Since I also have an Aerobird Challenger I thought I would make these observations

The Sky Fly is more stable than the Aerobird in respect to turns. The response is so mild it is hard to put the plane into a spiral based on stock settings. However this does limit its aerobatic response. Most people can not get the stock Sky fly to loop.


The Aerobird in Sport mode is similarly mild in its response but it will give you tighter turns and can loop in sport/beginner mode on the standard 6 cell battery. On the Standard 6 cell pack, the Aerobird Challenger feels more lively than the Sky Fly. There is a 7 cell option for the Challenger, not for the Sky fly.

Note that the foam in the front of the Sky Fly is cut for a 7 cell pack. The 7 cell Challenger pack will likely fit with a little effort, but I don't know if the Speed control can take it.

The Aerobird Challenger has an expert mode which really makes the plane responsive. You can really bank and crank and whip the plane around. This really comes in handy in air to air combat when you want to come around to get behind the other pilot.

However you can also push it into a death spiral, so with responseiveness comes responsibility. The Sky Fly, even after I moved the control wires, is no where as responsive as the Challenger.

So, this stability is both good and bad. Good in that it helps prevent new flyers from getting in trouble. Bad in that it reduces the aerobatic responsiveness of the plane once you have mastered the basic performance.

Both planes make good first planes.