he said. “Even the super competitive guys help each other out when something breaks down they say, ‘oh I have a spare part, fix you car so I can kick your ass.’”
He said the hobby is becoming more accessible because over the last few years there has been a shift from gas powered vehicles, which require a lot of maintenance, to electric cars which don’t require as much maintenance but still go 100 km/h.
“For around 200 bucks you can get something good quality and just get started,” he said.
Click here for an events calendar of remote control events around the Thompson-Okanagan region.
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