Plans, Trains and Automobiles
With two boys in the house there is a natural need for planes, trains and automobiles, with the latter being most popular we have various diecast vehicles from Hot Wheels to Tomicas to even LEGO® CITY vehicles.When it comes to LEGO® CITY, the range features tonnes of vehicles including Coast Guard Planes, Police Cars and Fire Trucks including electric Cargo and Passenger Trains. As for LEGO® CREATOR the vehicle range is not as vast but you do get the usual standard sets covering planes, helicopters, cars and trucks. All of which are a little more complex than the regular CITY vehicles but not as complex as the advance TECHNIC range.
So with a growing requirement for more complex vehicles at home I thought it would be nice to get a LEGO® Aircraft with decent size, good playability and flexibility.
The 31011 Aviation Adventures
Released in 2013, Aviation Adventures is a 618 piece propeller powered aircraft, as a 3-in-1 model it can be rebuilt into a Speedboat and Helicopter.
In terms of overall Aircrafts LEGO® has offered other cool CREATOR aircrafts such as the 539 piece Sonic Boom 5892 (now retired) and for 2015 we will be seeing a new aircraft (I assume) in place of the LEGO® Aviation Adventures 31011 with a 608 piece Blue Power Jet 31039.
I have skimmed through the design of the Blue Power Jet 31039 and while it looks really slick I tend to be drawn to old school systems of propulsion and design. So for now I'm happy for the boys to experience as much traditional design and technology as possible because I'm sure they are going to be exposed to all the greatness of modern design and technology as they grow up.
Furthermore the 31011 Aviation Adventures just looked like it had room for modifications, be it a Biplane or fitted with Power Functions.
In terms of features, the 31011 had that one hidden surprise that the new 31039 just couldn't have, more about that below.
ADVERTISMENT
Design and Features
This 31011 aircraft is large with a wingspan of 37.8cm, which makes the 31011 a really nice set to own and display. Overall it's got some nice lines and enough curves in the right areas to make it look like a worthy aviation machine.
The fuselage is of a good size for my son to hold and play around with, and the best part is it features a working propeller.
Through it's design and build the set designers have managed to fit enough mechanics using TECHNIC parts to spin the propeller using the small tailwheel at the rear of the aircraft.
Just give the tailwheel a push forward and watch the propeller do its thing, this really gave life to the 31011 Aircraft.
Another feature is the landing gears which can be retracted into the underbelly of the plane so the aircraft can really look it's part when in the skies.
Playability
With the size of the Aviation Adventures 31011 you'll notice the oversized proportions when compared to regular CITY vehicles and especially LEGO® Minifigures, but the aircraft cockpit is still designed to fit a Pilot and a Copilot minifigure.
Like most other CREATOR Vehicle sets you do not get any minifigures as with the 31011 but we had a few aviators in our community to try the plane out for size.
The cockpit canopy is another nice feature, made out of two transparent canopy pieces the front canopy can be pivoted upwards to the front and the back canopy can be slid back and opened up making it easy for kids to get minifigures in and out.
ADVERTISMENT
My son really enjoyed playing up the whole pilot and copilot team idea, he instated them as rescue team to fly to various locations for assistance.
Conclusion
Overall we like the LEGO® Aviation Adventures 31011, it's a set that has always been in my radar for the boys but have never considered it until recently with my eldest son showing more interest in machines.The whole planes, trains and automobiles phase is no doubt ramping up at home so it was nice to have some detailed sets with good playability. Our eldest is getting better at solo LEGO® builds so in terms of flexibility I'll leave the alternative builds of the Speedboat and Helicopter once he's ready for a change.
31011 Aviation Adventures is really solid set with nice features and these CREATOR sets are great as display (& play) pieces for a kids bedside table or bookshelves.
Finally, it'll be interesting to see the full set of LEGO® vehicles coming forth this 2015.
Here's an alternative view on parts of the LEGO 31011 Aviation Adventures.
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