About Us

The Anchorage Radio Operated Auto Racing Association (AROARA) is a group of R/C enthusiasts located in southcentral Alaska. We are committed to introducing as as many people as possible to the r/c hobby and the thrill of competition.

We offer race classes that range from nitro-burning 1/8-scale truggies, to the super-fun electric Short Course Trucks. We also organize rock crawling competitions down at McHugh Creek. There's something for everyone!

What do you guys race?

In the summer, we race mostly off-road 1/8th scale buggies and truggies and short course trucks.

1/8-scale Buggies and Truggies

These are slightly bigger than your garden variety R/C car. These are designed as purpose-built racecars; function over form. If you were to scale these up to full scale, you'd have something that could blast through the desert at about 250 miles per hour.

These are powered by engines that run on nitromethane fuel or big electric motors; we run them separately from each other. The nitro powered cars are big, loud, fast and fun! The nitro-powered cars are usually for the more advanced and more competitive racer. You have to factor in pit stops and gas mileage in addtion to just going fast.

The electric versions of these cars are much quieter, but don't let that fool you. These cars are actually faster and have better accelleration than their nitro-burning cousins.

Short Course Trucks

We race two version of these trucks: 2WD and 4WD. The 2WD class is inexpensive and full-contact, bump-n-run racing is lots of fun. We run both a Novice and Expert Class. The 2WD class has limitations on how fast your motor can be. The 4WD class, however, has no limitations on motors, so it's a much faster class; a wild ride to say the least.

In the winter, we race 1/10th scale on-road touring cars, 1/18th scale minis, and 1/12th scale pan cars indoors on carpet. Touring cars are 4WD. They're very fast and agile. But fairly complicated to work on. The 1/18th scale minis are great way to get started in R/C. They're inexpensive, simple to work on and they're also 4WD, so they handle very well. Many minis are just as fast if not faster than the larger 1/10th scale touring cars. 1/12 scale pan cars are very simple, inexpensive and easy to work on. But they are only 2WD, so they require greater care to get them to handle properly.

So whether you're a seasoned pro, or a complete newbie to the r/c scene, we encourage you to come out to our races and check it out. We will also be holding introductory "meet-n-greet" days where guys interested in racing can come see what it's all about and ask questions and even try their hand at racing. Check out our forums for more information. Complete rules concerning each racing class can be found here

Other Resources

Websites

The Basics: EasyRC by Tower Hobbies
RC Everything: RCUniverse
A Good Site for the more advanced: RCTech
Rock Crawling: RCCrawler
Micros/Minis: RCUniverse - Micro Forums