Little R/C Helicopters?

[sciphi]

I'm toying with getting a little toy R/C helicopter for buzzing around indoors and outside on windless nights. No AirHog or overpriced Wal-Mart helos, but still something inexpensive and designed for a never-ever helo pilot.

I'm thinking of one of these:
Syma S105

Any comments or other things I should look out for?

 

[Milkman]

They make really good cat toys !!!!

 

[sciphi]

Found one for $16, so I got one for me and one for my dad who will enjoy entertaining his pets with it!

 

[oilboy123]

Sounds like these little cheap ones fly pretty well. Let us know how you like it.

 

[tomcat27]

I tried one of those at a friends' house. it's not easy! he got some of the syma 107's for $15. of course, his source raised the price. where did u find at that price???

 

[sciphi]

Originally Posted By: tomcat27
I tried one of those at a friends' house. it's not easy! he got some of the syma 107's for $15. of course, his source raised the price. where did u find at that price???


Syma S107 for $16

Apparently they're pretty easy to control now that they have an onboard gyro. I'll find out in a couple weeks. They certainly do look easy enough flying around in the malls.

 

[tomcat27]

thanks!

 

[buickman50401]

I've got something similar that I picked up for about $18 at an after Christmas sale.

They're fairly easy to fly once you get the trim set.

However you can forget about flying them outside even on a "windless" night.

These things are so lightweight that even a slight breeze from an AC vent 10 ft away is enough to knock them off course and cause them to crash (ask me how I know

). You're going to find few truly "windless" days/nights.

 

[sciphi]

Ahh, good to know they truly need no wind to fly. I'll find out in a couple of weeks.

 

[kb01]

My nephews love the Syma helicopters (S107) that we got them for Christmas. I had a lot of fun with them and am thinking of picking one up for myself.

 

[mechtech2]

I have a nice one with a GOOD controller. [gift from brother who upgraded]
Good luck outdoors!
The good controller can not be overlooked - makes it fun instead of frustrating.
My point is to get better than average stuff right at the beginning.
And, good controller can be used for other aircraft in the future -switch programs.

 

[55Test]

I got one of those little helicopters last Christmas. It would go maybe 2 feet at most off the floor the just spin around in circles before falling to the floor. I was disappointed.

 

[buster]

My friend has one very similar to that. Pretty cool.

 

[sciphi]

The Syma S107 arrived today. It's well-constructed with a metal frame and polycarbonate shell. The flying characteristics are very good for a cheap helicopter. It'll hover in one place quite nicely, and it follows commands well. The control is accurate enough to land it on items, not just in their vicinity.

For $16, it's a very nice toy.

 

[Cogito]

I was tempted to get one of those things to make my cat crazy. But all the buyer feedback reports that I read on Amazon, etc., seemed to indicate that these things break very easily and that it is almost impossible to get any replacement parts to fix them up again. Let us know how durable your toy turns out to be.

 

[sciphi]

I've crashed mine about a dozen times so far, and it keeps bouncing back. Nothing's broken yet, and it still flies very well. Yeah, I've logged quite a bit of stick time with this thing in the couple days I've had it.

The availability of spares and durability depends on the model purchased. The Syma S107 is a very popular micro helo, so spares aren't an issue. Something less popular might have an issue. Based on my experiences with mine, durability isn't a major issue either.

What one are you looking at where they say it's not durable?

 

[morris]

think geek has one but it brakes easy.

 

[Torino]

In my neighborhood you can tell when the kids bring them out Garage doors randomly start going up and down. John--Las Vegas.

 

[sciphi]

The ThinkGeek one for $25 looks darned close to mine. I'd bet it's similar, and that parts interchange. Durability should be pretty good, based on how many encounters with objects mine has had trying to hot-dog it.

 

[Cogito]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
What one are you looking at where they say it's not durable?

I was looking on this site. They have a lot of good deals, but the stuff is shipped from China so it takes a couple weeks for delivery unless you pay extra.

http://s.dealextreme.com/search/helicopter

Also, most of the reviews on Amazon seemed negative insofar as the durability issue was concerned.