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Here is the FULL BadmintonBites review of the Aeroplane Black Label (with product ID EG1130). For all other shuttlecock reviews, please check out our equipment page or shuttlecock page.
As a quick introduction, the Aeroplane shuttlecock series is made by Zhen Jiang Hang Yan Sports Products Co, Ltd, which is a Chinese based company. They have been making Aeroplane shuttles for the last 60 years and ranks them using a color code system. Black is the highest grade, followed by red, green, and blue.
Black = Excellent Grade
Red = Super Grade
Green = Tournament Grade
Blue = Competition Grade
The Aeroplane Black Label is actually a shuttlecock that I’ve used quite a bit in the past as my dad and his friends bought quite a bit of these. They’re a pretty good alternative to the more expensive Yonex Aerosensa shuttlecocks if you’re on a budget. Even though they’re not as popular as the Aerosensa shuttlecocks, the Badminton World Federation (BWF) has approved the Black Label shuttles for international play. So they have passed some rigorous tests!
In order to give you the best possible review of the shuttlecock, I did several tests with the shuttlecock. These include one consistency test, one speed test and two durability tests.
- Speed test from the backcourt
- Clear test
- Smash test
We will be judging the shuttlecock using flight, durability, and consistency as attributes.
For flight, I’ll use observations from all three tests. For durability, I’ll use the findings from tests two and three. And to determine consistency, I’ll use the results from test one as well as the information taken from the weights of the shuttles.
For a quick preview, here are the average results of the tests with 5 being the highest:
Consistency: 4
Flight: 4.25
Durability: 4.25
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Aeroplane Black Label Weight
I took the weight of all 12 shuttles in the Aeroplane Black Label tube.
Here are the results, sorted (in grams):
| Shuttlecock | Weight (grams) |
| 1 | 4.86 |
| 2 | 5.00 |
| 3 | 5.00 |
| 4 | 5.00 |
| 5 | 5.00 |
| 6 | 5.02 |
| 7 | 5.02 |
| 8 | 5.03 |
| 9 | 5.03 |
| 10 | 5.03 |
| 11 | 5.05 |
| 12 | 5.05 |
Mean: 5.0125
Median: 5.025
Standard deviation: 0.0499
Wow, the shuttlecock weights are really consistent! The only one that is somewhat of an outlier is the 4.86 gram one. This is a good sign as it means that the quality control of the shuttlecock production is pretty good.
Speed Test
From the speed test, we can see that the shuttles landed pretty consistently but were a bit far from the ideal placement between the two lines. The shuttles spun and flew pretty well but most of them were a bit slower than other shuttles and therefore landed closer to the half-court area.
Overall, I’ll give it a score of 3.5 for both flight and consistency for the speed test.
Flight: 3.5
Consistency: 4
Clear Test
25 clears
Just a couple of ruffled feathers after the first 25 clears.
50 clears
Splitting of the feathers
Noticeable degradation
After 50 clears, two of the feathers are noticeably split. The rest of the feathers are also ruffled up significantly.
100 clears
After 100 clears, a lot of the feathers have shortened
After 100 clears, the tops of the feathers are all missing a chunk. However, all of the feathers are still intact – with each of the feathers degrading fairly evenly. This is a great sign, since it means that the shuttle doesn’t wobble even after so many hits. Of these feathers though, five of them have vertical splits around the stem area.
200 clears
After 200 clears, the Aeroplane black looks pretty much done. Every feather is about half its original size. From the pictures, you can see that the feathers are heavily damaged, but none of them are completely gone.
Weight after clears
5.12 – 4.87 = 0.25 grams
0.25 / 5.12 = 4.88% weight difference
The shuttlecock lost 0.25 grams from the clear test. That’s actually fairly significant as that is a 4.88% weight loss. Don’t expect it to fly the same after the beating it took!
The Aeroplane black held up quite well for quite well until 100 clears but deteriorated quickly by the 200 clear mark. However, the shuttle’s feathers broke fairly evenly so it didn’t wobble.
Therefore, for the clear test, I’ll give it these scores for the clear test:
Durability: 4
Flight: 4.75
Smash Test
10 smashes
No feathers were badly damaged after 10 smashes. About nine of the feathers are now ruffled up and have some splinters sticking out.
25 smashes
The shuttle is actually about the same after 25 smashes as it was after 10 smashes.
50 smashes
Wow, the Aeroplane Black Label hasn’t broken down much at all since the 25 smash mark. All of the feathers look in tact and are just ruffled up a bit more. It still flies well although perhaps a little bit slower than before.
100 smashes
The Aeroplane Black Label actually looks pretty good even after 100 smashes and 100 lifts! Compared to the clear test, it’s much better. All the feathers are intact but heavily ruffled up. Some of the feathers are visibly split, but none of them are damaged to the point that it affected the spin of the shuttle.
Durability: 4.5
Flight: 4.25
Weight after smashes
Original weight: 5.00 grams
Weight After: 4.98 grams
Only a loss of .02 grams! That represents a .4% loss in weight. So the smashes and lifts didn’t break off too many feathers, but instead moved them around a lot. The durability of the Aeroplane Black Label is pretty impressive when it comes to smashes.
Conclusion
Overall, the Aeroplane Black Label is a solid shuttlecock that’s great for those who are on a budget or simply want to cut down on shuttlecock costs. Its durability is quite solid but in my experience, it slows down faster than other shuttlecocks during gameplay. So while you’ll get extra bang for your buck, it won’t be the same experience the entire time – you’ll have to adapt to its slowing speed as the game goes on.
Overall Rating:
Consistency: 4
Flight: 4.25
Durability: 4.25
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