Thread: Toys: Radio-Controlled (RC) Helicopters

I just bought this thing for $34.99 and can't wait to take it down to the local park again today.

It's a cheap, remote-controlled helicopter that can be flown in the house or outside. The body is made of foam and the rotors are made of soft plastic so it it can repeatedly crash. Light as a bird. And fun! Had a line-up of children and adults wanting to try it out last night. I saw a man flying a fixed-wing RC plane on our way home; a child was asking about it and he refused to share, saying was "too hard" to fly! He said his cost about $40.

I have the Apache version (not shown) with a cool blinking blue light on it. The thing can easily soar to tree height, then plummet harmlessly into the grass if you take your hand off the throttle.

I can recommend the following as it far exceeded my expectations. They're made in China so I'm sure they're available in Thailand in the 800-1,000 baht range. Child optional!

Havoc Air Hogs Infrared Mini RC Helicopter RTF

Havoc Air Hogs Infrared Mini RC Helicopter RTF



Holder of the world record for the smallest RC Heli, the micro-sized Havoc delivers maximum power! You can fly to heights of 100 feet with the touch of a button, and our advanced LIPO battery technology gives you 10 minutes of flight time on a single charge. That's double the flight time of other RC's.

Made from the latest in flexible, high impact composite, the Air Hogs Havoc is 100% safe and the toughest micro Helicopter available. With three RC frequencies, you can fly up to three Havoc Helic's at the same time and race with your friends!

Features:

* Amazingly small Infrared Remote control helicopter
* Comes in Red, Yellow, or Blue (each a different frequency)
* Flashing Blue LED for Night Flying
* Intended for indoor use. Outdoor flying only under ZERO wind conditions.
* Full Flight control with up/down and turn right/left
* Body is constructed from durable EPP foam
* Internal helicopter battery charges from remote control unit
* 15 minute charge time, 5 - 7 minute flight time
* Extra rotor include

Havoc Air Hogs Infrared Mini RC Helicopter RTF

I want one.

Err...my son wants one.

I, of course, don't have the time to play with toys

Can I, I mean he, have a red one ?

My son wants one too..
I think we should buy two , just in case he crashes one

These things are very popular around here. Every once in a while I'll spot someone flying one and just stop and enjoy. There is a shop downtown that specializes in RC toys. And, Ms. B's boss spends all day with his web-based RC toy business.

yep i think little T needs one!

what a great christmas present idea.

i will add it to my list

damn it's $45 in that weblink......plus P&H

Originally Posted by mrT

damn it's $45 in that weblink......plus P&H

if you can afford a maid and a driver you can afford a flying toy

actually about to sack the maid - but she pissed off yesterday for the weekend, so i gotta get the secretary to send her a message not to bother coming back!

(thanks for reminding me!)

battery life is a bit short isn't it?
10 minutes??

also can only fly oustside in 0 wind conditions.
I don't want one.

^Good. I'll have yours as well

^
for your wife right.

^ too much wind there too I suspect

We got one called Fly Dragonfly it's similar to what you show here.Harder than hell to get it to go where you want.Any suggestions,helpful ones that is.

In Hk they also have 'flying saucers'

Its like a polystyrene frisbee with rotors on the underside, and some sort of directional fins.

I bought my father a remote controlled UFO for christmas, bloody big it was, I got the jumbo version, filled it with helium.

He had a great christmas day with it floating it around the house.

On boxing day my mum opened the back door and through a freak of nature or her own stupidity it got picked up by a breeze pulled out the door and off.

It was a large circle of aluminium floating in the direction of the landing path of the locak airport 2 miles away.

Not sure if it would have appeared on the radar or not.

Little 'Tis' is after one for his birthday a week next Sunday..I've seem them in shops in Pattaya, are they worth getting from there or are they a load of crap ?

Microplanes and Nanoplanes

By Chris Anderson April 30, 2007 | 12:39:37 AMCategories: R/C Planes


After my post on cheap electric free-flight planes, several readers suggested that we try the Air Hogs Aero Ace R/C foam microbiplane, which at $30 is about as cheap as a functional R/C plane can get. It's also got a thriving mod scene, which is a good sign. (Indeed, it's quite popular with the Google engineers, and the security guards there are always having to go on the roof and retrieve misdirected planes).
I was skeptical, because the main appeal of the non-R/C free-flight planes for younger kids was that they're not controllable--you just trim and launch and the rest is up to the wind gods, which introduces a certain fun surprise element while removing some of the guilt when thing go wrong. I was worried that introducing the fiddly control aspects of an R/C plane was too much for the younger kids. But we decided to give it a shot for the sake of a GeekDad post, at least.
The readers were right: on the right field and the right day, the Aero Ace is a blast. It's got two motors but other than that no moving parts. All steering is done with motor speed, faster and slower for up and down, and relative speed between the two motors for right and left. The consequence of this is that the plane is light and simple, and zips around with plenty of power (something that had been a problem in the earlier generation of Air Hogs foamies).
But the motor-only control also means that you can only steer under power, which means no controlled gliding. It's also pretty hard to control under even the best circumstances, so you need a clear field at least as big as baseball diamond to avoid ending in trees. Wind, as always, is a killer for such tiny planes. Anything more than 5-6 MPH means that you probably won't be able to fight your way upwind, which is no fun. Unfortunately, we don't get days with that little wind very often, so that will limit the time we can fly the Aero Ace.
There is a solution, however, and that's to go even smaller, so you can fly indoors. AirHogs has just released an amazing nanoplane, the Aerosoar Hornet II, which seems to have reached the Planck limit of tiny foamies. It's similar in concept to the $300 Carbon Butterfly (and at 3.52 grams about 0.08 grams lighter, although it's got less power, shorter battery life and no landing gear), but rather than shipping in a custom aluminum briefcase, it comes in a cardboard box and every part is made as cheap and unbreakable as possible. The foam surfaces can be bent almost double without breaking, and even the few dings we've given it were easily fixed with foam-safe superglue. And it, too, has a mod scene.
The Aerosoar has a single geared pusher prop, driven by the same tiny electric motors that run AirHogs' cool microhelicopters. A micro coil in the tail flips a rudder either full right or full left, depending on the direction of the current going through it; with no current the rudder tends to return to the neutral position. Like the microhelicopers, it's controlled by an infrared transmitter, which also serves as the charger. Its minuscule battery charges up in about 40 seconds, as opposed to 20 minutes for the helicopters. Flight times are equally short; about 40 seconds, as opposed to a few minutes for the helis.
As for the flying, well, at this size it's a miracle that it stays in the air at all, given the marginal power and all-or-nothing steering. But with a bit of practice you can get it to do nice slow circles around a living room. That lends a sense of accomplishment, at least, although whether it counts as enough fun to justify the price may depend on the kid. I think it's worth getting just to marvel at what it took to make a plane so small and to expand a kid's sense of what a plane can be. If they don't get an education in aerodynamics, they'll at least learn a lesson about Chinese manufacturing abilities. The road to nanobots starts here!

Geekdad - Wired Blogs

I've seen those toys on sale in Robinsons for 600 baht.

Larger ones made of plastic for 1500.

My girlfriend wanted a 'real' helicopter so I bought her
a toy one!
She didn't ask me for anything after that.

Theres a decent Nitro Heli for sale on Thaivisaclassifieds at the moment.

500 bht

RC helicopters???

Shit... do they do 'em for CoE, Jews, Buddhists and Muzzies too?? What about agnostics and athieists? I just want a non-denominational one please... There are far too many choppers in the church already...

Does anyone know where to get replacement blades for these things? Pref. in CM.

My boy is on his third one already.