Great Planes Zero

Not just a sport flier, this plane’s a sport fighter

- Michael York

So you’ve built and flown a trainer or two and are ready to move up to a sport flier, but you want something that doesn’t look like the rest of the sport-plane lineup? Well, I present to you the Great Planes Zero. Part of its Sport Fighter series, this all-wood ARF model can be powered via electric or glow, and it definitely doesn’t look like your run-of-the-mill sport flier. 

Although it has the appearance of a fighter, it doesn’t have complexities such as flaps or retracts normally associated with a warbird, which makes it a perfect transition model for the advancing novice.

The Zero’s airframe is comprised of light ply/balsa covered in heat-shrink film, a lightweight but sturdy fiberglass cowl that covers the powerplant, and a vacuum-formed canopy that acts as an access hatch. A full hardware pack includes the fixed landing gear, plastic spinner, mounts for either electric or glow power, a preplumbed fuel tank, and hook-and-loop fastener material to hold your energy source of choice. You supply the radio gear and either a .46- to .55-size two-stroke or .70 four-stroke glow engine—or (as I did) a RimFire .32 brushless motor, Castle Edge Lite 75 speed control, and a FlightPower 4S 3300mAh LiPo battery.

Very thorough instructions make this a great plane for novices who want to do more assembly, and the Zero’s flying characteristics will make sure that you continue to enjoy the plane as you progress to more advanced flying. 

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