Sometime near the beginning of summer I bought a little radio-controlled plane from Air Hogs called the Aero Ace. I even wrote up a little post about it here. My opinion of the plane hasn’t really changed since then - it’s fun, it’s easy to fly, and it’s the right price: $20 on sale, $30 normally, and $40 at WalMart (I have no idea why).
I’ve now bought a total of 16 AeroAces (none from WalMart) and have given most of them away as gifts, both to kids and to their parents. I’ve kept a couple for myself as backups (you just never know) and I’ve hung one as an ornament in a large tree behind my house. Incidentally, the AeroAce is apparently considered a competitor by Hummingbirds (or maybe a perspective mate - tough to tell) and prey by Sharp-shinned hawks. Like I said, it never hurts to have a few backups.
Recently, AirHogs has come out with a 2nd version of the AeroAce that is more jet-shaped. If you thought the original AeroAce biplane was fun to fly you’ve gotta’ try one of these jets. Compared to the biplane the jet:
- flies noticeably faster
- climbs faster
- glides much better
- handles light winds a bit better
- doesn’t turn quite as sharply, and
- has a little less battery life (slightly bigger motors)
So, which one is better? I don’t think there’s an easy answer to that. The biplane can be flown indoors in an oversized room whereas the jet needs a little more space to roam. The jet is probably better for outdoor use if there’s any wind at all. So, which one should you get? I guess the answer is obvious: you need both.
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Air Hogs Storm Launcher - an R/C Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang | TechWandering // Oct 17, 2006 at 5:25 pm
[...] Technically, the Storm Launcher is a boat (a hydrofoil) which happens to have skid plates on the bottom of its sponsons so it can be driven on the ground and an elevator on the back so it can fly. The Storm Launcher uses the same thrust-steering that Air Hogs uses with its Aero Ace line (see my other posts on the Aero Ace biplane and the Aero Ace jet). There are no control surfaces other than the elevator on the back so steering is accomplished by speeding one motor up and slowing the opposite motor down. That means that if you cut the power to the motors you can’t steer (you can, however, plummet to the ground, as I’ve proven more than once). This technique of using the motors to steer will be familiar for pilots accustomed to turning with the Aero Aces but it will take some getting used to for pilots who are used to using rudders and/or ailerons for control. [...]
2 FlyTech Dragonfly — WowWee takes wing // Mar 13, 2007 at 12:16 pm
[...] the past I’ve written about two easy-to-fly radio-controlled planes (the Aero Ace Biplane and the Aero Ace Jet) and a radio-controlled car/plane/boat hybrid (the Storm Launcher). This time around I’d like [...]
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