Recent trips to the field have seen me with some older review subjects in tow.

I put my Wattaplane Edge 540 through its paces this past Sunday. Seven years after I reviewed it, it still stands out as an outstanding aerobatic model. My only regret is that the company seems to be out of business. It's very disheartening since it was a pleasure working with Max Xu of Wattaplane. If one of these kits in Wattaplane or Skywing livery ever comes up on eBay, Craigslist or whatever, grab it. It's still in as-tested condition with, I believe, a new propeller somewhere along the line. Over the years, many of the outer glue joints became yellowed and even weakened. The seams along the top of the canopy had also receded, exposing the white foam beneath.

Easy fixes all! All it's missing is a locator tab at the front of the canopy, something I lost a long time ago.

A couple of weeks before that, my big Airfield RC A6M Zero took a ride with me. I'd swapped out the factory radio for Airtronics control not long before; that initial test flight was cut short when a wheel strut cover came loose. Now repaired and dialed in, this big model left me with a bigger smile on my face than when I first flew it in 2013. The factory radio which came with this ARF from Nitroplanes worked, but control was very touchy. With far more accurate control with an Airtronics SD-10GS - not to mention exponential - the Zero is now one of the best flying warbirds in the hangar and it'll be going with me a lot more. It too has been discontinued, but I believe it's patterned after an FMS.

Like the Edge, the Zero is in as-tested condition with the only changes being a repaint of the cockpit to its proper zinc chromate color and a repaint of the original propeller blades. I still have the spare blades new in the package!

Here are the links to the original reviews:

Wattaplane review

Zero review