err the thing is stuck in the gutter 3 floors up so its impossible.......ive knocked n asked them to contact me if it comes down, but most likely it wont....im only 13 so i cant really get a job....there arent any lawns to be mowed at my place here....all tiles and concrete...

My AA started doing something today and I was wondering if anybody else has experienced this. Without any input and within 5-6 feet of the transmitter, the motors start for about 1-2 seconds then stop. This has happened several times today. Otherwise, it seems to fly Ok, but I also have noticed that sometimes during flight, the motors have begun to sputter or stop for 2-3 seconds and restart. Any ideas? I have made some mods to the AA (removed lower wings and attached them to the upper wings, added front / rear landing gear - and yes, it will ROG) but I wouldn't think that those would affect the motors. I'm kinda at a loss to explain what my kid says is "the ghost plane." I have about 5 flights on this particular AA.

gfl: check out my thread called T-Hawk! i've been having the same problems with my t-hawk and i've been sure that the receiver was jacked. after some posts, i've learned that it can be many other things as well. too long to explain now but check out the thread...

question: what does ROG stand for?

PB_2

Roll Off Ground - mine takes off in about 4 feet. Pretty cool for such a small plane. Thank you for the suggestion.

Just wanted to let everyone know I fley my Air Hogs Aero Ace for the first time today. It was freaking awesome. Flies great right out of the box. I didn't even read the instructions. I'm not exactly sure how elevation works, but I'm sure the manaul has it. I just let off the throttle when I wanted to do down and that worked great. My dog was chasing it for 10 mins.

I purchased my initial AA in early November from TRU. That plane was attacked by a neighbors dog (it was my fault - chased the dog, plane crashed, dog took revenge.) TRU provided me with a brand new plane when I took it back in early December. This, despite the teeth marks in the fuse and wings. Flew the new plane several times, however, it began to experience problems with its motors after about five flights. Took my AA back to TRU today as it had developed even worse problems with the engines sputtering and turning on by themselves. I know people had been talking about getting the warranty when they purchased the AA from TRU and so I did. Just in case nobody has tried to do return a broken AA, I would like to tell you about my experience at TRU. The policy is that within 45 days, the plane can be returned to TRU for an exchange or full refund, with no questions asked. The date that is important is the initial purchase, not the day that a plane was exchanged. After that time, TRU will not take back the plane and the store manager directed me to the warranty company which is different from TRU. Upon doing so, I was instructed to send the warranty company the AA, at my own expense, and then they will decide to either fix the plane, send a new one or mail a refund check. (USPS quoted me a price of $8.50 to send the AA to the warranty company due to it having a previously charged Lipo battery which presents a fire hazard...??? I didnt try FedEx or UPS) Not quite what I understood from the cashier who sold me the warranty after reading these forums. Live and learn - experiment with and modify these little boogers for 44 days and return it if not absolutely satisfied before the 45th day. As far as I am concerned, these little planes are a blast - I purchased another one today. Just didnt bother to buy the $5 warranty this time.

Do you have a picture of your landing gear or would you provide a description of what was used and how you installed it? I have had my AA for about a two weeks and have around 4 or 5 flights on it. What a fun little plane.

Thanks

Danny

whats the next plane to get after this one? Like a crash worthy plane that can do flips, rolls, etc.

also, anyone have a video of their AA doing tricks?

also, how fast (well slow) do these planes fly? about 8 MPH?

DannyR - Sorry, I dismantled my AA's mods so that I could return it to TRU. For my front gear, I used Dubro brand 1/4 inch wheels (dont know the part number - 2 wheels and 4 hubs in the package - used 3 wheels total for this mod). Used 1/32 inch wire cut into a 6 inch section. Bent it in half forming a narrow triangle (V) with 3 inch sides. On both sides, 1 inch from the triangle, I bent it down in a 90 degree angle and outwards at about a 45 degree angle. On both sides, 1 1/2 inches from this bend, I bent the wire outwards making the "axles" for the wheels. Placed the wheels on the axles and secured them with the hubs. I attached the front gear using scotch tape. I placed it just to the rear of the on/off switch with the triangle towards the tail. For the rear gear, I used the same wheel and 3 inches of 1/32 wire. Bent the wire into the shape of a small "question mark" using about 1 inch of wire to do so. About 1/2 inch from where the loop of the question mark would have completed a circle, I bent the wire in a 45 degree angle downward. About 1 inch from that bend, I bent the wire at a 90 degree angle outwards, forming the rear "axle." Attached the wheel and secured it with a hub. I attached the rear gear with scotch tape also on the tail, just touching the boom/rudder brace. If you could have seen my AA, it resembled a HZ Commander. There was no magic in these measurements, just thought I'd start with something manageable like a piece of 6 inch wire. Like I said in an earlier post, it would take off from the ground in about 4 feet with no problem and it was pretty cool to see something that I made actually work. My only difficulty with the mods seemed to be that the plane, when turning, would tend to go into a spiral and counter steering was required, often putting into a spiral the other way. Others, hearing my problem, diagnosed it possibly as being lack of proper dihydral in the wings since they had been extended. Considered using fishing line from tip to tip on the wing to combat this since I could not get the wing extensions to stay pointed slightly upwards. I never got the chance before my AA started developing "issues." Hope this description helped. In an earlier landing gear mod, I used the same front gear with the wire (no wheel) only in the rear hoping to minimize tail weight. The plane tended to spin on the ground and not go forward under power. Hope this helps with whatever mods youre considering.

the sputtering engines could be due to battery problems. My late X-Twin does that everytime the batt runs low.....

Thanks for the description. I will have to thinking about it for awhile. My AA flys very well right now. I don't know if I want to mess with it. But, I did save your description for future reference.
Are you going to put the landing gear onto your new one?

Danny

DannyR-Definately yes. If I can figure out how to post a picture of my mods I'll put them on here.

Jingtai- I thought of that as well and changed my batteries (rechargeable 2500 mah Nimh) Still had the same problems. I noticed that the red light on the transmitter would go out. I had to turn the TX off then back on. I was guessing that something happened inside the TX to cause my problems.

"I bought a 1s-220 mah lipo to put in it..should be here this week"

Did anyone hear if these batteries works in these planes. Thought 30+ min would be cool.

Let me know

How to turn using just turn stick with throttle off!

I just completed posting a mod over at RCG and thought I would add it to this thread as well.

Here is the mod. It involves switching power back on to both motors while also switching on the turn. This stops the chance of the model going into a spin.

Parts.
4 pieces of thin insulated wire 6" long.
2 conductive lugs ( like the leg of a 10W resistor - something a little strong).
A piece of flat steel, like a spade connector end.
A piece of springy steel - like a coin battery retainer.
A small flathead scew.
Some CA and solder.

Prep.
Remove the antenna and 7 retaining screws and open the txer.


Step1.
Here we are going to make a wiper arm assembly on the throttle stick.
Disassemble the throttle stick by first unscrewing the 2 retaining screws of the back panel and then the single screw holding the stick to the cct board.
Cut a small piece of the end of the spade connector type material so you end up with a rectangle about the width of the throttle arm. Solder a piece of wire to the side/edge of this.
Cut out the same amount of plastic from the base of the throttle swing arm to create a recess and superglue the piece in place.





Get your springy steel arm and bend it around from the bottom of the throttle main assembly so it forms contact with the rectangle when it is in the off position.





Solder a piece of wire to the end of this that sits on the bottom of the housing and then drill and screw it onto the bottom of the housing. Put the housing back together.






Solder the other end of the wire from the bottom wiper to the 2nd pin down of the 4 solder pads you can see next to the stick assembly.
Solder a piece of wire to the 4th pin down of the 4 solder pads you can see next to the stick assembly. Remount the assembly back on the cct board and then in the txer.





Thats that done.


Step2.
Here is where we mod the turn stick. We are going to mount 2 small lugs into the assembly and use the spring as a conductor.
Disassemble the turn stick by removing the 2 retaining screws of the back panel and then removing the housing screw.
Align the tension spring that holds the turn stick in the centre so it is sitting true and mark about half way towards the tip of each arm where the lug (resistor leg wire - something a little strong) will get touched by the spring if it is bent out by the stick. EG - while resting, the spring wont touch the lugs - when you turn left or right the spring will touch.
Drill 2 holes and make it so it will be a snug fit for the lugs. Solder a piece of wire to each 'lug' and push through the hole for each one.





Get the piece of wire that was connected to the rectangular steel wiper part of the throttle arm and after tinning the open end, wrap it around one end of the Return spring arm and squeeze it with small pliers to get a good contact. Put the spring back in place and slide the wire up to the very top of the spring arm. This gets it out the way of anything.





Put the assembly back together.





Mount the stick back in the txer.





Step3.
All we do now is join the 3 open ends of the wires left and we're done!
Grab the two wires coming from the turn stick and the wire coming from the 4th pin on the throttle cct board and solder the ends together. Insulate the join with heatshrink or tape.






Test it to make sure it does power up when moving the turn Stick left and right and then put the Txer housing back together.

Hey everyone. I recently got an Aero Ace, and I bought one for my brother and we love 'em. The only reason I got them was because of these long threads here and at RCGroups. Out front in the freezing cold by a street-light, we had so much fun. Anyway, what was very strange, is the second time i was charging my battery, the green light never went out, I just unplugged it around 30 minutes or so afterwards and flew it. I just charged it and it took 35 minutes. Any ideas why that happened? Also, it does these very lazy left-circles and doesn't turn as well right as it does left. The trim knob is useless as far as I can tell. I know there is ways to trim it using the rudder that were mentioned earlier in the thread (I'll have to read it all through again ), and I guess I'll check on those motor tests to see if the prop is balanced etc. I can deal with the turning, I'm just worried about why the battery is taking so long to charge.

As tons of other people have said here, it is a wonderful plane. I also have a Slo-V that I recently built floats for which I'm waiting for the weekend to try out, and I couldnt' wait to fly, so I bought this.

Alex

whats the next plane to get after you've mastered the AA?

lol probably one of the firebirds...commander (2) and up from there...isn't there one called the AreoBird Extreme or something?


Can't wait for my dad to open his Aero Ace tomorrow so I can mod the crap out of it for him! MERRY CHRISTMAS ALL!!!!!

PB_2

I vote for a Slo-V or Slow stick. I have a Slo-V but haven't flown it yet due to nowhere to really go yet. These are slow flying planes that will give you time to think before crashing too many times. I bought a Firebird Scout but IMHO they are too fast for beginners and need a LOT of room, at least 600 x 600 feet or more even. I flew mine but not well at all.

Happy holidays and New year to all!

Tom

too bad mine was lost.....didnt get anything for christmas tho......[&o] thinking of going into jets once i have the time.....my cousin owns one.It was fate i tell you the plane was stuck on an empty house as the owner had gone back to his hometown to see his relatives....
anyway, it was a very good plane and i would reccomend it to anybody

Cruel irony, jingtai...I'd reconsider jets if I were you; they can fly over Mach scale speed (around 200+ mph in reality)...big step from the areo ace. plus the cost is insane...the fuselage for the jet can cost $200 plus maybe $1K for the jet itself...Merry Christmas again and a happy New Year's!


PB_2

p.s.-got that Aero Ace for Christmas, now I got to mod it and see how well she flies!

Aero Ace made its maiden flight an hour ago...flew very nicely even with a bit of wind...it wanted to turn left very badly even with full trim and some rudder tune. i think it has to do with the motors and the 'toe out/in' theory..can you tell me how to fix that? again, Merry Christmas all!


PB_2

I got one for Christmas also. And I have a lot of R/C stuff. This is the best little plane I have ever flown. It is very responsive, and easy to fly. And 10-15 minutes of flight time from a single charge. Incredible.

I am actually trying to locate a couple more of these, but I cannot seem to find them anywhere. Does anyone know where to find them? Air Hogs website doesn't list a vendor for them. She bought mine at Toys-R-Us, but they don't seem to have any more, or know if they are even going to get any more.

i got one at walmart ok i have some questions mine wont gane altatude and i was flying it today and it died and wont do nothin no power or somthin i have no clue if you could help thanx if not i will take it back to walmart and get another

You're sure it is the Aero Ace? I haven't been able to find them at any Walmarts. When trying to gain altitude, don't give it full throttle. Try to give it 1/4 to 1/2 throttle. This will keep it from nosing up and stalling. I usually circle mine at 1/4 throttle, and climb 15 to 30 feet in the air without any problem.