POWERUP 3.0 Original Smartphone Controlled Paper Airplanes Conversion Kit - Durable Remote Controlled RC Airplane for Beginners, Works with Most Paper Airplane Books

This great gadget will take some effort to learn, and a VERY VERY calm wind day. But when you find yourself in a large, open, grassy (or beach sand) area it is a complete BLAST to fly! For once, I was happy to purchase a product that worked exactly as advertised.Note added later: I have had direct interaction with Power Up Toys since my initial review, and have found them to be quickly responsive and generally awesome to deal with. Wish I could tack on another star for great customer service.Recommendations:1. Fold a good airplane, with elevator and rudder surfaces cut, that flies well and straight on its own. The "Phantom" model worked best for me as a starter. It was stable but very responsive in turning. Make sure your plane has plenty of dihedral angle, (check the manual), then, when you go to fly it with the module on, notice if the motor makes it turn one way or the other. I had to adjust for the motor on nearly every plane, I think it was right rudder that I added to bring it to straight flight, but observe for yourself, and adjust.2. Wait for a very VERY calm day. I initially couldn't wait, and tried on a marginal day. I paid for that decision with despair and irritation. Give yourself a break, wait for the calm. You will be rewarded for it.3. Turn off the "Sleep" mode on your phone, as well as the ability to receive calls or texts, like they recommend in the manual. On my first long flight, I looked down to change the throttle, and found the phone blank. Logging back in to the phone while flying was irritating, difficult, and unnecessary. Make sure the phone stays awake.4. At first, hold the phone vertically, (up and down), instead of flat when flying. Of course, you will be tipping it all over the place, but do it with the phone perpendicular to the ground, rather than parallel with it. Also, cut the enthusiasm. (Yes, initially I was a maniac. Dancing around, leaning out in both directions etc, while grinning ear to ear.) Smaller, gentler movements will reward you with a smoother, more controlled flight. Later you can engage "movement" based throttle, after getting the hang of flying.5. Understand that the throttle level will mainly affect two things: first, how much "loft" (the amount of nose-up climb), and second, the altitude at which the plane will fly. Adjustments to the elevator tabs at the back of the wing, in conjunction with the throttle will allow you to find the level flight "sweet spot", but it will usually take a few launches to get it right. Starting with the throttle in the seventies is a great piece of instruction from the manufacturer. Follow it. I found that initially adjustments to the throttle required that I look down at the phone and away from the plane I was trying to fly, so I had to keep them to a minimum.6. Test max distance a little at a time. I had to keep the plane to within 100 feet or so. They are rated for 200 feet, but I found that the bluetooth connection is twitchy past that point in my area, and every time I pushed the distance envelope, I lost control of the plane. Many onlookers were greatly entertained, watching me sprinting toward that spiraling plane, trying to re-establish contact. It was good cardio, but I would have been better advised to keep the plane closer. And remember, altitude is part of that distance. If the plane is ninety feet off the ground, (yes, it can happen), you need to be within ten feet of straight below it, (again, in my area).7. Understand that control is an illusion. We do not have true control over these paper planes, or else we wouldn't need so much open space to fly them around in. Our recommendations to turn this way and that are just that; recommendations. These things can and will go anywhere. The slightest stray breath of wind can blow them far off our intended course. Have fun with the idea of making what feels like thousands of steering recommendations a second just to try to keep the ship in the air, and understand that in the end, that is where the fun lies.8. Last but definitely not least, try the waterproof paper. Regular bond paper reacts so quickly with the ambient moisture in the air, that on a moist day, the plane can and will distort in mid flight, crashing for no apparent reason. If you're flying in a desert, maybe this is less of an issue.Many thanks to Power Up Toys for so much fun!

Two weeks ago, my wife gave me the PowerUp 3.0 for birthday. It worked great up until yesterday... it was paired with my phone while I was holding the plane in my hand ready to launch it, when all of a sudden the motor started to throttle up all on its own (all the while, the app throttle display was at zero). I proceeded to shut off my iPhone bluetooth connection, but the motor continued to turn at full speed. I then turned the device switch to the 'off’ position, and this shut off the motor. But then when turning the device switch back on, the motor immediately began turning at full speed, and then it did this every time when I would toggle the switch from 'off' to 'on'. Upon inspection of the unit I noticed that there was a small blackened area in the transparent nose casing (looked like a burned-out transistor), and it smelled of burnt electronics.I contacted PowerUp Toys right away about this issue, and very shortly afterward received a reply from them that they were sorry that this happened and that they would send me a replacement. Great customer service, in my opinion!I also just want to say that this device is really quite amazing... these last couple of weeks I experimented with several different paper airplane designs and it works great on a lot of them. A lot of fun to use this with the kids... they are learning so much about aerodynamics as we look at what could make the plane fly better, stall less, fly faster, etc. I'm sure that it was just a glitch with my particular device (...problems can potentially occur with any electronic devices). And it's great to see that the company values customers and stands behind its products!

Folding the airplane, mounting the electronics, and installing the app on my Android smartphone, all went smoothly. The maiden voyage in my backyard stranded the plane on the roof of my neighbor's house (he was very understanding). The plane wouldn't turn! I guess that shows I'm not a pilot . Had I done a pre-flight check of the throttle and rudder, I would have discovered the rudder didn't work. But here is the kicker. When I loaded the I-phone app on my Ipad, the system performed an immediate firmware upgrade, after which the rudder worked! But it worked only when running the app from the Ipad. It won't even connect to the Android app anymore. I think their software still needs some work.Subsequent flights at a nearby soccer field went much better, but you need a big open space to turn, otherwise you are sure to entering alien airspace. Hmm. Maybe that's why the first plane they suggest you build is the Invader...