Alright, I know. I know.

I was in Tupelo, Miss for Christmas and got introduced to a store called "Dirt Cheap". Man, it was trashed. I cannot describe this place except that it's a lot of returned stuff to Target and maybe K-mart.

Everything is "dirt cheap" 80% off when I was there. It went to 90% off a few days later.

Well, I found lots of Airhogs boxes with no heli or plane in them. Or maybe the plane was there but the remote was missing. I got lucky (lucky?) and found a couple of Airhog F-14 Tomcats still in ripped up boxes with parts missing. The store does not accept returns or exchanges so it was a gamble but these were marked down to $12 each so I got them.

I have a lot of RC tools so I was able to fix them up once I got home and tested them both out right away. Satisfied they worked, I packed one up to bring home and gave the other to my nephew.

On Sunday my son and I had a blast flying this thing. We were laughing and having a great time together. I know. I know. I have great flying planes. I've had great flying planes. And I agree with you, this is not a great flying plane. That said, it is a great $12 RTF plane!

The fun part about the Airhogs F-14 Tomcat is not flying it - the fun part is trying to fly it The plane is very hard to control but once you learn the tricks it's a blast. But learning the tricks is where the fun begins. If there is even a slight breeze, the plane will loop unexpectedly or simply go where the wind is blowing. Getting it back is quite a challenge!!

To fly into the wind you simply give less throttle. When attempting a turn, it seems to work better if you kill the throttle, try to turn, and then input some throttle to recover from the descent. These are the kinds of tricks that can transform any experienced rc pilot into a successful Airhogs pilot.

As strange as it seems, this little jet got airtime with my UM Polecat, some flying wings, and what may be the best flying starter plane on the market - the Hobbyzone Champ.

Don't get me wrong, at the retail price of around $60 this is a TERRIBLE plane. An absolute rip-off. But at $12 it's a steal for the fun-factor

Happy flying
SB