Review: PowerBilt Air Force One DFX Driver

Playing with the Big Boys
It is no easy task to create a driver that can compete with the “big boy” OEMs.  Their large R&D budgets as well as their larger marketing departments make it tough for the little guy.  Powerbilt’s Air Force One DFX has something that others don’t have, nitrogen.  The pressurized head is designed to create an even hotter face for longer drives.  The new lower forward weighting also creates low spin for more roll.  I’m impressed by this driver and how well it does against the “Big Boy OEMs” of golf.

“Off-the-rack” is a loose term with the Powerbilt Air Force One driver.  They offer 3 loft options and a plethora of stock shafts.  I had mine built with the “no-upcharge” Fujikura Pro 63 stiff shaft.  This is a smooth feeling, mid-launcing, tight shaft paired with the 9.5* head in a sleek looking matte black.  The face is very deep and sets up nice and square.

On the course after hitting it a couple times I noticed the slightly higher pitched sound of this head.  The nitrogen charged head is a little “tinny” sounding but it offers real “pop” off the face.  The DFX (Deep Face) is a design that I’m a big fan of.  It allows for a little up and down miss.  Yet it still offers pretty good side to side forgiveness too.  The ball comes off the deep face with a fairly high launch angle and then flattens out down range.  It descends with a low angle so that it rolls out nicely.  I was impressed by the results on the course with high long ball flight that chased out after it hit.

My only issue with the driver is the alignment aid on the crown.  It isn’t visually in the center.  Initially it caused me to hit a few drives to the left.  Then I moved the ball to the toe side of he alignment aid and found the middle of the face and hit the ball much straighter.  It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it did take adjustment.

My Fligthscope testing shows that is can certainly hang with the big boys.  It hit some really good numbers with this driver.  It is very low spin, and high launching.  The tinny sound still creates a no feeling face.  There is real “pop” off the face.

Flightscope X2 Launch Monitor

PowerBilt Air Force One DRiver

    • Spin: 2150 rpms
    • Launch Angle: 15.5*
    • Dispersion: 9.8 yds
    • Club Head Speed: 103.4 mph
    • Ball Speed: 155.0 mph
    • Total Distance:  277.3 yds
    • Carry Distance:  266.2 yds

If you are looking for a driver with legit tech and excellent performance the Powerbilt Air Force One DFX is the real deal.  The alignment aid on the crown might not work for some, but just adjust your set-up to find the center of the face.   It competes with the top drivers out there and actually beats a number of them with its low spin distance.  Check out this nitrogen charged cannon if you like a glued driver with great stock shaft options for loud, long drives. 

For more information: www.powerbilt.com

Quick Hits:
+Excellent performance
+Deep Face
+Low Spin
+Awesome “stock” options

–Off-center alignment aid