Customer Reviews

I would buy another one, if/when I have to dig this one out of the ground. Review by Russell

Quality
Value
Overall

As stated by others, the instructions are very incomplete and you will need to rely on your past model building skills to complete! Also as stated you MUST reinforce landing gear box...my first landing (one bounce) completely pulled off the landing gear.
This is more of a pattern plane, big rudder and elevator, but ailerons are too small for good snap rolls, it will roll OK, but it's lazy.
Using a 800 kV motor, 80amp esc, 4500 4s battery and 13-6 prop, 5.1 lbs., that combo has plenty of power. (Posted on 11/30/2019)

Great plane for the price Review by Robert

Value
Overall
Quality

This plane flies more like a pattern plane than aerobic. Definitely not 3D. It is relatively fast with the thinner airfoil and my Supertigre 51. I reinforced the landing gear mounting area and also added a sheet of extra ply over the firewall, pinned the control surfaces.
My wing had a bit of twist that required a jig to apply reverse torsion and then heated with covering iron. Twist then was to fall the over way. Applied heat again with no torsion and it ended up perfectly straight. (Posted on 1/9/2018)

Good enough to pick up a second one Review by Aaron

Quality
Value
Overall

I picked up a second example of this plane as I really liked the way my first model flew, though my first one I flew it a little too slow once and spun it to the ground after a couple months flying it.

The mods on my first review here were all done BEFORE I flew it this time. Additionally I reinforced the landing gear mount plywood piece with triangle stock inside, and this time moved the ESC to underneath the magnetic belly hatch.

With a 4S 4000ma battery located one inch in front of the wing joiner tube, I added 2 ounces of strip adhesive weight in front of the tail wheel plate to balance the model at 120mm from the leading edge at the wing root.

With zero trims it flew hands off at half throttle with the G32 motor and 13X6.5 prop.

Although it doesn't have 3D ailerons this plane is very capable (More than me) and has a wide speed range. It will do sport aerobatics plus on 50% rates and its a reasonable price. (Posted on 1/25/2017)

Great Plane. Not a trainer. Review by Lyle

Value
Overall
Quality

Fly mine with a Power 52 and either a 4S or 6S battery with a 100A ESC. Great fun. Snap rolls are very crisp. Literally flew the wings off of my last Aeromaster doing a snap a full throttle. All I could do was laugh, it was so much fun to see a plane perform like that. The wings finally gave out after 7 passes with full throttle snap rolls. I will buy another Aeromaster but will build up the center section for aggressive flying that I love. (Posted on 12/31/2016)

Better flyer than Aerosport 46, but some work to get it there Review by Aaron

Value
Overall
Quality

Building notes:
The supplied clevis's are useless - the supplied "Bolt" that goes through the clevis's is too small for the clevis pivot hole and no nut is provided (Don't plan on this kit without getting some other clevis's.)

Like the Aerosport 46, there is a lot of friction in the push pull tubes. (I believe due to their zig zagged routing between bulkheads.) My attempts to reduce this friction have had only limited success.

The large engine mount block must be rounded off on the top left corner to allow for its installation flat on the firewall and also cowling clearance.

The covering job is great and a nice color scheme.

Two piece wing may be a key feature for some people with smaller cars.

There is an additional piece of plywood supplied to glue between the firewall and the battery tray for electric models. This extends the battery tray forward all the way to the firewall. I reinforced these joints with epoxy as well as the circumference of the wing joiner tube where it meets the fuselage sides.

I opened the propeller shaft hole at front of the cowling to provide more cooling air to the motor/ESC. Also cut out a half moon opening at the bottom/aft of the cowling for an air exit path.

Flying notes:
There is some confusion regarding the CG location in the manual (85mm pictured vs 124mm in the text).

I incrementally added a total of 2.5 oz. adhesive lead strip to the belly just in front of the tail wheel mount plate as I flew and adjusted the plane - adding more weight there. This allowed the 4S 3300ma battery to be placed forward against the firewall and a 4000ma battery to be placed 1 inch in front of the spar tube.
After around 25 test flights dialing it in, with ZERO TRIMS, my CG measured 117mm back from the leading edge at the wing root. This provided level flight at 1/2 throttle.

The rolls are definately more axial than the Aerosport 46.
Inverted flight is almost effortless. VERY little down elevator with CG as described.
It lands smoother than the Aerosport 46. No "Floating" from this mid wing.
The vertical performance with the G32 motor is plenty for me, though not unlimited as some would prefer.
Knife edges seem neutral enough on the coupling, snap rolls are crisp.
I would recommend at least a 4000ma battery on this model due to short flight times with the listed 3300ma battery.

As built:
G32 4250-800kv
13 X 6.5 prop
80A Value Hobby ESC with BEC (Mounted in the large engine mount box.)
4S 3300mah and 4000ma batterys
TowerPro Standard servos
2.5 oz. adhesive strip weight in front of tail wheel plate
5.0 lbs total model weight with 3300ma battery installed

Aeromaster 46 / Aerosport 46 comparison:
There is a magnetic hatch on the Aeromaster belly just forward of the landing gear that may be of use to some modelers.
The Aeromaster servos are mounted right side up vs the Aerosport inverted servos.
Landing gear is shorter / narrower than Aerosport. So far (25 flights) the landing gear mount wood has not required reinforcement here.
Wheel pants are included on Aeromaster and holding up fine.
Canopy is thinner plastic then Aerosport, and held with 2 pins at front instead of tongued plywood.
2 piece wing (joiner tube runs through rear of battery area) on Aeromaster.
(Posted on 9/22/2016)

great plane, great value Review by Lyle

Value
Overall
Quality

I have built a lot of planes and that is what helped me get through this build. It was shipped with two motor mounts. I ordered the 5055 motor and the instructions said to use the larger motor mount with the larger motor option. The mounting went well but the cowl was nearly an inch too long so the prop could not be mounted. I ended up mounting the smaller motor mount to the front of the larger mount and the cowl then fit perfectly. The nylon clevises for the push rods were too small. 3 of 4 of them would not thread onto the pushrods. I ended up using pin connectors on both ends of the pushrods.
The covering was very well done and had very few bubbles in it. The color scheme is very attractive and very functional as the plane can be seen extremely well in the air.
This plane is rock solid in the air. I have flown it now with both a 6s and an 8s battery. It flies well with the 6s and is incredible with the 8s though it is a little nose heavy. I have over 20 airplanes and this one may well be one of my favorites. I would recommend it to anyone with intermediate skills. It is not, in my opinion, a trainer. Good job on this one, Value Hobby. Work on the instructions, please. (Posted on 6/16/2016)

Excellent value Review by Steven

Value
Overall
Quality

This is a follow-up to my previous review after putting on substantial flight time. This is really a great pattern type airplane, it flies like it is on rails. The tail surfaces are large enough to do 3-D stunts requiring those controls, however the airlerons do not have enough surface area for 3-D manuvers that utilize ailerons. While vertical pattern climbs with the specified setup seem pretty well unlimited, I think a little larger motor & prop will be required for a true 3-D type vertical hover. I use a 4000 4s battery and after about 7 minutes flight and find the battery at 15%-20% after landing. I do not think I would use a smaller battery. Currently this is my favorite plane to fly and I will likely buy another one if this one should this one should ever meet its demise and it is still available. I love it! (Posted on 2/1/2014)

Great Value Review by Steven

Value
Overall
Quality

I set the plane up electric as per Value Hobby's recommendations (except I use a ESC w/out a BEC, so I have a separate radio battery), which turns out to be a very good combination. Plane is straight forward to construct, but the instructions were incomplete and did not match costruction at the tail end (elevator). The tail wheel is not pre-bent and the instructions leave a lot to the imagination, but not beyond what the average builder can handle. I had to use the Dremel tool on the electric motor mount and body edge as well as do some triming to make the cowl fit correctly. The covering was very smooth with no bubbles, which actually created a problem for me as I normally go over a whole ARF with a Monokote iron to get out wrinkles and make sure the coverin is well secured. Because there were no wrinkles, I forgot to go over it with the iron and did not notice that part of the covering was loose. This created a major vibration in flight and some control issues. I brought it down and still did not find anything wrong (without the wind of flight, the covering went back tight). On the second flight I could tell right after liftoff that the vibration persisted, which affected the lift on the left wing, so when I tried to turn for a landing approach, it fell out of the sky. Fortunately, it was fairly close to the ground, I was able to flair it and was caught by a cotton plant. There was some damage, but I was able to pretty well repair it in one weekend. Examining it after the crash found the covering problem. I cannot say I put the model through its paces because they were abbreviated due to the vibration problem, but I can say what little flying I did indicated that it will be a nice flying model and I look forward to getting it back in the air, sans the vibration problem next weekend. There were lots of positive comments from my fellow club members about the general looks of the model and the trim scheme. This is a great plane for the price, just inspect it carefully before putting it in the air. (Posted on 10/22/2013)

OK, but could be better Review by Don

Quality
Value
Overall

Lots of little issues, but nothing that can't be overcome by a person with a moderate amount of experience. First the positives, the covering and look of this model is really nice. The colors are nice, the scheme is attractive, and the covering was smooth and unblemished. It looks like it is fairly well constructed. I checked all the joints I could see and it looked like it was assembled pretty good.

The negatives: The instructions are poor. Section 4 seems to omit how to mount the elevator on the horizontal stab. The two elevators are supposed to have a pre-drilled hole for connecting rod. Mine didn't have holes in either elevator. The tail wheel in the kit is different then the one shown in the instructions, plus the rod is not pre-bent for installation into the balsa of the rudder. The connecting rod clevis (how do you say multiple clevises? clevi?) didn't seen to have the pins to close them. I threw them away and went with Sullivan's. I received two nylon wing bolts, but two different sizes. Both supposed to be a 5mx20, but one seems to be a 4mX20. Finally, the engine mount does not install centered to the fuselage. A little bit of the plywood had to be ground away by my Dremel to make sure the cowl fits nicely. The wheel pants are kinda dodgy too, but they work.

I mounted the recommended GForce G32 motor, Towerpro MG996R metal gear servos, and a 70A ESC from another vendor. So far, no batteries soof course I haven't flown it yet.

Overall, very good value for the money, but it definitely isn't a shake and bake kit that goes together without a problem. VH (that's not Van Halen) needs to take a few hours and improve/clarify the instructions. I recommend, but with some reservations. (Posted on 6/17/2013)

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