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

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!

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!

I actually want to give this product 4 1/2 stars but... The quality of construction, durability and educational and learning potential are five+ stars. The billing that the average person will be able to make long flights right out of the box brings it down half a star. You'll realize why so much of their video instruction is based on making a paper airplane that flies well (without the PowerUp). It's all about the airplane. This just straps on it's back. Do not think of this as a radio controlled airplane or something that flies out of the box. This is a small Bluetooth controlled motor and rudder that you can attach to your paper airplanes. If you can't build a good paper airplane this will not fly for you. If you like to tinker and experiment I think you will love the PowerUp 3.0 regardless of your age or experience. I also think this would be a wonderful teaching and learning tool. It's inexpensive, easy to use, incredibly durable and provides instant feedback to aerodynamic experiments. I got it, charged it and folded the trainer airplane. It worked, only liked turns to the left, and is under powered but I had an airplane flying within minutes. It wasn't a great flyer so instantly I'm thinking "what if I do this..." I can't tell you how fun I find making subtle changes and tweaks and seeing how they perform. Fold a new airplane and see how it does. I'm a pilot and have built a full size airplane from scratch and have a good grasp of aerodynamics, center of gravity bla... bla... bla and at almost 50 I find this little thing a lot of fun. If you just want to buy something that will fly you might be disappointed but I absolutely love tinkering and experimenting with different airplane configurations and seeing how they turn out. All it takes is a minute to fold a new airplane and give it a try. I'm already thinking of how to shed weight and make it perform even better. Durability... Well, so far I have not broken it. I've crashed it onto a concrete driveway several times and once at full throttle into a brick wall and it just bounces off and is ready to go for the next flight. Everything is small. Small propeller, tiny rudder... so I don't think it would be appropriate for small children but it's durable enough for any detail oriented or careful handed youngster or old guy.

This is a fun little machine that seems to work pretty well. The prop seems to be pretty brittle though and breaks off easy. From what I've seen you're not able to buy bulk packs of replacement props either. 3 stars for durability.

I bought this before reading the reviews. After reading some of the negative ones, I had a bit of buyer's remorse until it arrived. I think a lot of people don't read instructions carefully or get in a hurry to try it. I watched a couple of videos on folding the Invader paper airplane and that really helped as did a video on flying basics. My initial flight was impressive but short. After tweaking the plane a bit, using some tape to provide more regidity and adjusting the rear elevators, it flew like something that cost several hundred dollars. I am blown away by this "toy" and plan to buy two more for my son in laws. One word of caution - be careful on windy days. I flew my tweaked plane successfully within a tree lined common area of our neighborhood even though the wind had picked up quite a bit from an approaching storm. I got a bit ambitious and sent it soaring on high speed (which is surprisingly fast). Once the plane got above the tree lines, strong winds picked it up and it streaked away out of sight. Luckily, I double tapped to lock and stopped the prop. I found it four houses away in the yard and not on the roof. This was due to my inexperience and NOT the PowerUP plane. I highly recommend this product.

Nearly impossible to fly. The idea is splendid, but the app is terrible. Steering right / left is fine but if you want to go up or down you have to speed up or slow down, which seems fine but it is extremely difficult. You have to cut fins into the trailing edges of the wings and bend them upward so that when you speed up the plane noses up and gains some altitude. But when you launch the airplane you have to throw it at the exact speed that the propellor will push it at, and that's nearly impossible. Otherwise it will do a series of loops (remember those fins permanently set to "up" ? ) and then you'll loose control and it will crash. You COULD spend several days practicing, but why bother? If you want to teach kiddies about flight, then save your money and buy a rubber-band plane - they are just going to break it anyway - and don't waste your money on this poorly designed gismo. If you want a fun remote control plane that you can pilot with relative ease and actually enjoy flying, then fork over the cash and buy a real drone. Note to the inventor ... do user testing for everyone's sake. If you can adjust the flaps to go right and left, you can add some flaps to control the pitch. Make the controller use the accelerometer, don't make us use these bogus controls when there's a much better controller already built into the phone.

If you have kids, or not, you should really get this. It is super easy to get started and the app walks you through all of your preflight checks. What makes this even better is the company's outstanding customer service. We bought this for our 11 year old's birthday and before he could put a lot of flight hours in it, his younger brother (age 2) picked it up and bent the body. I contacted the company and they responded immediately. There was no hassle and they were extremely user friendly and accommodating and got us back up in the air within a week. We really appreciate their service and will be a returning customer. We recommend this to all of our friends.

my boys and I were excited to try this, we made the paper test airplane, we charged the unit up, we loaded the app (IOS 10 on IPhone 6) and we made 1 short flight across the living room and it has not wanted to fly again. We get sync, we get good (green) signal and we get full fuel (battery) but no propeller spin no matter what we do. So a frustration at best - not sure I would recommend this.