Hello. It's my first time in this forum so please try not to laugh at my ignorance. (Or just chuckle politely amongst yourselves.)

My 9-year-old son has been wanting a remote-controlled airplane for the longest time. I'm looking for something that would be a good starter plane, is easy to handle and easy to purchase. The catch is that my budget doesn't allow me to spend more than $40 on it. Is this possible?

He's been looking at the Air Hogs versions online but they strike me as more of a gimmicky toy than a real RC plane. If I'm wrong, please let me know.

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can lend me!

With your budjet the Air Hogs are about your only option but should keep a 9 yr old entertained for a little while. The only one I have seen fly is the biplane and it seemed to fly well (stable and slow). Being slow and light crash damage would be minimal I imagine but it is delicate foam and won't put up with rough handling. It would make a pretty cool Christmas gift for a 9 yr old... Heck I would take one as a stocking stuffer Fly it in the office...

It's not a plane, but I bought one of these helicopters from Radio Shack and have a blast with it in the house. Tape a servo screw to the nose and it is very controlable. I,m getting one for my nephew for X-Mas.

[link]http://www.radioshack.com/sm-2-channel-infrared-picco-z-mini-helicopter--pi-2431387.html[/link]

If $40 is your limit, you might want to try this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/8b7b/

The guys at Thinkgeek are good people, and there's a video there showing you how it flies. $35, can't go wrong.

Edit: There's also a helicopter there.

Peter's suggestion is excellent for the price.

The Air Hogs Aero Ace is sold at Wal-Mart, Shopko, and Toys R Us. It typically retails for $34.99 and is quite popular for indoor flying, even among very skilled model builders and pilots. Made from EPP foam, the Aero Ace is almost indesctructable and is a great first plane for a nine-year old.

http://www.toysrus.com/search/index....y/TRUS/2254197

Add batteries, and have fun.

the bi-plane version of the air hogs does fly pretty well I got the air hogs defender for my boys and even I had a hard time keeping it in the air.

The Wing Dragon at Hobby Lobby. http://www.hobby-lobby.com/wingdragon.htm I recommend this plane for everyone to learn on.


Peter Dowling aka Luftwaffe Oberst
AMA District II # 865404
Aero Modelers Club
Pulaski, NY

Thanks for your advice, everyone! Good to know that some of the Air Hogs are worth looking at and I'll also take a look at some helicopters. This forum is awesome.

My son and I have been flying Air Hog Aero Aces for a few months now and they are a blast. We fly them in the back yard late in the evening after the wind lays. I have flown mine inside at a school cafiteria and at work. Check out the Electric forums Micro section for lots of info on the aero ace. I just got my son started on a Sig Kadet on the buddy box and the aero ace has helped him with his right and left turns.

I have a commander 2, scout and super cub and the aero ace is still fun!!

They are great planes and for under $40, that's all I know of as far as affordable beaters go.

i had an air hog electric 2 engine jet like plane, its suppose to shut down and land when out of radio range mine didnt and i lost it. but it was a windy day.i think for the money there alot of fun

Having anything that will be controlable for under 40 dollars is hard to come by. But for a kid, at least me when i was 9, anything that flies for more than 10 seconds brings lights into there eyes.

Some options might be
http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXKLV8&P=
http://www.horizonhobby.com/Products...ProdID=HBZ2600

I have flown both and both, once trimmed out, fly very stable and very slow. They are very durable to, wich is a good thing for a 9 year old

Like everyone else said the Aero Ace is a great plane i had one but i landed it in a tree and a storm killed it. Then moved on to the Estes blue angel foamy. That thing was a ***** to get into the air but once it was all fixed up with the COG found it flew great then i lost my point of view and ran into a high tension power pole the only one around to and smashed the nose down into the tail. I would recomend the Aero ace though.

I went to Toys R Us and purchased the Air Hog Aero Ace for my son; now I can't wait until Christmas so we can try it out! It's a cool red color with skulls on the wings and it was $29.99.

Thanks again to everyone for the terrific advice and for directing me to the other forum on Aero Aces. Hope you have a great holiday season and that Santa leaves you lots of good RC components.

it is a blast! in fact if you go to the electric forums and look up mini or micro I think maybe indoor stuff anyway there is a thread that has like 100 pages on the air hogs and how to improve it, the best easiest is to remove the spring on the throttle so it can do a gentle climb...Rog
He'll love it..!!!!

The aero ace is really a good flyer. The battery is good for 10 to 12 mins of flight and it can been flown indoors,like a gym big shop etc... They are the best deal for the money.