Silverlit PicooZ MX1 Supreme Micro Helicopter

I received this Silverlit Picooz 85726 IR-control helicopter for Xmas 2009. Frankly it was great fun, and petite (fits into the palm of your hand). It is essential to first take the time to read the instructions before flying, and to be gentle and sensitive, yet definite, with the flying controls (to get the KNACK). As with most aircraft it is necessary to TRIM the helicopter before and preferably during, flight. Many people report that as soon as they turn it on the helicopter spins around and around, and/or that the tail rotor becomes damaged easily. There are two buttons on the control unit that you tap gently (NOT hold continuously) to adjust the trim of the helicopter, which is what corrects for this rotation IF (!) the helicopter and rotors are not damaged/misshapen. It is best that you can find a horizontal and smooth surface to do this before each whole flying session, or do it in the air letting-go the helicopter by hand into the air. With the helicopter charged and the power to both handset and helicopter on, apply just enough left-hand control power to the helicopter to get the main rotor moving. The helicopter may gently or rapidly rotate around its main rotor, or v. quickly fall on its side and zip off elsewhere, in which case simply put it back. Figure out which direction the helicopter's tail was spinning, and press the appropriate Trim button as many times as needed to correct (Anti-Clockwise = Right Trim Button; Clockwise = Left Trim Button). The rotation will die down and largely stop if you get the trim settings right FOR THE POWER SETTING IN USE(!) (Hence can re-trim in flight) if(!) the helicopter is not damaged. It's simply a bit of practice to develop the sensitivity and knack to get this right. The helicopter is not as directionally stable as one;s ideal mind would like, especially if there is a strong breeze in your house (which it will respond to) because it is so light, but genuinely can hover well and fly in a clockwise direction (which it is designed to do) fairly well, especially when you have developed control-sensitivity and trimming-for-the-power-setting-you-are-using (can steer using the trim controls if you wish). It is not easy or technically possible to fly this helicopter to the left, but this is more of a niggle (hence the 4 stars) than the worst thing ever. Instead, you can hold position/hover at all applicable altitudes, speed up, slow down, climb and descend, and turn right, as you gather skill and read the air flow in the room. The helcopter spectacularly crashes into things in the room, and then plummets out of the sky, but in my case it crashed into all manner of solid objects over and over again over Xmas until the tail rotor blade finally gave out, and many of us (inc. young kids) really loved it and were mesmerised by it (and I worked professionally with helicopters)). My version as a present did not come with a spare tail rotor blade, but I'd strongly recommend purchasing these as they will sooner or later deform/break, especially if you hit into a solid floor every time it plummets. It's best to plummet into grass, or a carpet... You can gently deform the tail rotor blades by hand to give them more lift/push if they start to deform, and extend their life a bit. Another important thing to note is that if the helicopter does land in your hair, onto a hairy jumper or carpet or spider webs etc. it will wrap those fibres around between the rotating rotor and tail rotor blade and the metal shaft onto which they fit. I personally check this and keep each clean, and remove the tail rotor, clean the shaft off of fibres, and replace the tail rotor blades just to keep this in order. If you use the helicopter regularly throughout the day, then you might expect to use the 4xAA batteries for approximately 1 whole day of on-and=off mucking about, before needing to replace them. Rechargeables may be more cost-effective. The helicopter will take approx. 20 mins to 30mins to fully charge, and you get max. 5-10mins flying time, depending upon the power settings you want to use. The more power, the helicopter can truly rise rapidly upwards and smack into the ceiling, if you are not careful - hence skill with the controls can be developed. Once trimmed, you can take-off from a flat surface at max. power then immediately(!) reduce to power for the altitude you want (requires sensitivity with the controls), or you can hold the underside of the helicopter with your right hand (if you have one of course, or some alternative means) and apply power to the switch with your left hand. Hope the above helps! Personally, I thoroughly recommend this as great mesmerising addictive fun for almost all ages (2-year olds and young kids love watching it and want to play with it, more than computer games!), requiring time for some skill development and v. basic understanding of helicopter flying/air currents and patience, and suitable care of the flying environment to avoid hitting things you shouldn't, but the main niggle is not being able to control left-hand anti-clockwise flight (and thus to come to a controlled hover-landing more times than not - though you can get such landings if you are careful and lucky). Hope this opus helps!

What to say?

It's a bit of fun for a while, cat HATES it which must be some kind of recommendation I guess. Kinda makes me want one of those big models which you fly outdoors and annoy passing joggers/picnic munchers with. You can only fly this around the living room for so long then you just have to try it outside... Not recommended as the slightest puff of wind has it careering over the garden fence, straight into the paws of 'Satan', next door's Yorkshire Terrier.

Basically I have a short attention span so that was enough for me, I went back in to watch Top Gear and dream of a Lottery win...

I purchased this as a Christmas present and charged the toy up as per instructions. But it would not take off and therefore just wouldn't fly. I should've known better than to buy this product because I bought a similar piccoz the previous year, which did fly but lasted only until New Years day as it fell apart. You expect a toy to last more than a week. Amazon gave a full refund.