CZ28 addresses the airplane on a conveyor belt riddle...

[TraceZ]

I'm picking up the Ace on lunch. I have to head over towards Toys R Us anyway, and all this talk has gotten me pumped up.

How long does it take to fully charge, Tracy? Also, how much flying time do you get out of a charge?

There are a couple different "Ace" models... I got the BiPlane. The monoplane is not supposed to be quite as easy to fly. Besides, the biplane can be turned into a mono plane with a razor blaze.

~1/2 hour to charge, ~10 minutes flying time. The remote takes 6 AA batterys. To charge the airplane, you plug it into the remote and the charge light comes on. It is ready to fly when the charge light turns itself off. You don't need to give it much throttle for it to fly strait and level. It has plenty of power in reserve. I recommend trimming it with a little down elevator.

The airplane has no control surfaces, other than the propellors. To control it you give it power with the left stick and the right stick steers it by sending more power to one motor or the other. The airplane cannnot be flown dead stick because if the motors are not running, there is no way to control it.

The rudder and elevators can be used to trim it by hand, though. There is also a trim knob on the remote to balance the two motors.

I'm able to stand on my deck, launch it, fly it around the back yard and bring it back and catch it in my hand. It's a pretty fun toy!

[Joe 1320]

There are a couple different "Ace" models... I got the BiPlane. The monoplane is not supposed to be quite as easy to fly. Besides, the biplane can be turned into a mono plane with a razor blaze.

I'm able to stand on my deck, launch it, fly it around the back yard and bring it back and catch it in my hand. It's a pretty fun toy!

You don't need a razor blade. All parts are put together with a flexible glue. If you gently peel them apart, you put them back together again later. All the other Air hog offerings use a different technology, these aero ace biplanes are the only one at present to use the lithium polymer battery. That's the little jewel that gives the long flight times.

If you can already fly it back to you, go ahead and do the single wing mod. Peel off the wing support struts, then peel the lower wings from the body starting at the nose end. It flies considerably better for outdoors. The only downside is that indoors will no longer be an option unless you have a big room like a gym.

There are modifications to the transmitters that will allow turning with the left throttle stick off. There is also one to remove the throttle spring so that the throttle stays where you put it like on larger transmitters. I've done that mod, but never found the need to have dead throttle steering. I can still boost it up to altitude and glide it down, just blipping the throttle and turning at the same time to alter it's course.

[Steel2686]

Picked up the bi-plane on lunch. I'll charge it when I get home and let you guys know how my maiden flight went.

[Joe 1320]

Picked up the bi-plane on lunch. I'll charge it when I get home and let you guys know how my maiden flight went.

Another member of AHAA anonymous.

[Steel2686]

Another member of AHAA anonymous.

They should give you free stuff. You've already converted two of us here.

[Joe 1320]

They should give you free stuff. You've already converted two of us here.

Actually, I'm working on a distributership of a brand of airplanes that are made out of the same EPP foam. That makes the aiplanes very durable and easy to repair when crashed. It's a concept of spreading out the impact over a large area, thereby protecting the expensive batteries and electronics. The airframe is the least expensive part yet the most critical. Ideally, the $100 airframe should be almost disposable, while protecting the $500 engines, batteries and electronics in a severe crash. The airframes can be simply glued back together and you are flying again in no time, rarely it the impact so severe that you can't fly again..... unlike many other typical materials which shatter. There is nothing worse than a mild crash with other materials that also damages the $150 battery and renders it useless. EPP foam is a miracle material for the model airplane hobby.

[Steel2686]

Sweet, Joe. I'd like to learn more about it. I can definitely see myself getting into this hobby, and it's a pricey one.

Well... I flew the Aero Ace last night. I gotta say, the maiden voyage was a success. I had a few near crashes, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly. I guess logging so many hours on my nitro truck helped.

One thing I was pretty impressed with was how stable it was. I brushed a tree branch (hence, the near crash), and it wobbled a couple times, then stabilized. I thought for sure it was going down. I charged it one more time and had an even better flight. I didn't do anything crazy with it, but I was still having fun.

Thanks for the recommendation, Joe.

[Joe 1320]

The hobby can be pricey, or if you keep your wits about you it can be pretty cheap. There are some things you should spend the money on and some things you shouldn't.

Enjoy it, the stress relief at times is fantastic. Now that you have entered the hobby, my best advice is to subscribe to the following 2 creeds:

1. "I will crash. No amount of skill, prayer or any other mystical power is going to prevent it at some point or another."

2. "Fly in any direction you wish, make sure you turn up just before you hit mother earth."


The choices in this are endless, enjoy! I have to confess, I have over two dozen planes.

[Steel2686]

The hobby can be pricey, or if you keep your wits about you it can be pretty cheap. There are some things you should spend the money on and some things you shouldn't.

Enjoy it, the stress relief at times is fantastic. Now that you have entered the hobby, my best advice is to subscribe to the following 2 creeds:

1. "I will crash. No amount of skill, prayer or any other mystical power is going to prevent it at some point or another."

2. "Fly in any direction you wish, make sure you turn up just before you hit mother earth."


The choices in this are endless, enjoy! I have to confess, I have over two dozen planes.

Wow. I guess you dove head first into it.

I am pretty into my nitro truck. I have some killer mods on it. It can do 63 mph on pavement with slicks. It's a fun hobby, but I wanted to take it to all levels. Planes were always an interest of mine. I would absolutely love to get into helicopters, but I understand they are ridiculous to learn.

I agree with the crash advise. It WILL happen. I'm actually in the middle of repairing my truck's front suspension from a bad wreck with a tree stump last week.... $120 later.

Oh well... It was my own fault.

[Joe 1320]

I agree with the crash advise. It WILL happen. I'm actually in the middle of repairing my truck's front suspension from a bad wreck with a tree stump last week.... $120 later.

Oh well... It was my own fault.

Yeah.... I can relate. I crashed my F-22 hard from a dive, still on a couple hundred bucks worth of parts. That one was partly my fault, partly engine flame out.