GLF,

i bought the X-Twin planes (the original planes from over seas that AirHogs is now using under the AeroAce name) back in the begining of august this year and have noticed no change in battery performance. any well taken care of lipo should last far longer than 6 months, but because of they way they charge it, it gets a little abused. if you have your own lipo charger that can charge at 130mah or lower will help the longevity of the cell. if/when your lipo does wear out, the Kokam 145mah would be a good replacement, its just a little heavier, but they're cheap.

as for actually replacing the lipo, if you havent worked much with a soldering iron, ect, i'd find someone to help you. heat from the soldering iron can ruin the cell. but, if you've got the skills, then its easy. just split the plane in half down its seam and pull the battery out. clip the wires at the battery, then solder in your new lipo - double check your polarity, just in case. when clipping the wires, dont clip both at once, you could short it. if you've got a lipo charger, you can solder some plugs onto the battery and onto the RX of the plane, that way you can take the battery out if you want, or use other batteries too (i had 4 cells, two 130s, and two 145s, i could fly for about an hour without having to recharge). if you dont want to do the soldering, a hobby shop will usually do small stuff like that for cheap, if not free.


i've never extended the wings on my planes, the little things flew just perfect. if you have the bipe, try removing the bottom two wings and flying it like a mono wing, its been done and it can make for a whole new plane. i think if you extend the wing though, the plane will probably want to nose up more due to the extra lift. if that happens, you'll need to add more weight, which will probably make the plane faster and have a little shorter run time. but, experimentation is always good, give it a shot.


you can change the CG of plane without adding weight, fortunately. if you split your plane in half down its seam, you can cut out a little of the excess foam and slide the battery forward. you may want to use some tape to hold the cell in place so it doesnt shift during flight.


quite a few have added LEDs to their planes, i havent done it personally (it reduces flight time to some extent), but from what i've read, its easy. they just use two LEDs in parallel with the motors, along with using a small resister to limit the flow (without the resister, the LEDs will receive the full power from the lipo, probably shortening the LEDs life, and probably causing heat).


as for the landing gear, check the pictures i've added, they're from a Hotwheels type car.

hope this helps

nick