Remote Controlled Helicopters




Costco had a 3.5-channel radio controlled helicopter. Leyna saw it before I did and went nuts for it. I put it in the cart immediately. I treed it that day and it took the neighbor kid an hour with a football to retrieve it from 30 feet in the air. He caught it as it came down, but the bottom main rotor mount was cracked. The next day, Leyna smashed its replacement.

So we ordered a Syma S107(G) in yellow. Leyna loves it. So do I, but it’s not enough and I knew it wouldn’t be, so before it arrived I ordered an E-Flite Blade 120 SR.

The 120SR came last night and I flew it at about 8pm in the dark with a flashlight. Bad idea, but nothing major came of it. I kept Leyna behind me and only broke one ting: The left-rear arm of the landing skid. I super glued it together and sealed it up with a band-aid. That was last night, 14 November 2011.

Today, at about 7:40am, before school, Leyna and I flew our birds in the yard. She did great. When her mom came out, Leyna landed her S107 on the roof. I made it worse by trying to fly it off the roof instead of just standing on a table and grabbing it. It’s still up there as I write this. I’ll get it tonight.

The 120SR is, in a word, scary. The thing is fast. Of the 25 or so times I took it to the air, I landed it once. I started to get the feel of the throttle control. I have a tendency to give it more throttle when I really just want to tip the nose forward. Whoops. But I got it into a stable hover once (no credit to me — it was just inherently stable) and a broader hover once.

This is fun.