Air Hogs Aero Ace RC Plane

smee

Senior Member
I put this under hot deals because there is currently a sale on these planes, but I think they are a hot deal even at the normal price ($29.99 [1]).

The Aero Ace is a very small electric radio controlled biplane (wing span of about 10 inches - I haven't measured). It's got 2 motors which provide thrust and directional control (through differential thrust). You charge the plane from the transmitter (takes about 10 minutes to charge for a 10+ minute flight (from new alkalines)). I think the max stated range is 300 feet - I know I've flown mine out beyond 200 feet. But, I think they are more fun flying close and low to the ground.

This small foam biplane comes from the toy store, but it flies well enough that it's caused quite a bit of excitement among more serious flyers. There are quite a few threads on www.rcgroups.com about this plane. There are numerous threads about customizing the plane (or removing the electronics and building them into other models).

RCGroups Aero Ace thread

The plane is currently on sale at ToysRUs (brick and mortar, not online) for $20.99. You can also get it at Target for $29.99 with a free ($9.99 value) free-flight plane [2]. You want to make sure you get the Aero Ace biplane - there are other Air Hogs planes that don't fly nearly as well. There is also a new "jet" version that has just been released (in the US), but I haven't seen one yet.

They come in 3 different channels: A, B, C. All are operating on the same frequency in the 27MHz band, but they use different digital encodings so you can have 3 flying at the same time.

Anyway, these are a lot of fun. If you or any "kids" you know have wanted to play with RC airplanes, these are a great way to start. They fly pretty slowly and are not too easy to destroy (made mostly of soft foam). The flight is not as stable as more expensive airplanes (they tend to "porpoise" a lot, especially coming out of turns) but it's pretty impressive for the price. And, you don't want to fly it in the wind - I've only flown mine on still or very low-wind days. I've read stories of the wind taking them away. Certainly, even a breeze can make them harder to control.

I bought a couple at $29.99 (from Target). I may need to go get a few more from ToysRUs as spares.

[1] I've read that they are $39.99 at WalMart - not always the lowest price, I guess.

[2] I've read that the free-flight plane does not fly very well without a lot of adjustment but I haven't actually charged one to see for myself.
 
Walmart has a price-matching policy. If you tell your Walmart cashier that a nearby "Toys-R-Us" sells them for $20.99, Walmart policy says they are supposed to sell them to you at that price. Try it.
 
huggy59 said:
Walmart has a price-matching policy. If you tell your Walmart cashier that a nearby "Toys-R-Us" sells them for $20.99, Walmart policy says they are supposed to sell them to you at that price. Try it.
Somewhere on RCGroups, someone stated that they tried that at WalMart and the people there said that WalMart does not have a price-matching policy and will not do it.

I don't like going into WalMart anyway, so personally I'll stick with ToysRUs and Target.
 
Smarty said:
Not rain on this topic, but what does this have to do with Hot Deals for Home Automation????
Just about nothing [1], but I figured I had enough posts to be allowed one that didn't fit. And because of the limited time of the sale, I figured that Hot Deals was probably the best place to draw attention to it.

[1] OK, I could probably come up with something silly if I really tried.
 
I appreciated it... I am looking to get into R/C planes so this will fit the bill.

Thanks

(besides we all could use a change of pace now and then)

John
 
smee is going to connect the RC controller to a security panel and do bombing runs on a would be intruder.
 
DavidL said:
smee is going to connect the RC controller to a security panel and do bombing runs on a would be intruder.
That's right, Spanky said it would be in the next firmware release for the M1 Gold.
 
smee said:
Smarty said:
Not rain on this topic, but what does this have to do with Hot Deals for Home Automation????
Just about nothing [1], but I figured I had enough posts to be allowed one that didn't fit. And because of the limited time of the sale, I figured that Hot Deals was probably the best place to draw attention to it.

[1] OK, I could probably come up with something silly if I really tried.
I have to admit, I always wanted to get into flying RC planes. I 'm going to buy one right today and see how it goes.
 
Some discussion of the new "jet" version of this plane is starting up on www.rcgroups.com. It looks like the initial impressions are favorable. Note that it needs to be the "Aero Ace" jet - not one of the others that Air Hogs also makes. I stopped by my local ToysRUs on the way home from work last night, but they didn't have the jet yet.

"Cool - The AA Jets have arrived" on www.rcgroups.com
 
Looks interesting, especially if I can get that sale price as well (amazon is advertising the 33%).
 
OK. I just ran to Target during my lunch to get one of these.

Ought to be fun! :D

You guys are a bad influence... :D
 
Just be carefull, you'll be spending quite some time on these. I got hooked on e-flight 2 years ago. It's a great hobby. (Besides working on Girder :D )
 
Okay I played for about 2 hours.

The things I learned so far.
-- Very easy on the controls
-- Don't get it to high as the wind takes it anywhere it wants to
-- And how to get on my neighbors roof top :D
 
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