As a child, I had RC (radio controlled) cars a few times and enjoyed playing with them. However, they ate batteries like no tomorrow and since they weren't rechargeable, play time was quite short. Years later, the battery technology has gotten a lot better and rechargeable batteries are in almost everything. As an adult, I've owned an RC Hummer and an RC hovercraft, but have never owned a helicopter. I've always been fascinating with them; however, I never made the leap into owning one.
Last week I was looking for something on the Internet and came across an advertisement for a company that sells RC helicopters. After a little research, I found a very beginner helicopter, the Syma S107
, for about $30. I decided to give it a try knowing that it was a toy and I didn't expect a whole lot from it given that some helicopters I saw cost significantly more.
Once I received the helicopter, I plugged it into USB and charged it for 45 minutes or so. My first few tries were not very good and had hard or crash landings. The blades are quite durable and seemed to handle my poor flying (however, I did order some additional main blades and tail blades off eBay).
Flying a helicopter is definitely not like driving an RC car; once you take your finger off the throttle, it immediately falls to the ground and crashes. Also, hovering isn't as easy as just making it lift off the ground and leaving it there. You have to continuously adjust it to keep it in one place. I'm now 3 days into it and am starting to make progress at controlling it. My office is quite large and allows me some room to fly, but I keep hitting my desk chair (yes, I should move) or the base of my punching bag.
This little helicopter has definitely piqued my interest in RC helicopters and I'll be going to a hobby store later this week to start drooling (I'm looking at the Blade mCX2
).
I've been searching for a hobby for years; my hobby has always been writing software. However, I'm not really sure I can consider my work a hobby! I'm excited enough, that this little helicopter may have opened my eyes to something I didn't know could be fun.
Pros
- Inexpensive
- Durable main blades
- Durable body and landing skids (haven't broken then, yet)
- Easy to charge with USB
- Replacement parts are cheap and readily available on eBay
Cons
- Infrared remote; you basically can't fly it outside and fluorescent lights could interfere with control.
- Short flight time
- Manual is poorly translated from Chinese
- A little difficult to master
- A lot of drift even with no wind; this could be all RC helicopters, but from what I've read, the better ones are easier to hover in place
- Tail rotor is easily broken (it comes with a spare, but I'm already using it)
Summary
For $30, this is definitely a fun toy. However, I wouldn't consider it a child's toy as it isn't easy to control. My 3 year old son drives my RC truck, but I wouldn't consider handing him the controls to the helicopter. If you've never flown an RC helicopter before, don't expect to be flying perfectly on the first flight. It will take some time to learn the controls and master flight.
The biggest downside I can see to this is that after the first taste of flight, you'll want to get something better!
Comments
September 4th, 2010
yogibear
Dude these are soooooooooooooooo easy to control u could pretty much pick it up and fly maybe yours is defective because like you i had little experience and i could fly with no problem
September 4th, 2010
Scott Gruby
I didn't say I couldn't fly it. I've now flown a Blade mcx2 and there is no comparison between the Syma and the mcx2. As the guy at the hobby shop said when I got the mcx2, the goal of the cheap ones is to keep them from crashing while the goal of the more expensive ones is to fly them.
September 6th, 2010
Review: Blade mCX2 | Scott Gruby’s Blog
"[...] getting a Syma S107 RC helicopter, I was quickly hooked on RC helicopters. I went to the local hobby shop, Discount Hobby Warehouse, [...]"
September 26th, 2010
crazyrcdeals.com
the addiction is just starting
October 11th, 2010
chartrav
Hmm, its a great little chopper! only im somewhat disapointed with the s107 fly time " i have two and both are well short of a minute airborn!!!
October 13th, 2010
Richard
"Need help: I have the same copter and have been teaching my young son to fly it. We're having a great time! We've had several crashes and the copter's proved durable. However, after a crash from ceiling height yesterday, I can no longer get the S107 to hover.\r\n\r\nIt will rise and start to hover but then starts to make progressively larger circles. The blades have a few very small nicks that didn't seem to be causing problems before. The tail rotor was slightly bent but I bent it back and it appears to be straight.\r\n\r\nAny thoughts? Any help is appreciated!"
October 14th, 2010
crazyrcdeals
"In my honest opinion if you broke your syma helicopter if i may suggest to get a 4 channel fixed pitch helicopter, Its bit harder to control but it will teach your hands the proper reflexes when you get to buy the bigger more expensive models, would also help to get a RC simulator. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFor more information regarding this \r\nhttp://crazyrcdeals.com/tipsonwhattobuy.html\r\nhttp://crazyrcdeals.com/HoneybeeFPreview.html"
October 14th, 2010
Scott Gruby
While I agree that a 4 channel helicopter is going to be a lot better than the Syma, I believe there is a lot of value in the coaxial ones before moving up to a fixed pitch. I am having a lot of fun with my Blade mCX2 and CX3. I do want to get a fixed pitch one in the near future (Blade mSR), but still need to get better with the coaxial ones first.
October 14th, 2010
crazyrcdeals
"For me getting an mcx is a safe choice but from my experience and of course people have different preferences, i grew tired of coaxials after a couple of weeks cause i cannot fly it outside as it tends to get blown away by the wind. What i needed at that time was a heli that i can fly in the backyard or in the park. The MSR is a good heli from what i heard, i haven't flown it personally but i own a walkera 4#3 i think its the same size, problem with these micro fp helicopters are they tend to be twitchier compared to the bigger honeybee fp's. Bigger rotor diameter means more stability.\r\nOne good thing about the msr's though was since they were lightweight in an event of a crash damage on the heli and its surroundings will be minimal to none. I have my walkera stuck on my curtains a couple of times, the helicopter is safe but wife wasn't too happy about it though :) \r\n\r\nIf you decided to go fp route check out radds school of flight that was the one that get me started on fp flying \r\n\r\nSorry for the long post more power to your blog"
October 14th, 2010
Scott Gruby
|- I can fly my CX3 outside; it's almost too big to fly inside. Having the ultra micro is great as I can fly it inside and most of my flying is at night.