I bought a Helicopter

[bertvorgon]

Being the big kid that I am, I bought one of this little micro helicopters, for Christmas. Last October, as my son and I were blasting back from a night mountain bike ride, we came out through a hedge on our trail, and I almost ran into one of these things being flown. The blue and red flashing LED lights were hovering right in front of me, and I could not see what it was initially. Turns out there was a fellow about my age, trying to learn to fly this mini helicopter. I was fascinated as it really was neat, and seemed to work REALLY well. As a kid, I had this mechanical helicopter, that was tethered to the control box by a flexible cable, and only really went up and down. So, I talked to him for a minute, and thought to myself...."I'm going to try one of these!"
After a bit of research, this SYMA S107 came up as one of the toughest, and stable micro's. So, London Drugs had them on sale before Christmas. This thing really works, does all it is suppossed to do, and only took Matt and I about 1/2 hour of flight time to get it totally under control.And, it is TOUGH, surving many a hard crash and rotor stopping chair leg. Finally, a week ago it had a major incident, breaking the top rotor head...CRUD! So, online we go, finding a parts supplier in Hong Kong. Then, the DAY that we were going to order the PART, Matt happens to go into the Landsdowne Mall, for lunch. There, in a kiosk, is a fellow selling these helicopters...WITH ALL THE PARTS! Bonus round! He even had what was called the "Crash Pack", all for 10.00 bucks. So, that night we were back in business.
So, now of course, I see that these are the "beginners" copters', with the true purists flying four channel, multi rotor helicopters, some of which are HUGE. I may step up the the next largest one, as it can be flown outside, which my cat would really like, and has a greater range.

Anybody else play with these?

[PoorMtnKid]

My uncle and cousin got a pair of these for x mas also. They can keep you entertained for hours.

[eoot]

I just purchased a cheap all plastic version of that helicopter in the mall this x-mas. Your version looks much tougher with all that metal. I've already broken a few sets of landing ski's but I was very surprised at how well it flies. Mind if I ask how much you paid for your version?

[bertvorgon]

These were on sale for 39.99, but, the regular price now is 49.99. I just bought one for the gang at Specialty Engineering. We have tons of flights and crashes on ours now, so it is amazingly tough. Only downside is the battery is very small, so flight time is quite short. I see a guy on the Net has done a battery upgrade, but that has it's own issues as it upsets the center of gravity for the thing. I just find it another skill set for my brain. Hours of video gaming has sure helped, as the transition from using different fingers for multi functions, was quite easy.

[merlin]

http://www.innovator.mosquito.net.nz/mbbs2/index.asp then you can upgrade to this....

[bertvorgon]

OH....I could so hurt myself with one of those........

[510rob]

thanks Merlin - I really needed to see that helicopter link. It will come in handy when I am studying and need a complete distraction and black hole for time

[merlin]

OH....I could so hurt myself with one of those........

You have the perfect place to park it at specialty

[proflex]

Practice --------- and one day you might be as good as Jr. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvWfLAC2 ... re=related

[goichi1]

I didn't know they did that many tricks, wow! it's impressive!

[bobboyer]

I bought one for my 12 year old, but it seems I am the one that flys it. I like buzzing him when he is playing Call of Duty. We have a store in the mall that sells and repairs these things for a 5 dollar fee.

[bertvorgon]

Hey Bob,,
How is it going? Say, did you run Knox in 1982? I had something very cool sent to me, and I am going to do a write up on it, and then post up on the Realm

[bobboyer]

My first year driving was 1987, but I was involved with the event since 1980.

[bertvorgon]

Ok, I wondered if the V-8 powered Datsun, in the Knox video, was an early permutation of your Purple Grape.

See the above thread on the Knox video.

[bobboyer]

That was a small block Ford powered Datsun 510 owned by Len Lucas. Len by the way, is building a 510 right now to race at the hill once again. I will be back in 2012.