Yes, unless you want to try relying on scatter and bounce.
Yup
Sorry, but I gotta do it:
In Memoriam:
John Winston Ono Lennon
9 October 1940 – 8 December 1980
Because its no fun when your helicopter stops responding or falls from the air because you flew it in front of an open window or too close to a light source.
IR RC devices can be on different channels (think TV remotes) but if it doesn't say it, don't assume it.
The remote has an A/B/C switch. That’s 99% likely to be a multi-channel switch for multiple users or to stop having it change the channel on your TV every time you turn left.
The one thing I’m not seeing with this that Syma has is the USB plug. It lets you charge the chopper via USB instead of wasting your precious controller batteries.
NINJA UPDATE: looks like you can get a Syma S107 USB charging cable on the Bay for $1 shipped.
Syma clone or not, I remember some years back when RC helicopters where rich people toys, now you can get the real deal with gyroscope and all for less than $30. People this is a great deal. I’m in for 1.
true you can buy the Syma s107 on Amazon.com but the cheapest one, now running is 21.95+7.80s/h= $29.75, the s/h is where most of the sellers are making their money. Woot.com is only $23.99 a $5.76 saving, so this is a better deal if it’s actually a true Syma or at least a legit clone.
Some useful information. I’ll try to correct all the crap that people have already posted about this.
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THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH IR MINI HELICOPTERS.
I own 2 different models, a Syma S107 and a Skyhawk W909 and fly them all the time. As far as the line of sight issue, why would you fly an RC model where you can’t see it? Just try not to fly behind any large objects and you will be fine. As far as the sun and florescent light goes, I have flown in my garage with nothing but 6 foot florescent lights and outside in broad daylight without any problems. It will not fall out of the sky just because you fly in front of an open window. If ever there is a problem it’s flying in the living room and someone changes the channel via the tv remote. This has caused it to fall straight to the floor a couple times. -
There is a MAJOR difference between this heli and the $9.99 one seen on dailysteals.com
The Syma S107 is 3 channel and has a gyro just like the one being sold here. It is EXTREMELY stable for a mini heli and is one of the easiest I’ve ever just turned on and flown. The one being sold here should fly very similar to a S107 with little effort. The 2 channel Mini Alloy Shark on dailysteals.com is like my Skyhawk, and they are far more difficult to fly. I can fly the S107 for a full battery charge and only have to adjust the trim once or twice very slightly. With the Skyhawk, I have to constantly make adjustments, and it requires a lot of finesse and patience. That being said, if you are constantly adjusting a 3 channel with gyro…it is not the toy… If you are new at this, get a 3 channel with gyro and you will have a lot more fun. -
You are not going to find an RF heli this size of for this price. My suggestion, buy one of these for $24 and if you like it, upgrade to an RF heli.
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It is not a bad idea to get some extra blades as most mini heli’s don’t come with them. They are cheap and easy to replace. However, I can honestly say both of mine have come into contact with their fair share of walls and various other objects and after many months of flying, I have only had to replace a balance bar on one of them that was 99 cents on ebay.
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Every one I’ve seen so far has a switch on the transmitter so you can fly up to 3 of them in the same room. Usually A, B, and C modes.
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If it doesn’t come with a USB charging cable, don’t use one from another toy. Yes it uses your batteries faster when charging from the transmitter, but its better than ruining the battery in the helicopter and not being able to fly at all.
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Finally, I don’t think this is Syma, as there are many parts on it that are different. I doubt that will take away from the fun.
If you are a S107 snob and have to have the Syma name, here’s two for $50…
Oops, they have bumped the price up from this morning, now it is $58 for a pair.
So it does - I didn’t notice that photo. This raises another question, though: do the copters have A B C channel switches as well, or do they come with one random channel per copter? I see nothing in the photos to answer this question. Woot Staff might want to look at a copter and see if it also has the A B C switch, so people can happily order two or three of them…
I have a Syma 107 & the way it seems to work is you select A/B/C on the remote & then turn on the Heli. The Heli will “lock” onto whatever channel it sees. As a test, I use mine on “A”. I switched to “B” & turned on the Heli. It worked on “B”. I switched the controller back to “A” while keeping the Heli on & got no response.
Keep in mind this is a Syma. I can assume this Aero-G brand works the same.
This is a knock-off of the Syma 107 and you can save $6 by ordering this from Woot! (Go Woot!). http://www.xheli.com has the Syma 107 for $30 and free shipping. I just ordered one the other day for a friend from xheli.com & got it very quick. They also have cheap spare parts.
If this little guy is anything like the Syma 107, you are in for a treat. I fly mine at least 4 times a day. I have had it for a month & it has survived some serious crashes. There is NO comparison with the Syma & the junk you get at Walmart (Air Hogs etc.). 3-channel is the only way to go.
If this video doesn’t make you want one…nothing will (missiles not included)
Well actually different frequencies and different wavelengths mean the same thing since Lambda=C/Frequency
Wow, too funny. My brother was just saying how much he wanted a helicopter. I bought one for myself too since it seems like a pretty neat toy. 
I think it will take away from the fun when an unfortunate accident snaps a balance bar and replacement parts cannot be found.
I would have easily jumped on more than one of these if woot would have confirmed that it is a Syma or at least uses interchangeable parts. Maybe I’m over-thinking a $25 toy? Although I would spend $5 more to get a genuine Syma S107 to avoid any headache of ordering syma parts for this Aero-G and finding out they don’t work!
I JUST received my Syma S006 last night from a Woot! a couple weeks ago. The manual is pretty much useless considering how much Engrish there is in it but the machine seems to be well built. I did manage to break one of the secondary main blades on it after about 15 minutes of flight but that’s what happens when you have a small room to fly in with one obstruction that the helicopter keeps flying towards. I think that since this is about half the size of the S006, I may have to give this one a try too.
In this case IR means:
- Line of site = approx. 30 feet
- Bright light, Fluorescent light, physical obstruction between controller & heli, all = Heli dropping to ground and possibly breaking.
I have 15 Heli’s ranging from a 3D raptor all the way down to the little styrofoam crappy things that were hot a couple years ago.
Bottom line - for $20 bucks it’s a fun toy for a 8 - 12 year old. For approx. $25 the RF controlled Heli sold during the last Woot-off is a much better toy for older kids :). However, the counter-rotational blades make it easy enough to fly out-of-the-box either way. Just be careful of your environment when flying IR.
A heli this tiny cannot fly outdoors no matter what RC technology it’s using.It is too light… fly it past a ceiling fan at the lowest setting & you will see it get tossed across the room. As far as florescent lighting, it doesn’t seem to affect flight very much, I fly them around CFL lighting all the time.
As far as the heli itself, the frame looks EXACTLY like a Falcon-X. These chinese manufacturers steal each others design ideas all the time, it’s not like in the US where corporate espionage & patent infringement is more difficult to pull off.
Having flown the Falcon-X quite a bit, that little heli is amazing for what it is. IF this is a true copy of that design, then this is an awesome little heli & is being sold at actual wholesale costs (small volume cost anyway).
See the Falcon-X flying:
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/lgiWJVSsXzU/3.jpg (right around some very bright CFL lighting too!):
I bet it’s identical internally, just a different body shell screwed on.
Bill
This one does have a gyro though – it’s in the description.
Based upon this website SymaheliCopter.com is for sale | HugeDomains I’d say that this isn’t a Syma. OTOH it doesn’t claim to be so no harm, no foul.
I received a simple 2-channel heli for the first night of Hogswatch. “Line of site” is not a clear “yes” or “no” IMHO. It seems to retain control when it flies behind a counter or a bit around a corner. Presumably the IR signal is reflecting off walls and such.
I also have 2x40W fluorescents in the kitchen and 4x16W CFLs in the dining room, and never noticed a problem with them.