For X-Mas the year before last my in laws bought me a medium sized RC Helo that crashed and burned on its first flight. It was one of those Dept. store stocking stuffer deals and it was returned for a full refund. This Christmas they bought mini helos called Execuhelis from JC Penney (another stocking stuffer deal). I was pretty impressed by the flight characteristics of the small counter rotating rotor design and after playing with a paper clip to balance it out I was buzzing all over the garage and house. It had up/down & left/right controls and generically flew in one direction forward. Well in a nutshell after enjoying many flights and crashes the lower rotors engine quit working. Once again I returned the product hoping to exchange it for another but received a full refund after learning Penney's sold out.

After a little bit a searching I found a better Mini Heli called the Syma S107. Its sports a metal chassis and full directional control. This is my first experience with RC helos of any type but this new Syma looks to be promising! It should arrive tomorrow afternoon (with a twin helo for my father in law). At $32 on amazon I think this is a great deal. I'll post more later after I get my hands on it but have included some video links I found on Youtube.





Too much fun, by far my favorite Christmas gift!

I received my new RC Heli last night and must say was exactly what I hoped for based on my research.

I was able to take off right after first charge and buzz around the house and garage with no issues. This helo is SUPER stable it will take off steadily anywhere and the throttle control is very nice (don't like the spring though). As described it flies forw/back. left or right which makes for some very controllable flight characteristics. One thing about its stability is that its so stable and easy to fly it really lacks in forward flight. I think this is intentional on the manufacturers part, I think they were aiming for a super easy to fly helo beginner. I'll probably experiment with a paper clip or penny to gain a little airspeed, its too boring at the current speed. The controller has a built in Yaw trimmer and honestly its rarely needed. The first helo I had would constantly need to be trimmed especially after throttling up or down, with the Syma S107 this isn't an issue. I've noticed in forward flight if you let go of the flight control the helo flies back a slight bit and levels itself out nicely.

After a while my father in-law came over to try his helo out and for someone that has never flown or drove anything remotely it's extremely forgiving. It wasn't long until he was able to fly under a folding table and land on said table. He had a few crashes (to be expected) but with a metal chassis and folding blades it's no big deal. I'm already thinking of ordering some replacement rotor blades for both the main and tail.

A true beginners RC Helo, I'd say it's safe for any 7&up yr old, an adult and/or beginner that has no experience. Just the fact that it flies where you want it, can take off in a hover and stable is enough to recommend this to anyone.

Anyone else have one of these little helos?


PS - I'm already thinking of removing the controllers throttle spring, adding some forward weight to give more speed and looking for ways I shave weight (canopy, etc....). Too much fun!

Thanks for the heads up. I started an aerospace and simulation club at my school and I need airframes that are stable. I've gotten the Airhogs aircraft but they can be a handful at times. Quite chaotic honestly. I think I will get a couple of the Syma 107 for my boys. Now if I can get a real budget, I can really outfit my crew.

Anyway, thanks again for the mini report.

--T

No problem I think everyone I know will want one once they fly it! It won't perform any crazy stunts but will fly where you want it and is easy to learn. My father in-law can barely figure out how to turn on his PC yet alone program a TV remote. That said anyone can fly it. Just watch out for air movement, I lost control trying to fly into the house from the garage it was 40 outside and 72 in the house. Pretty amazing to watch it react to the draft coming out of the doorway. So ceiling fans and heat/ac registers will affect it. With the first helo I mentioned in my orig. post it would spin out off the blower from our gas fireplace pretty humorous. I imagine the Execu Heli is very similar in fligt to the Airhog heli's. The Syma S107 compared to that one is night and day difference. On another note you can fly three at a time just make sure you get different colors. I thought ordering two of them on amazon from a store that listed "Assorted Colors" would have sent me two different helos but no, they sent me two reds!

Glad you enjoyed my little description of a great RC heli, when you get yours I know you'll be impressed! I don't think you can get a better mini for a better price at least. I'm think I'm gettin a bug lol!

I have a couple of the older types of these helos. Great fun to fly them.

Yeah, have one older type to. Thanks HitchHikingFlatlander for sharing your experience. Will order a Syma S107.

I got one for Chrismas. It's broken already

Well it can't survive every crash lol but I've been fortunate so far!

After getting the hang of it more and more I have to say the forward/reverse flight takes some getting used to. I think it has to do with how the helo tries to auto stabilize but it's definitely slow in forward/reverse flight. I'm going to play around with some pennies or paperclips to get some speed out of it. I might remove any dead weight to see what that does. I figure taking the body off will lighten it up a bit and at worst give me a slight bit more battery time.

hi there
I have one of these they are fantastic
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SYMA-GYRO-Metal-3-...e#ht_3256wt_913
price in the shops here is £30
vampyre
ps I also have a CopterX 450 but this little baby is much more fun

I promise I'll make a video at some point. Demo/Mini Review or something or other. I've been flying it under/over folding tables and I hang a mountain bike tire in the garage and fly through it. Flying this thing in circles gets boring after you get the hang of it! With all that said, stunt flying does lead itself to additional crashes and this little helo is taking a beating.

One of the two helos has trouble keeping balance now but doesn't have any parts that look damaged. I think what happened is that the battery has slid loose from its holder and is causing the helo go off balance. I've yet to determine that as the cause but given how many hard crashes it's handled I can't complain. I'll report back in after I get a chance to look at it. The second helo is also showing similar signs but it's still very flyable. I've crashed both at least 75-100 times though so keep that in mind!