Syma 2nd Edition S107 S107G New Version Indoor Helicopter (Red)

NOTE: this is identical (remote, mechanically, in every way except the case) to  ACME - zoopa 150 red heat. 3 + 2 channel 2.4 gHz helicopter with LED lights (AA0179)  but is slightly cheaper with the remote design, the controller for this is a cheap smooth plastic, the one linked has a nicer smooth finish (and nicer box too!)As such I shall paste my review here, because it is entirely applicable.I give this 4 not 5 stars because you cannot easily replace the battery, a nice thing to do with little RC helicopters is remove the battery, insert a new one and play while the old charges. This has no battery you can easily replace, perhaps even easily buy - others do.This is a great learning helicopter, it's 3 channels, I have no idea where it gets +2 from, you have forward/back rotate and main rotor (which is mostly height, but when the helicopter is learning forward to move forward, this can increase your speed)I recommend this for children and people starting out with RC devices in general or specifically helicopters, despite the charging problem.Why:Flybar - this is the bar above the 2 rotors, it is basically two weights on a stick, this results in a high moment of inertia, meaning they don't like to move off their axis (think like a bike, stationary the bike loves to fall over, but when the wheels are spinning, the wheels try to keep spinning in the same plane, so the bike is resistant to falling - it's the same principle). The helicopter is very stable and stays level as a resultLoose main rotor connections - the main rotors are free to pivot (spinning up will put them into their main position, opposite each other), which means if you crash (and you will) the blade can collapse and thus not bend the rotor pole (if it does bend, the device is either going to be really shaky if you are lucky, of completely inoperable) - so this makes it very durable.It also means if it hits something it MAY recover (rather than push itself over crash), rather than topple, it will also mean it'll hurt less if it hits someone, but don't plan on doing that.HOW TO FLY:IF SOMETHING GOES WRONG: say you're loosing control, drop the rotor to 0, this way the helicopter will fall (it weighs like 30g, so wont crack or anything) and you will minimise the chance of damaging the rotors, if the motors are still spinning you're straining the motor, you mean the rotors might actually whack into something, just drop the helicopter. WHEN SOMETHING IS GOING WRONG, DO NOTHING, seriously. It will protect the helicopter. Anyway:People often think "I can ignore all advice and just push up!" please don't do this, start out by trying to do hops, and gradually extending how long you are in the air.When you try to do hops, don't increase the rotor speed and try to stablise the helicopter, then increase further until takeoff. As you approach the point where the helicopter is balanced in the air (supporting its own weight) you'll get no friction from the skids (the two rails it sits on) but they cannot (this isn't a design problem, they cannot prevent this) support the weight evenly, so the helicopter will drift and you'll try to correct these random directions and just make them worse, you need to increase through this until it is hovering under it's own weight above the surface. Now the gyroscopes can operate properly (because they don't have an unpredictable force being applied through the skids any more)Now you'll probably get more confident, RESIST THE URGE TO GO HIGHER, instead work on rotating, and going forward and back. I recommend a DINING ROOM TABLE that is clear for this because you have space. If it's about to go over the edge of the table, drop the rotor, this way it far safer when it falls, as I mentioned above, you want to be able to get it where you want it to go, by that I mean, take a spot in space, move it there and practice getting it there without over shooting, and keeping the altitude the same. After that have fun, just remember the when in doubt drop the rotor thing.Example: (this happened to me) if your beloved dog jumps (and comes out of nowhere) drop the rotor, if you throttle up not only are you accelerating the blades, you would go nearer the eyes, remember the blades are wing shaped, they have quite a high air resistance (the blunt side is forward after all) so with no force applied will slow down quickly, dropping means she'll get a startling hit to the nose, but the blades are not sharp (blunt side) and they were nearly stopped, so be safe and drop the rotor when something goes wrong. Please don't think ill of me for this example, I feel awful for it - by mentioning it I hope others can see how good drop-the-rotor advice is and be mindful of pets.CONS:This is 3 channel, so it cannot do crab movements (this is when the helicopter strafes from side to side) it can only go forward and back, and rotate (and up and down, obviously) however this is not a con of the helicopter, it's great design means it can't have these things. To be able to crab it must be able to adjust the blade angle, which it can't, and doing so would mean the blades would have to be fixed, meaning if you crashed it it'd be far more likely to damage itself. However I really recommend this as a first helicopter.NOTE ON MODEL NUMBERS:Syma 2nd Edition S107 is identical to this, in build and remote, however this one is better because the remote has a high-quality finish to it (so it feels comfortable, and good and not cheap and has good grip), these helicopters are identical but the Syma has a tacky looking box and a cheap control finish (just plastic, no smooth grip)Any questions or comments please do comment! I hope this helps someone

Bought as a secret Santa present and it was loved more than expected. Due to the way it could self stabilise, he was over the moon. He was only disappointed that it was more difficult outdoors.

I had one a few years ago, so I knew it was a good product.

I don't need to tell you that this is great fun and you should buy it, there are another 150+ reviews here to tell you that. Instead I'll give you some facts about the helicopter and my experience of using it (Or crashing it, that should be!)First things first, there are a mix of these units around ... many sold as the 'S107G' are suggested to be a newer/improved model - this is NOT the case. The 'G' is to signal the gyroscope principal that this thing uses to lift itself and stop the unit from spinning round. This unit works this way, they probably all do - be cautious if you don't buy this that you don't buy a fake model ... there is more about this online.The controller takes six 'AA' batteries and the helicopter has a built in (Non removable) 150 mAh battery. On one side of the helicopter is the on/off switch and on the other side is the charging connection. The controller can charge the helicopter (Cable is built into the controller) or you can charge from USB using a supplied cable - I've used both methods but prefer the USB ... I've charged it from PC, Laptop, PS3 & iPad Charger, I got no LED when charging from my Sky+ HD box but I think that's an issue with the Sky box rather than the cable.Charging from either method takes approx 45-50 minutes and I've timed non-stop flight time to a round 8 minutes using up/down and back/forward motions. Some have suggested allowing the helicopter to cool before re-charging but I've not being doing this and experienced no issues.The helicopter consists of three motors, one for each of the main blades (Spin in alternate directions) and when turning the controller will slow down one motor and speed up the other allowing the gyro affect to spin quickly and cleanly. If you hover the helicopter and it rotates on it's own - a dial is on the remote to trim/adjust this and works very well. The third motor is at the end of the rear tail boom - this spins to raise/lower the rear of the helicopter and move it forwards/backwards.I've crashed this into dishes/doorways/mirrors/pictures/walls/kids/tables and it isn't showing a single sign of damage and works perfectly. One of the mugs did chip a little bit not a mark on anything else. I find when flying, if you get too close to an object or a wall it gets drawn into it - I assume this is down to the physics of the air in some way... but it isn't a big problem.Now, the manual isn't 100% clear. Yes, it's a genuine model and yes the english used in the manual isn't great. I thought it may be worthwhile to clarify what happens with charging this item - either way if charging from controller or USB ensure the helicopter is turned off completely. When charging from the controller, full batteries should see about 10-12 charges.If charging from controller - switch on the controller and you'll see a greed LED - connect to the helicopter and it'll go red. Towards the end of charging it'll change to amber then green when fully charged. If you get no red LED - ensure the helicopter is off.Charging from the controller using the cable - connect the USB alone and it'll glow red. Connect to the helicopter and it'll go off. It'll come on dim and may flicker towards the end of charging and will go solid red once charged. If the red light does not go off when connected - ensure the helicopter is off.No LED's come on the helicopter whilst it's charging!Lastly, spare parts are available online very cheaply - normally a couple of quid for a few new spare parts. One thing though is that a replacement USB charging cable is £4+ ... make sure that doesn't get lost.Hope that you enjoy your helicopter, it's good fun and very cheap too.