RC Helicoper - Ready To Fly $199

[wlee]

Not the "usual" Hot Deal for a Computer BBS, but I'm sure many of you like RC stuff too.
Hobby Lobby has just started selling the Ready To Fly "Aero-Hawk" Micro RC Helicopter for $199. I've actually had mine for a couple weeks now. Even though it's Gyro Stabilized , it's a VERY tricky little b*stard to fly! But it's fun! The manual's "English" sucks, but you easily enough decipher it. This rig is prob not the quality of the German made "Piccolo", but cost less than 1/2 the price also. A lot of bang for the buck. Just be prepared to spend on spare parts.

Aero-Hawk Ready To Fly Micro RC Helicopter

 

[HFC]

Can it handle small crashes without damage since you mentioned it is tricky to handle? Also, does the package contain everything needed othr than batteries of course.

 

[CoolTech]

looks cool

 

[Fant]

Haha even the people selling it cant manage to fly it stably...

 

[huesmann]

Originally posted by: CoolTech
looks cool

 

[Eli]

Hmm..



Now there's something you could have fun "overclocking"...

First and foremost, get rid of that piddly 750mAh battery pack.....

Then you could work on finding more powerful and/or more efficient motors..

That would be really fun!

 

[Carbo]

Eight minutes of flying time per charge?! With that lame ass performance they'll be payin' me to buy the piece of junk.

 

[cnk]

Originally posted by: Carbo
Eight minutes of flying time per charge?! With that lame ass performance they'll be payin' me to buy the piece of junk.

That's actually pretty decent times for an electric heli. It used to only be about 3-4 minutes. You could always upgrade to a Li-Poly battery and get in the neighborhood of 30-45 minutes. You have to keep in mind that flying a R/C heli takes a lot of concentration and skill. Just hovering in one place for a minute can seem like a lifetime.

 

[sphincter]

what cost of parts? are you saying that replacement parts cost a lot, or that the thing breaks easily? I'm really tempted.... any commments on the build quality?

 

[BurnItDwn]

so tempted to buy things I definatly do not need ...
must resist urge

 

[huggiebear]

Ha Ha, no wonder it's hard to fly without:

a collective pitch control
a anti torque control
a cyclic stick control

At least they point it out in the description, by stressing moter control. I saw the price, then I understood why it is so cheap. Not a true helicopter RC.

I bet hovering a couple of feet off the ground is harder than the real thing.

 

[oblio211]

You can also shop eBay and get one of these for a lower price. I bought my Feda Dragonfly for about 180 with training bars, extra battery, and crash kit(extra landing skid, main and tail blades).

 

[ianbergman]

I've been wanting to buy one of these forever... too bad i'm broke . friggin' hot deals forums and their making me spend all my money...

 

[webley]

How crashable is this? Seems like it might be good to get one with more stabilizing features for extra money (if there is such an alternative) if you would be buying new parts for this one anyway after it crashes. Would the wind make it crash easily if flown outdoors? :moon:

 

[bman46]

looks very cool and the price is good especially since it includes the remote.

 

[webley]

Replacement parts look reasonably priced. Replacement Parts for Aero Hawk

MAIN ROTOR BLADES, PAIR 13.90

MAIN MOTOR SET, COMPLETE 12.90

BALL BEARING SET, 7 21.90

CF TAIL BOOM 4.80

 

[kenja]

Originally posted by: Fant
Haha even the people selling it cant manage to fly it stably...

Heh, the landings look like controlled crashes in the video clip.

Looks very entertaining. I sent the URL to my dad. He was a teenager in the late 1930's when the first usable model airplane engines became available.

 

[sphincter]

that looks damm fun to fly!!!!!

 

[puppyfriend]

Reminds me of my good o' Piccolo. Crashes without damage? Ahh.. no. Picture spectacular crashes with parts flying everywhere. The good part is they are design to break apart and mostly go back together. The rest is fine with some superglue. These things are extremely hard to fly.

Originally posted by: HFC
Can it handle small crashes without damage since you mentioned it is tricky to handle? Also, does the package contain everything needed othr than batteries of course.

 

[SledgehammerFab25]

Put a couple of Hell-fire missles on it and you're ready to go. Al-Queda watch out!

 

[webley]

If you crash it into yourself will you get hurt or is it designed to be safe if that happens? :sun:

 

[LLLosingit]

Originally posted by: webley
If you crash it into yourself will you get hurt or is it designed to be safe if that happens? :sun:

Stick your face into the blades of a fast moving object and tell me if it hurts =-)
Really they can hurt you but probably not as bad as a RC plane going35-40mph.
DUCK AND RUN!!!!!

 

[bman46]

Yea I would definetly not want to be hit by one of these.

 

[webley]

User Comments

An Aerohawk users first flight (not me):

Here is the result after 1 hour of trying to FLY...

1. check everything...
2. throttle up.... (kind lean to the left) (heard some of the people in here said because ground effect)
3. want to give up, it keep SMACKing into wall and and ME.
4. Take it OUTSIDE.... (don't think there was any wind....)
5. TRY to Trim everything, but so complicated because it moving everywhere... hahahaa
6. At this moment haven't even got to lift 2 feet up the ground... because i couldn't.. affraid it will crash...I only throttle a little..
7. I thought it was so hard.. then I accidently give it about 3/4 throttle.. then the thing sundenly LIFT up about 3 feet and NO CHOICE.. i start flying... hahaha... but not for long though... 4 second.... have to land down....
8. Then i kind of got it to stablize 2 feet of the ground... for a few second....
9. But then... the whole bottom PART of the heli CAME OFF.... hahaha... I mean the battery back was mounted to the landing gear came off because the langding was badly connect to the body... and now it keep coming off... I guess so far this is the worst thing about the aerohawk.. part are cheap and they are not good quality made... and the rotor head and pitch is sluggish to...

 

[kenja]

Good forum link, webley. Reading the entire thread it looks like the "veterans" don't exactly consider this model to be a POS.

I don't think I'll take up the hobby, I'm not that coordinated; I can barely type.
:frown:

:Q