May 26th, 2009 captain
Being a biplane, the Megatch Avion competes with the Silverlit Palm-Z in the indoor flight arena. Arriving on the scene much later, it’s a much more refined design, being better than the Palm-Z in almost every respect.
Configuration
The arrangement of the Avion is similar to the Palm-Z, although much more stylish. A compact biplane with the pusher propeller mounted behind the top wing and driven through a single stage gearing. The lower wing is mounted at waist level which affords it extra protection at the expense of more aerodynamic interference with the top wing.
The large tail group is mounted on a single boom running from the base of the fuselage. The wires for the rudder actuator run up the inside of the boom. The horizontal tail surfaces have about 40% more area than the Palm-Z, while the vertical surfaces have more than double. The rudder on the Avion has almost four times more area than the Palm-Z.
The fuselage nose has a recess containing the on/off/charge switch, the charging socket and the infra-red receiver. A circular insert of softer foam is in the nose to reduce damage (to plane or person) in the event of a collision.
Controller
The controller is larger than Palm-Z, but has sticks rather than sliders and a proper trim wheel. It doesn’t win any points for style though.
Power comes from four AA batteries mounted in the back. For once you don’t need a screwdriver to fit them. The charging cable is hidden behind a door on the left of the fascia. To charge plug it into the Avion and push the switches on the controller and the Avion to the charge position. The left LED on the controller will glow red while charging and then change to green when complete.
Airspace
The full colour manual doesn’t quote minimum flying space dimensions. The Avion turns better than the Palm-Z, but flies faster so a similar minimum space of 6m x 7m x 3m seems reasonable. Stood in one place, the controllers maximum range limits you to a circle with a radius of about 7 metres. If you can move about then the room’s the limit. By walking up and down the central corridor, I can fly complete circuits around our open plan office.
The normal caveats concerning bright lights, direct sunlight and drafts apply.
Flying
After flying the Palm-Z, the first impression of the Avion is the increased speed with none of the bobbing motion. The second is more authoritative steering. With the Avion you actually feel as if you are doing the flying, rather than just nudging it around. With more control comes fewer crashes and it is easily possible to stay airborne for a complete charge. In my last test this was 10 minutes 10 seconds.
Unlike the Palm-Z the rudder works when gliding. This allows for nicely controlled landings, which is a big benefit in a room full of furniture.
The manual rudder trim wheel is also a big plus as it remembers the trim setting between flights. On the Palm-Z you have to re-trim every time the controller is turned on.
The Megatech brochure offers a wheeled undercarriage for the Avion. I’d like to try it out, but it’s only available in the USA. It would be interesting to try rise-off-ground launches and the extra weight would necessitate a higher flying speed and therefore even more rudder authority.
Conclusion
The Megatech Avion is the best indoor fixed wind aircraft I have flown and probably one of the best on the market. It is so much better that I wouldn’t accept a Palm-Z if they were giving them away free.
It is still very light and can be damaged by hard impacts, so I wouldn’t recommend it for young children. The box says 12 to adult, but I would be confident giving it to a 10 year old.
Facts and Figures
Whats in the box
- Avion Biplane
- Combined infra-red transmitter and charging unit
- Full colour multi-language manual
You have to supply
Dimensions
- Length: 230 mm
- Width: 200 mm
- Height: 60 mm
- Weight: 8.4 grammes
Manufacturers Website
Available in the UK From
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February 20th, 2008 captain
When I was a kid radio control (R/C) models where expensive and you had to build them yourself from plans or maybe a kit. The engine and radio control system had to be purchased separately and everything came from a specialist model shop. This was generally true whether the model was a car, boat, glider, aeroplane or helicopter. Once complete you had to develop the skills to operate it effectively and so every model represented an investment that elevated it far above being a toy.
To use your model you joined a club. It gave you somewhere to show off your hard work and have some friendly competition. The clubs and the shops bound together with national organisations and specialist publications were the social networks of the day. Also the clubs negotiated tracks, lakes or airfields for their members with third party insurance cover in case someone got hurt or property got damaged.
With aircraft the clubs also provided experienced members who could teach the beginners and so keep the model in one piece for as long as possible. However, you needed transport to get to the club field and so, coupled with the expense, unless you had a parent who also flew you were pretty much stuck on the ground. This could be seen in the way that club memberships tended to be dominated by the working or retired generations.
Helicopters were a whole another level. They cost twice as much as anything else, took twice as long to set up and probably three times longer to learn to fly. Back then (around 1979) getting the cheapest helicopter in the air would have probably set you back £250. This equates to almost £600 at 2007 prices, so well out of reach for someone still at school.
This was the situation for me. I had an R/C car and a boat; both saw a lot of use. I then built a number of aircraft. The gliders saw a little air time, but the powered ones never did. In fact I still have them in the garage promising myself that one day I’ll fly them. The kit for the oldest one was purchased in 1979 and was competed before 1984 when I went off to university. Its internal combustion engine has never been run.
Whilst at university improvements in motor and battery technology finally reached a point where electric flight became feasible. Up to this point all R/C flight relied on the internal combustion engine. Electric helicopters were still a little way off. The first to appear used an umbilical power cord to drive the main motor from a battery that stayed on the ground. Another development that appeared around this time were models termed “Almost-ready-to-fly”. These kits featured fully finished airframes with fitted motors and batteries. You still had to supply and fit your own radio control system though. It would be a few more years before fully Ready-to-fly (rtf) models appeared where you could just charge the batteries and go.
Disheartened by my lack of success I gradually stopped following developments in R/C, although I stilled retained the desire to own a helicopter.
Fast forward to 2006 and I started to notice in the Saturday morning TV adverts and the gadget press the introduction of a number of ready-to-fly models that seemed to be more than just toys. This reached a point towards the end of 2007 where tiny electric aeroplanes and helicopters were being advertised that could be flown indoors.
The prices plummeted as retailers tried to shift them off their shelves in the run up to Christmas, so I thought I would give it a go with the purchase of a Silverlit Palm-Z biplane for £12.45. I flew it at work one lunchtime. It’s an open plan office, so I was able to fly it in the space above the desks and below the lights. From this point I was hooked and the Palm-Z was soon joined by a Silverlit PicooZ helicopter. This was even better because it could be flown in a smaller space. Having mastered up and down, left and right on the PicooZ, I started looking for other models with more controls and found a whole range of ready-to-fly aircraft at reasonable prices. I quickly purchased another pair of two channel helicopters, one big, one small which have proven erratic flyers and I was given a three channel Silverlit Twin-X Pro that I need more practice with.
I thought that it might be useful to share my experiences of these models so this blog was born. My aim is to provide detailed reviews for a broad spectrum of electric helicopters and aeroplanes. I’m going to start with the PalmZ and PicooZ from Silverlit and work out from there.
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