Christmas Day was drawing nearer and I was thinking about presents. I decided I would get something fun for my brother this Christmas as he is under a lot of stress due to work. I decided I would get him a
micro helicopter. I had got one of these 4 years back from Robert Dyas in Windsor. I don't think it flew all that well and I never had a go. However, I decided that they must have evolved since then and seen a people flying some which seemed to fly quite well. So I popped into the local toy store and picked up a 'Air Tiger' brand 3 channel IR controlled one on the recommendation of the store owner. The product was a nightmare. The build quality was okay-ish but the flight characteristics were not very good at all. And there is no online support and the instruction manual was nightmare. The product had obviously been made in China as a clone from another better brand. I decided I did not want to torture my brother with this product and returned it to the shop.
I had a feeling all such IR 'made in China' clone helicopters that have filled the shelves in toy stores would have similar poor flying characteristics. I then remembered I had seen something called a Blade Scout in Daniel's of Windsor. I did some quick research and found the Blade website . They seemed to be manufacturer of micro helicopters who supported their helicopters and had a wide user based. So I decided to pick up a Blade Scout CX after watching the official video and reading just a couple of reviews.
What can I say! This little flying marvel does exactly what it says on the tin. It is really a delight to fly and very easy to control. You can fly this flying miracle in the standard mode which I have tried and the expert mode (high rate), which makes it more responsive. It comes with a 2.4GHz radio control system and an onboard computerized Piezo gyro for solid directional control and stability. The 'Air Tiger' clone had this gyro stabilisation system with the crystal hand exposed on two wire from the bottom.. :/ and was nowhere as stable!
It's light weight (just 17 grams), flexible canopy and bendy blades makes this flying marvel nearly indestructible. Just kill the throttle when you crash or get into trouble. It goes up rapidly, so be warned. You have to bring it down at a slower rate to avoid it falling out of the air like a stone.
I am delighted with this marvelous little helicopter. I am giving it to my cousins as a present. I have now got my brother the Blade mCX which is still in the box.
Horizon Hobbies, who made the Blade helicopters are an American company. I hope they will think about moving R&D and some of the manufacturing to the US and Europe. Because it is us, the users who support the Blade/Eflite helis from being overwhelmed by the 100% Chinese clones.