heli-kid

yea the wind never dies down enough to fly my micros but late in the afternoon around 7:00-830 its died down enough to fly my slow stick.

andrewtexas123

Its dead still here in houston. Im going to fly!

Neurotex

Dead of winter should be coming up soon here in Det.
Usually the middle & last of January.

micro_builder

My Feedback: (1)

yeah yeah

the plane does look interesting though, looks like i need to do some shopping (there's a couple other new planes/helis i've seen recently, its hard to keep up, but i'm not complaining).

nick

dsmdan95

Hey monstermaker whats the name of this plane? Also could you take some pics of the box so I know what to look for. I,ll also have to be on the lookout for the arco jet aero ace looks pretty cool

makg

Wow, they had like 30 of these at my local wallys...Too bad they dont have any more AAs[]

heli-kid

i would never buy an aa at wally world because there $40!!!!!!! when i can get 1 at target 4 only $20!!! with an e-chargers

calvinlo

Hi guys, for your info.

Taiyo is selling something very similar to Estes. See http://www.taiyo-toy.co.jp/lineup/p...tfly/index.html

I got mine in Singapore for about US$25 a couple of days ago, and tested it this evening. Immediately noticed some differences between the Taiyo and Estes models.

Taiyo's Differences with Estes
-----------------------------
Unlike the model by Estes, Taiyo's model has no 2 min limitation i.e. the motors can continue to run until battery is too weak to sustain flight.

Also, there is no 1.5 sec limitation when turning i.e. the plane can continue to turn until I release the right stick on the controller.

Taiyo's Flight Performance
-------------------------
Initially before the flight test, I was quite relax. Having flown a couple of Aero Ace model e.g. Classic, Sports...etc, I thought the Taiyo will be a piece of cake. I was wrong...

Once the plane lifted off, I was shocked by the speed...It shot off and climb much faster than the aero ace. Unlike the Aero Ace which glides well without power, the Taiyo plane needed full power to lift off, and begins to plunge to the ground like a brick when power is off.

Hit the ground twice when it was caught by intermittant strong wind (it's monsoon period in singapore ), with the nose absorbing most of the impact, but fortunately, no damages sustained thus far.

I think I'll need a bigger field than the one I use for the Aero Ace next time...

Thrashaero

This plane is a bit odd. It doesn't seem to have a name, and the only place I've seen it available is at Wal-mart, rarely. and Tower Hobbies for 14$ more. It's not even listed on Estes website. I guess they don't update it often. The closest I come to finding on the internet otherwise is using 'estes' with 'micro'. and on the reciept it's just called 'micro r/c'

Anyways, here's my rundown...in comparison to that of the Air Hogs "Acro-Jet" (T tail, high wing, canards, dual pusher motors)

First off there's the price. $20 for the Estes and $30 for the Acro-Jet.
I was impressed with the packaging and thorough instructions of the Estes model, and the fact that there's a way to get parts. It also came with extra props. Something the Acro-Jet didn't come with nor is there a means to get parts. I cracked a prop on it, and cannot find a replacement without buying a whole new kit or going to aeroacemods.com for their 2 motor w/ prop combo. So I'm rather pissed off with that. However, the props on the Estes don't seem quite as beefy as the ones on the Acro-Jet, so I'll probably be replacing them quickly anyway.
Second thing I noticed is the AJ is lighter than the Estes, despite having thicker foam.

That brings me to it's durability. The AJ is extremely durable. The worst I've had happen to it is the front canard snapped on one side and the nose got split open. Understandable considering the amount of times it took beforehand. Nothing a little foam ca doesn't fix. The main wings and the tail have absolutely no damage to them at all (except very slight wrinkles on the edge) despite how hard I've smacked it into things. Other than that, I have a busted prop of course...but after several days of flying it and wrecking it.

The Estes model however is extremely fragile!! I tried flying it and hit my car. Normally this would be just a simple bounce with the AJ, but on the Estes there's this plastic underneath the nose that is supposed to be there to 'shield' the foam I guess. It might as well have been eggshell, because it's shattered on the front. Not a simple crack, but shattered. Very brittle. along with the paint on the nose flaking off. The paint is terrible. I tried applying decals and accidentally stuck one on the tail, pulled it off and the paint came with it instantly. Not too much unlike the AJ, as the paint seems a bit rubbery and sticks to decals/tape as well, but doesn't flake off, it stretches.
I fly it again and i land a little quick in the ground. Snapped the wingtip. Kept flying it and it glanced off the side of the house and hit the ground a couple feet below. Now the tail stab is snapped in half. Wow this foam SUCKS!!!!!
I do not really know how well it flies because each time I flew it, I crashed quickly and was pissed off to find a huge crack...plus it was a little windy.
So I fixed it with foam CA and foam ca kicker, seems to work pretty well. I just can imagine that this will have all kinds of spidering lines of CA all over the place, making it look like an old granny and sure to create a lot of drag.

The flight control on the Estes is strange. No continuous turning signal. It gives 3 bursts and stops..requiring some jiggling to reset the sequence repeatedly. yet it gives turning without having the throttle on. Acro jet needs throttle to steer, but allows for continuous steering. Whatever. Acro jet has a bit more of a 'loft' to it, causing it to rollercoaster with stalling, yet easy to launch. Estes seems to need a lot of power on launch and faster flying, yet it probably peirces the wind better and flies straighter without the stalling bit. The throttle steps on the estes are only 2, fast and slow. I think there was 3 or 4 maybe on the Acro.

Bottom line is if the Estes was just as durable as the AJ and had less of the 'resetting' business on controls, it would win hands down.

The AJ has no replacement parts whatsoever unless you feel like buying the whole thing again. Not a big deal for some, but not something I care for.
So far, I have had more fun with the AJ than the Estes. Fun with the AJ has ceased since I don't want to buy it over again. Fun with the Estes remains to be seen (but probably will be)...I just have to be careful and deal with repairing it constantly. It's a pretty equal tradeoff I suppose.

brownlab

thats weird, in south and southeast texas the weather always changes. here in beaumont, around 5:30 the wind is dead still. thats when i fly my estes micro.heres something you might think is wierd, i made my maiden flight with it in my front yard. once you get over the trees youre okay. i had to glide it into my neighbors yard on landing because if i did it in the street, the props would have popped off,i think that is a safety feature though. THANK YOU ZERO THROTTLE STEERING. btw estes uses styrofoam and the acro jet uses epp foam which is hard to break. here is some things you can do to make the estes micro stronger.

reinforce the leading edges of the wing, vertical stab, plastic on the nose, and horizontal stab with packing tape.

use tulip paint on the parts that have flaked paint.

brownlab

btw the plastic is there to protect the lipo, once it falls off put tape over the opening and paint over it. and the turning system is called fly-rite(read the box), it is designed so that you dont over control the plane