Why didn't anyone tell me that micro R/C helicopters are so much fun?

Just wrapped up an air hogs heli for my 9 year old. Had to test it before it got wrapped. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this. Er....I mean, he'll have a lot of fun.

Thread bump, got a Syma S107G yesterday and I immediately modded it, here's what I've done, all reversible and it flies way faster and more efficiently:

Tail supports removed (warning; reduces crash survivability)

Horizontal stabilizer removed

Tail rotor inverted & Air Hogs pusher prop swapped on (I just happened to have the prop lying around)

Vertical stabilizer reverse-mounted (to clear tail rotor)

Front skid attachment screws removed

Rubber plugs removed from skids

The only downside is that it's a bit nose heavy so it drifts forward a bit (even with the unnecessary vertical stabilizer) and backwards flying is very slow, and of course it's less robust if you're the type who crashes these things but it flies longer, on lower power and 2-3x faster.

Does anyone here have experience with "Air Hogs" rc helis? I know that they are basically just toys, but they are cheap, and have more good reviews than bad on amazon.

I'm looking for something to get my feet wet with, that I can also let my 6yo son play with, and that I won't feel bad about breaking.

If I wind up liking it enough I will spend money on a decent indoor heli.

I got a super sweet bravo sx for Christmas.

Joey

I'd been wanting to try one so I grabbed one at WM without realizing it was infrared, not rc controlled. The way it flies is that after throttling up to gain altitude you have to stop the spin before you can move forward. Rarely can you stop the spin before the battery starts getting weak. I've been flying it out side and you have to be very careful to aim the controller at the machine or it will loose the signal. All in all it's been disappointing.

I recommend going to the local hobby shop and getting them to demonstrate a couple for you. A good one is amazing. They will hover very precisely and quickly respond to commands.

I've been having similar thoughts.

About to pull the trigger on a WL V911 after hearing good things from a friend. Seems wiser to just spend the $50 on a decent heli than spending $25 on a cheapie at Walmart just to turn around and buy said $50 heli in a few weeks/months.

My son has been flying this one around the house since yesterday. It's quite stable and easy to fly around indoors. Bought it for 40 clams at the local Hobbytown USA store. They actually stock parts for it. Recommended.

I bought a S107G a few months ago, after my boss bought one on Amazon super cheap and it actually flew around his office pretty nicely. I might have to try the mod's mentioned above.

Then I got the bug to try a Blade SR (bigger copter). Flew it 3 times, crashed it 3 times, repaired 3 times. I've kinda given up on that thing, I jumped WAY up the difficulty chain too quickly. (BTW - anyone interested in a slightly used but 100% Blade SR?)

Graefin10 wrote: I'd been wanting to try one so I grabbed one at WM without realizing it was infrared, not rc controlled. The way it flies is that after throttling up to gain altitude you have to stop the spin before you can move forward. Rarely can you stop the spin before the battery starts getting weak. I've been flying it out side and you have to be very careful to aim the controller at the machine or it will loose the signal. All in all it's been disappointing.

Is there an adjustment knob on the controller to reduce the spin? My infrared one has it. I haven't had any problems with mine but it definitely doesn't like to fly outside.

Jerry wrote: (BTW - anyone interested in a slightly used but 100% Blade SR?)

I'm interested, is the TX included? Shoot me a message.

bwh998 wrote:

Jerry wrote: (BTW - anyone interested in a slightly used but 100% Blade SR?)

I'm interested, is the TX included? Shoot me a message.

Msg'd. Also includes the training gear I forgot about.

EvanB wrote:

Graefin10 wrote: I'd been wanting to try one so I grabbed one at WM without realizing it was infrared, not rc controlled. The way it flies is that after throttling up to gain altitude you have to stop the spin before you can move forward. Rarely can you stop the spin before the battery starts getting weak. I've been flying it out side and you have to be very careful to aim the controller at the machine or it will loose the signal. All in all it's been disappointing.

Is there an adjustment knob on the controller to reduce the spin? My infrared one has it. I haven't had any problems with mine but it definitely doesn't like to fly outside.

Yes, there are two buttons, one to correct for left spin and one to correct for right spin. The instructions say to tap the buttons until the spin stops. When I first got it you could eventually stop the spin but it took quite a while to do it. Now they seem to have no effect.

Graefin10 wrote:

EvanB wrote:

Graefin10 wrote: I'd been wanting to try one so I grabbed one at WM without realizing it was infrared, not rc controlled. The way it flies is that after throttling up to gain altitude you have to stop the spin before you can move forward. Rarely can you stop the spin before the battery starts getting weak. I've been flying it out side and you have to be very careful to aim the controller at the machine or it will loose the signal. All in all it's been disappointing.

Is there an adjustment knob on the controller to reduce the spin? My infrared one has it. I haven't had any problems with mine but it definitely doesn't like to fly outside.

Yes, there are two buttons, one to correct for left spin and one to correct for right spin. The instructions say to tap the buttons until the spin stops. When I first got it you could eventually stop the spin but it took quite a while to do it. Now they seem to have no effect.

I'm having the same problem. Mine has a single rocker button that you can tap either right or left. At first it seemed to have some influence, but it doesn't seem to work anymore. Only time I've been able to correct the spin (mine goes left) was by holding full right rudder.

And yes, I've cleaned the tail rotor motor shaft. Even tried replacing the tail rotor blade.

1988RedT2 wrote: My son has been flying this one around the house since yesterday. It's quite stable and easy to fly around indoors. Bought it for 40 clams at the local Hobbytown USA store. They actually stock parts for it. Recommended.

so I had to order me one

gonna need some micro GRM stickers for dat

In reply to Jerry:

I'm still trying to figure out how to check them on here...

bwh998 wrote: In reply to Jerry: I'm still trying to figure out how to check them on here...

Basically just said how about $150 shipped? They're $200 and I forgot I bought the training gear as well, that's included.

BWH998: Also, just saw this: How do Personal Messages work? Go to the profile of the person you'd like to send a message to, and click the "send private message" link. Your message will go straight to their e-mail address on record. Note that you can also leave a public comment, so make sure you're doing what you intend to do.

"Send private message" is now labelled "Contact"

All this talk about RC choppers made me dig mine back out of storage after a year. It still flew, but had suffered some hanger rash. That of course made me dig online for parts which I ordered, but they had this special going on for the bigger, better, badder version for a mere $50. How could I pass it up.

It came in this afternoon.

I've put two flights on it. It flies much better than the small one does and it will fly outside.

Thanks guys, once again y'all are costing me money.

Toyman01 wrote: All this talk about RC choppers made me dig mine back out of storage after a year. It still flew, but had suffered some hanger rash. That of course made me dig online for parts which I ordered, but they had this special going on for the bigger, better, badder version for a mere $50. How could I pass it up. It came in this afternoon. I've put two flights on it. It flies much better than the small one does and it will fly outside. Thanks guys, once again y'all are costing me money.

Whoa! Dat ting is HUGE!

1988RedT2 wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: All this talk about RC choppers made me dig mine back out of storage after a year. It still flew, but had suffered some hanger rash. That of course made me dig online for parts which I ordered, but they had this special going on for the bigger, better, badder version for a mere $50. How could I pass it up. It came in this afternoon. I've put two flights on it. It flies much better than the small one does and it will fly outside. Thanks guys, once again y'all are costing me money.

Whoa! Dat ting is HUGE!

That's how big mine is. Mine will go VERY high but is not as controllable as I would like once it gets into the breeze above the tree tops. The wind took it one time and I had to drop it from way up there. Shrugged the impact off like it was nothing. These things can take some abuse.

I was curious how well the larger cheap one's on Amazon would fly, especially outdoors. Hm, need to order a CD for my mom today on Amazon, while I'm there...

This:

Plus this:

Equal this:

Mix well, and you get this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZs2uSvxy-o

(Ponders the weight of his GoPro Hero2 and housing...)

What model helicopter is that, if I might ask? Looks pretty stable and easy to fly. This Blade SR I bought is way too advanced for me.

Out and about at the moment. I'll post when I get back to the house.