Estes X-81 Review

OK, I said I'd do a product review from time to time, and here is my review of the Estes X-81 RC airplane, availabe from the Estes Model Rocket site for less than $60. This plane is really an F-18 foamie in Blue Angels colors. It really looks good. And I'm pleased to report that it flys well. The twin pusher props give it enough thrust to make headway against a steady 10 to 15mph wind. It is easy to control and quite stable. Don't expect to do any kind of aerobatics because the controls are simple, using throttle to control altitude and differential thrust to turn left or right. But it does quite well. But I think it would be wise, before you ever fly it, to put a strip of 1/64th balsa on either side of the nose to reinforce the foam. I did that with a hot melt glue gun. The slight extra weight also improved the trim. You are bound to nose it in at some point, and the extra strength will save wear and tear. After several rough landings the wings and tail were still fine. I had those rough landings because it was really too windy. This plane is quite light. However, I flew it under conditions that caused me to lose a Hobby Zone Cessna Champ, and it did much better in the wind than the Champ. The Champ floated away like a scrap of paper, but the Estes X-81 has more mass and is very streamlined, so it penetrated wind much better. I would buy another one of these planes and probably will do so soon, because I want to use the motors and internals in a plane of my own design. There are other Estes RC planes I would like to try as well.