My wife bought me the Syma 102G Blackhawk. This thing is too much fun! They're so cheap, I decided to order a tandem rotor Chinook, and maybe a quad-copter after that. Dad is having surgery and will be stuck indoors for a while, so I ordered a 107G for him to play around with. And then, there are some fairly inexpensive single rotor 4 channel copters out there.

Anyway, it seems like lots of people end up with a small fleet of these things. I can see why.

Anyone else?

My brother has (probably still does) one of the early coaxial helis, pretty simple controls. It was pretty fast once it got going, and was almost impossible to stop, but lots of fun!

I have one of the early Air Hogs fixed pitch single rotors with the tiny ETRM. Lots of fun flying around the living room. It too had minimal controls, but with some practice (and a bit of nose weight for steady forward tendency) I could just about land it within a square foot or so sized area.

Those old ones were probably an actual challenge to fly.

Got my S34 Chinook yesterday. It's too big for inside my house, but has a longer RC range and was great tearing around the back yard. Still susceptible to breezes, but worked much better than the small one outdoors.

My son got one of these new ones the other day, with a built in water gun. LOL
I'm really impressed with how far these have some since the last one he had about 5-7 years ago. Those had to be balanced to keep flying forward and straight, which we never managed.
Nice remote, cheap price now...makes me want one too. I saw one styled as an Apache, but I like the exposed metal frame of the basic ones too. Some even fire missiles (to be promptly lost).

Hey RK,
I played around with Dad's 107G (metal frame) a bit. I have to say, the 102G(Blackhawk) has finer controls for more delicate maneuvers(remotes are identical, must be the motors), and it seems to fly faster too. Also flies a bit longer, probably because it is lighter. The wheels don't actually turn, but they're slick enough that you can taxi it around on smooth floors, which is kinda cool. It's the one I learned on, so I've probably crashed 20+ times already, and it still flies like new.

I heard the Apache and the Cobra are zippy and more of a handful, but fun. But then, the 107G seems the most mod-friendly if you really want to get into it.

The Chinook has been more of a challenge. You can't just dump the collective and expect to recover like you will in the little choppers. Inputs must be smooth. Reminds me of playing EECH, seeing a SAM vehicle and thinking "Oh crap! Gotta get low!" Next thing I know, *crash*... Already chewed the blades up a little, but this doesn't seem to affect performance.

I have one of the Syma 102s as well, and it sure does fly nice! Very stable, and pretty easily controlled. I've been able to fly it through and around obstacles in my basement and and perform nice soft landings. Well worth the $20 I spent for it on Amazon!

Here we go. Number 3: http://www.amazon.com/Single-Rotor-Helicopter-Version-Improved/dp/B009SE5DRO

This is a whole new animal. Crazy fast. Same size as a Syma 107, but a bit hyper for indoor flying.

The helo AND the transmitter for like $36 US???

What's the approx range of the R/C?

I know! And an extra battery and rotor blades! Well, it doesn't come with the 6 AA for the transmitter. Forgivable.

This thing is fun. Made it thru the weekend, like 20 flights and 10 crashes. Still fine. Though, when I took it out of the box, my first thought was "Man this thing is FLIMSY."

Range says 50m-80m, but my backyard is not quite big enough to fly it out of range. Also, wish I had gotten the white one for better visibility when it's far from my aging eyes.

I want it to fly off my balcony and chase off the feral cats, coons and possums that will be coming looking for turtle eggs soon. I wish I could afford a good night sight and a kick ass pellet gun instead...but this will be tons of fun anyway.

Thanks for the tip on the white one, as I'll be doing a bit of night flying when the moon is right.

Protecting the sea turtles? Right on man!

As for flying this thing, I feel like a standard light beach breeze would be too much for it. It's better in wind than a coaxial, but that's like saying "I'm better at hopscotch than a beached jellyfish".

I have a Blade CX2 that my parents got me for Christmas in 2007. They spent like $180 on it. I haven't tried any of these newer mini-RC choppers, but from I've seen, they may far surpass my Blade CX2 in terms of ease of use, durability, and flight characteristics... for a small fraction of the price!

It's amazing how quickly technology can move once it builds a little momentum...

The sea breeze will be a problem for sure. Would be fun as heck to fly off my balcony though. Quad copter might be better....the super night sighted pellet gun would be the best....hell a silenced .22 short, with maybe THIS would be the dream solution.