Rc helicopter-x: Juni 2012

Syma S107/S107G R/C
Helicopter - Red (Toy)
There are a lot (a lot!) of
lousey micro helicopters
out there and a few good
ones. This is -the- one to
get. Controls are
effortless and as long as
you're in a room with a
decent amount of space,
you'll be flying fine in no
time.
First off, the remote is
infrared--meaning you'll
need to keep an open
line of sight between the
control and the
helicopter (don't let the
"RC" fool you--it's
remote control, not
radio control). That said,
the remote must be very
bright because I haven't
lost signal to it once. The
controls are 3 channel:
you have control over
power, yaw, and pitch.
Basically, you can go up
and down, turn left and
right, and move forward
and backward (about all
that's missing is roll--you
can't move side to side).
Flight is easy and intuitive,
thanks in part to the built
in gyro. This thing is easy
to fly. Take it off, and put
the stick somewhere in
the middle, and it'll just
hover before you. It's
extremely resonsive to
turning. Forward/
backward movement is a
little sluggish, but not bad
(just not as responsive as
turning). Because this is a
dual-counter-rotating
system, the helicopter is
inherantly stable, unlike a
real helicopter. There's
no rotational moment to
compensate for as on a
traditional helicopter (and
in fact, the tail rotor is
vertical--it's only function
is forward/backward
propulsion).
The heli is very light--you
won't want to use it
outdoors unless there
isn't even the slightest
breeze. You also won't
want to use it outdoors in
direct sunlight as that can
blind the remote sensor
and you'll lose control.
Even indoors, you'll want
to avoid air conditioning
vents and fans.
The heli is very sturdy for
it's size. While you won't
want to slam it into walls,
I've had a few mis-haps
and the little thing just
gets right up and flies
again. The mostly-metal
construction is solid and
looks nicer than the
cheap plastic ones, too.
The heli has a tiny Li-Po
battery which keeps it in
the air for about 5
minutes. You can charge
it via a wire that comes
off the remote, or via a
USB cable (the latter has
the advantage of not
draining your remote
batteries). Charging takes
about 45 minutes. Don't
worry about it suddenly
dying and dropping out of
the sky--flight will be
stable and predictable,
until, after 4-5 minutes,
you'll find yourself giving
it more and more power
to keep it in the air. When
you notice this, it's time
to land and charge.
Other notable features
- The rotors are not rigid
but are on hinges, which I
believe makes it a little
less likely to break a
blade on impact with any
walls/furniture/siblings.
- The remote has a trim
adjustment for rotation--
just turn in until the heli
stays facing the same
direction, and it's good to
go (you probably won't
ever need to adjust it
again after that).
- There is a neat blue/red
flashing light in the nose
(which, personally, I think
would be neater if it were
just white so you could
fly it in complete
darkness).
- It also comes with two
replacement main rotor
blades, and one
replacement tail rotor.
Since this model is so
common (for good
reason), it's also easy to
find other parts online
should you need them.
- The remote can be set
to one of three
frequencies so up to
three should be able to
fly with eachother
without interfering with
eachother (I'm not sure,
but possibly the color
dictates the frequency?
There are also Blue and a
Yellow models).
Bottom line: this is an
absolute bargain at $25,
and unlike many other RC
helis, this one won't
disappoint. It's as fun and
easy to fly as the youtube
vids make it look.

Rc helicopter-x

Minggu, 17 Juni 2012

RC helicopter: Syma S107/S107G - red

Syma RC helicopter, best choice