Double Horse 9101

Another huge helicopter at 71 cm long.  Arriving soon!!

Double Horse 9104

On order-coming soon!!  A huge single rotor helicopter from Double horse.  3.5 channel and a giant compared to the DH9100 which is 49cm long.  This DH9104 is a huge 72cm long !!!!!

Syma/Double Horse Dragonfly

Large outdoor two channel helicopter.  Priced at £21.00 this is an old, very basic helicopter.  Looks nice and has the largest motor (370 size) of any helicopter we have tested.  It is a right handful to fly and he have not had a clear day to test it yet.

6 out of 10

Double Horse 9097

Under testing, review to follow

Huan Qi Lama 315B *REPLACEMENT BLADES AVAILABLE*

This could well be the bargain of the century if we can acquire one shorty.  Priced at just £23.95 and being 18.3" long it looks extremely good value.  

Are initial assessment is this could be heavily based on the expensive E-Sky Lama V4 retail of around £90 plus.  We hope to buy one then test it at a local R/C model group against the E-sky model.  Then fit the upgraded motors by Extreme to boost the performance to greater than the E-sky.  Our estimated cost of Helicopter + modifications will be less than £40.  

Also note we use the E-sky Lama Extreme upgrade motors to upgrade other helicopters such as our Double Horse 9100 with incredible results.  The Motors cost less than £10 each.

Update: The Helicopter has arrived and is now under going tests.  The initial thought is this is a very good helicopter.  Build quality is excellent and performance as expected.   

Double Horse 9100

The Double Horse 9100 is a very different beast to most other outdoor helicopters at this price.  It is a single rotor design which makes it fast, very fast.  The Co-Axial helicopters are very slow in comparison as they use a small rotor on the rear for forwards and backwards motion.  The 9100 uses its main rotors to pull it forward and back. DH 9100 is my favourite out helicopter.

Saying this however it does have it's faults.  It is very difficult to fly especially for a novice, I would never recommend it as a first helicopter.  Some people have complained of poor forward flight.  I have improved mine very a few simple mods.  The most simple is to put Blu-tak in the nose which will drastically improved forward motion. If you have a soldering iron you can change the motor for an Extreme Lama motor A.  The most powerful motor available and is only around £10-£12.  The third is a swash plate mod that can be found on the net.

Heung Long Explorer Sky Fighter

Another quality helicopter from Heung Long.

A fairly large indoor classed helicopter that we have successfully flown outside.  Using Radio Control not Infra red it leaves the option to use it outside on a very calm day.  This model was picked up for £19.99 from a local model shop.

Far heavier than most indoor helicopters it has been given the the motors to cope.  A decent size and powered lipo battery gives a long powerful flight.

What's good:  Good quality and fun to fly.  Lovely LED's all over it and a wall plug in charger not USB.  Powerful motors (130 size I think) and a quality Radio Control unit.  Feels like it should be priced more around the £25-£30 pound mark.

What's bad:  Plastic construction although it has survived well.  Not the easiest to fly and probably would benefit from a fairly large space.  It's kind of in between being an indoor or an outdoor helicopter.

Conclusion:  Looking at the price this is the biggest bargain I have tested.  It is large, well scaled and performs well.  It's large size may not suit everyone and it is noisy in flight.  It comes with spare blades and has a good quality feel.  This model would particularly suit somebody who has flown indoors and wants an occasional outdoor experience or is not confident enough to move to the large out door ones yet.  It would be especially good in outdoor spaces with limited space or for the younger flyer.

9.5 out of 10

LH-Model Gold Edition Helicopter

This model arrived today.  A friend had purchased it for £30 and I must say I am not impressed.  It is slightly larger than the average indoor helicopter but that is about it's only plus point.  I certainly do not think it is worth more than £20, however I wouldn't touch it with a barge pole.  It claims to be a 3.5 channel (.5 channel adjustable motor speed) but I have been unable to test.

What's good:  Nothing I could test, maybe colour?? Metal chassis cheap but well painted plastic.  Looks fairly well built from outside.  Nice packaging.

 What's bad:  After unpacking and charging it the first attempted flight had to be aborted.  The bottom rotor set failed to spin and made a grinding noise indicating no motor engagement.  I stripped the helicopter down and was able to use a gear puller to align what was left of the motor gear with the main drive gear pinion.

Fabulous I thought I made fixed it, not.  The helicopter now would take off but would not hover, just do large round motions like it was skimming the bottom of a bowl.  I have seen this before in my Syma S107G and the problem is the top rotor pivot pin.  Stripped this down to see 1/2 of it must have been missing since the factory.  Using my modeling skills I removed what was left of the plastic pin and replaced it with a small custom metal pin.

Great now it can take off I thought.  Yes it could but still was totally uncontrollable.  It now appears on top of everything else the Gyro does not work at all.  I have told my friend to return it to the shop but he is refusing.  His loss not mine, he didn't want advice in the first place.  

Conclusion:  Seriously the worst helicopter I have come into contact with.  Cheaply built and simply doesn't work.  Don't be fooled by the bling colour it is a total load of rubbish.  

0 out of 10

Slight update this site claims quite a lot of functions.  If it worked it could have been interesting!!

Unbranded Black Wolf Helicopter

The Black wolf is an unbranded helicopter from China.  It has excellent build quality and a very cheap price of around £15.  At this price there has to be a catch and unfortunately there is, it is a 2 channel helicopter.  This should really finish the review here with a 1 out of 10 but I just can't.  Why, I am not sure but it is just so fun to fly.  It has to rate the most difficult helicopter I have ever flown but that is the fun of it.  Despite it's basic controls it does have a Gyro and can be trimmed.  It also has the greatest amount of lifting power I have ever seen in an indoor helicopter.  Seriously this thing can lift around 200grams which is amazing.  Last night I took it outside and it flew to about 40 feet in less than 3 seconds.  Despite it's crazy limited controls it is just so much fun.  I love it and keep going back to it.

What's good:  Build quality is amazing for the price.  Strong alloy body, flexible blade and LED lights that are like halogen bulbs.  It has amazing power, they must have used turbo motors in it.  Great fun to fly despit how tricky it is.  Super durable, a must have if you are building a collection.  Being so difficult to master it will keep you hooked for hours.

What's bad: The controls are ridiculously difficult to master.  Limited in what it can do and the shear power sends it smashing into the ceiling very often.  No known spare parts availability yet.  Useless for beginners as it will put them off helicopters for life.

Conclusion:  The Black Wolf is great as part of a collection but should be avoided as your first or only indoor helicopter.  It's benefits will be as a trainer for the large, cheap outdoor 2 channel helicopters I will review shortly.  It's the kind of helicopter I should hate but I just can't, it is too much fun and getting it to go where you want is so satisfying.

7 out of 10

Heng Long ROC Falcon

This little gem I managed to pick up from Sussex Model Centre £23.95

This is a real high tech helicopter for it's size.  The helicopter is of 4 channel Remote control and is very quick.  You can strafe left to right in addition to the usual 3 channel movements.  Personally this is the best indoor helicopter I have tested and is an excellent price.

Unlike the other co-axial 3 channel helicopters the Falcon uses micro servo's to change the pitch of the main rotor.  This eliminates the need for the tiny rear rotor for forward and backwards motion.  The speeds it can achieve are incredible and sometimes it gets too fast for a small room.  Being that it is 4 channel it would be an ideal starting point for anybody looking to get into model helicopters as a hobby.

What's good:  Well built and impressive design technology.  The helicopter comes with a spares sheet that gives you a part number for every tiny piece.  The LED's are impressive and bright, it looks good when flying.  Flight time is a generous 12 minutes with about 18 minutes charge.  The handling is superb, you can actually bank it on turns.  The airframe is all metal and has decent flexible rotors for the inevitable crashes.  The rotors can pop out of their mountings rather than break off like many other small helicopter designs.

What's bad:  Does have some unusual flight characteristics which will fool a novice.  The remote control could be better as it sometimes tricks you into movements you didn't want to do.  Probably wont be as sturdy as the S107G.

Conclusion:  Apart from the S107G's stability and build quality the ROC Falcon beats it everywhere. It is fast and well built and is far more advanced in design.  To be honest it leaves most indoor helicopters standing unless you fancy spending over £70.  It is tricky for a beginner but can be flown as a 3 channel.  The Falcon gets my highest marking to date.  Truly brilliant, just a shame it is quite rare.

9.5 out of 10

MJX, T-Series 38

This is the first indoor helicopter I have found from this brand.  MJX T-Series also make the highly sort after and durable T-34 outdoor helicopter.  However I have always suspected that people are attracted by the T-34 because of it's LCD radio transmitter, not the actual helicopter.  Still lets get back to the T-38.

The T-38 out of the box does not give you the quality feel of the S107G.  However its price tag of £15-£20 (include delivery) is more attractive.  The chassis is a lightweight alloy unlike the S107G and the plastic parts look and feel cheaper.  The T-38 is a 3 channel helicopter giving a good range of movement.  It's stability is only rivalled by the S107G, you can set it at a height, put the controller down and walk away.

What's good: The T38 is a good flyer, very stable and you will pick up the controls quickly.  Spares are available from ebay however will not be as easy to locate as the S107G.  The price is very attractive.

What's bad:  Clearly this has been built for price, not performance.  Saying that it performs fairly well but is horrifically slow in horizontal flight.  The gearing system is a direct motor to gearing shaft, limiting it's lift and power rate. Looks cheap and lacks widespread parts support.

Conclusion:  Not cheap enough to warrant buying over the S107G.  A good hunt around and you will find them at the same price.  To be fair I only got my hands on it today, but I think it will break if it takes too much abuse.

7 out of 10

The Syma S107G

I want to continue this blog site by reviewing 1 model a day as I catch up the the numerous I have.   I Have already got my hands on the Syma S107G from the beginning so it makes sense to start hear.

I will give you a guide price of £17-£25.  I would not pay more for this model and include postage if you are buying from an online retailer.

The S107G is regarded as the best indoor helicopter bar none.  It is very well built and handles better than any other helicopter bar.  This helicopter is very stable in flight and the easiest in the world to fly.  This one is best for if you want something for a sensible child to fly.  It is not frustrating when learning and has the best list of parts available of any indoor helicopter.

Syma as a brand is a very popular manufacturer from China.  It also trades under another name of Double Horse whose models tend to be the larger outside models.  They have a good build quality and excellent parts support.  I give them a 9 out of 10 for there products which is currently higher than any other review (I am saving a 10 in case something better appears).  Syma are so well regarded that there are now knock off's appearing out of China claiming to be them.  Sounds unbelievable doesn't it, cheap china goods that are now so good that a knock off market has emerged.

Build quality:  The S107G has an all metal frame construction.  That is not the cheap alloy metal but a light weight stainless steel chassis.  The plastics are ABS and very flexible which is essential for indoor use.  The remote control is of  3 channel configuration and has a quality far better than rivals. You will need 6 AA batteries and can recharge your helicopter from it.  It also includes a USB lead which I suggest you use unless you have rechargeable AA batteries.  The electrics and avionics are the finest of any indoor helicopter tested to date.

What's good:  The S107G feels like quality out of the box (yes quality despite being cheap Chinese goods).  It weighs more than it's rivals due to it's solid build.  The S107G has been designed to fly well, not be built as cheaply as possible.  The gearing system has been left visible which gives you the first clue why the helicopter flies so well.  The gearing is complicated, not like it's rivals direct motor on drive cog configuration.  In the air it is so stable, the Gyro keeps it in one direction and remains solid in flight.  The electronics are well concealed in the frame and the LED's are not overdone. A complete novice should be able to fly this competently in about 20 minutes, approximately 2 charges.

What's bad;  The S107G does have weak spots despite it's metal frame.  The rear decorative trim has broken on mine and needs replacing (about £2), in addition the plastic top rotor broke when a kid flew it purposely making it crash and dance across the floor.  The damage was about £1.42, however this I don't count as wear and tear or failure due to the circumstances.  Other than that it has taken loads of abuse and lives to tell the tale.

Conclusion: The biggest draw back of the S107G comes back to its strength. It is so good at flying it soon becomes boring.  It is pretty slow backwards and forwards which doesn't help, you will quickly master it and probably get bored.  I will explore possibilities of upgrading it when I get time.  Overall I think the S107G is the best choice for the total novice.  great for showing off to your mates what a great pilot you are.

9 out of 10

Radio Gear (beginners guide)

Just a quick explanation of radio controls and channels.

The indoor helicopters come with infra red controllers.  This means they work like your TV/DVD remote controls.  They are best suited to indoor use.  Most have several settings (A,B,C) to allow more helicopters to be flown at the same time.

The outdoor helicopters come with Radio Control, they use radio waves.  These come in different frequencies, mostly 27MHz and 40MHz.  To use two helicopters at the same time you should make sure they are on different frequencies.  Although I have found it is not always the case because of channels (explained below).

2,3 or 4 channels?

The amount of channels a helicopter has will control what movement you can do with it.

2 Channel;  2 channels are the most basic.  They will allow you to climb+move forward (all in one motion) and swivel left and right.

3 Channel; 3 channel is now the most popular which has probably transformed the R/C heli world.  You can climb and hover (one channel), as well as move forward and backward with separate control (two channel).  The third channel will give you the swivel left and right motion.  This configuration is the most suitable for beginners.

4 channels have been up till now used exclusively for the expensive R/C heli's.  However several good 4 channels have recently come out at cheap prices.  They do the same as a 3 Channel with the 4th channel being used to strafe or bank left or right.  These things can be manoeuvred very quickly and can also be flown as a 3 channel so can also be good for beginners.

Forget anything with 6 channels or collective pitch unless you want to join a model aircraft club!!

Introduction

I seem to have caught the bug for these toy helicopters that are available at amazing prices these days.  I was interested in Radio Controlled stuff as a kid, it was very expensive then.  I really wanted a R/C plane but prices were ridiculous.

A year or so ago these small R/C heli's started appearing.  They were cheap and had small electric motors and 2 channel radio gear (see radio gear for info).  I tried them and they were not very good, practically uncontrollable and pretty poorly built.  I saw them as a craze that would quickly fade and they did for awhile.

Now they have have come back, why?

Well several improvements have been made which have got me hooked on them again.

The first being the gyroscope, the device that keeps the helicopter stable.  The Gyro has transformed the R/C helicopter world from toys to the more professional models.  I will explain Gyro's later on in my blog.

The second is build quality.  Gone are the cheap plastic tat which has been replaced by metal framed models. More flexible blades are now used with full parts support.

The third reason is the Radio Control units.  Now even the cheapest models have 3 channel transmitters (see radio gear).

I must add however this blog is intended for the more budget range.  I do not intend to review models used by R/C hobbyists.  None of the models here will cost more than £100 UK pounds.