X-SMALLEST COPTER

X-Smallest Copter, retail $20.71 (www.dealextreme.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 10-05-07







This isn't a flashlight, household lamp, Christmas light set, or other thing that glows, but it *DOES* have a flashing blue LED in it, so what the hey. I have never evaluated a remote controlled (RC) toy before, so please bear with me here.

This is a very small, lightweight, easy-to-fly remote controlled helicoper. It fits in the palm of your hand, and only weighs 10 grams, including the battery. It is designed exclusively to be flown indoors; its construction is such that you won't gouge holes in walls or break lamps when you crash (note I said "WHEN", not "IF", because you WILL crash it at least a few times while learning to fly it!!!). It's very cute and loveable, and it would be a shame to see anything bad happen to it.


SIZE



This toy is remarkably easy to use for a helicopter...here's how to get it off the ground:

As with any rechargeable product, charge it first (see directly below), and then you can pretend to fly a dragonfly (well, that's what the kitty cat thinks it is).


1: On the right side of the helicopter's body, there's a tiny on/off switch.
Use a fingernail to slide this switch down to the "on" position.
A blue LED in the helicopter's body will now come on, and then a second later, begin flashing in a series of three quick strobes, off, three quick strobes, off, lather, rinse, repeat. A movie clip farther down this web pages shows this.

2: On the remote control, turn the "on/off" switch to the "on" position.

3: Place the helicopter on a flat surface; the floor is a good place. Orient it so the tail faces you.

4: Aim the red part of the remote at the helicopter. Gently push the left-hand stick on the remote control forward.

5: The helicopter should now lift off the ground. Congratulations, you're now a pilot!!!

If the helicopter does not respond (ie. the blades don't turn), set the "A B C" switch on the remote control to another position. Do it again if necessary. There's a white sticker on the bottom of the helicopter itself that says what channel (A, B, or C) the remote should be set to.
For additional instructions & tips on how to fly, please read the instructional material that comes with the product.

Turn the helicopter and remote control off when finished using them.
Same switches as before, but slide them in the opposite direction this time.



The battery in the helicoper itself is rechargeable and is not designed to be changed; however the batteries in the remote will need to be changed from time to time.

To do this, unscrew & remove the phillips screw from the battery door on the underside of the unit, using the screwdriver that is included. Set the screw aside.

Remove the battery door, very gently place it on the ground, and kick it into the garden so the hungry, hungry praying mantids will think it's something yummy to eat and strike at it...O WAIT!!! YOU'LL NEED THAT!!! So just set it aside instead.

Remove the six used AA cells from the compartment, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Insert six new AA cells into the compartment, orienting each cell so its flat-end (-) negative faces a spring for it in each chamber.

Finally, place the battery door back on, and screw the screw back in.
Aren't you glad you didn't kick that battery door into the garden with all those hungry, hungry praying mantids now?


Here is what a praying mantis looks like.
I found this guy on the morning of 09-08-06 clinging to the basket of my scooter.


To charge the battery in the helicopter, slide the door down on the lower portion of the top of the remote control, and remove it.
In the compartment you just exposed to atmosphere , you'll see a thin cord with a small plug on the end.

With the helicopter turned off, plug this into the small receptacle for it on the right hand side of the helicopter's body.
This connector is keyed to fit the receptacle on the helicopter only one way; please do not force it or you may irreversibly damage the cute and loveable little baby "helicopopter" and it might not fly for you again.

Turn the switch on the remote control to the "on" position. A green LED on the remote should now come on.

After a maximum of 20 minutes, the green light will turn off. If the red light on the remote goes out at any time during the charge cycle, turn the remote off & back on again. When the green light turns off, turn the remote control off, gently unplug the cord from the helicopter, stow the cord in the remote control's compartment, and slide the door back on.

Fully charging the helicopter's battery should give you 7-10 minutes of flying time.

According to the instructional materials furnished with the product, you should wait 15 to 20 minutes before recharging the battery after you've run it down in order to allow it to cool.



This RC helicopter is meant to be used as a toy in a dry area indoors, not as a flashlight meant to be carried around, thrashed, trashed, and abused, so I won't try to drown it in the toilet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my housemate's citty kats go to the litterbox on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, or perform other indecencies on it that a regular flashlight might have to have performed on it. So this section of the web page will be significantly more bare than this section of the web page on a page about a flashlight.

The range is up to 100 feet (30 meters).
The remote control uses IR (infrared); there are three channels (channels A, B & C) that will allow up to three models to be flown at the same time

The helicopter has what's called an "auto stable" system, in which two smaller blades positioned above the main rotor have small weights on their ends. This helps keep the helicopter more stable during flight, and helps ensure that even beginner pilots can fly the toy.

The body of the helicopter is made of a very lightweight foam (StyrofoamŪ), so it can withstand crashes and it won't gouge holes in walls, break lamps, or damage couches & chairs if it's crashed into those articles. As a matter of fact, it was designed *EXCLUSIVELY* to be flown indoors. The only real hazard is to the eyes of its operator or other people & pets in the room; so you'll want to be careful about that.



Photograph of the remote control.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the helicopter flying.
This clip is approximately 2.5 megabytes (2,714,336 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than ten minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the flashing blue LED inside.
This clip is approximately 1.0 megabytes (1,102,148 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than four minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the helicopter being flown outside at sunset.
This clip is approximately 3.6 megabytes (3,876,498 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than fifteen minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

The show "Dirty Jobs" was playing when the first recording was made,
and the game show "Lingo" was playing when the second recording was made, and may be ignored.

The helicopter is very small, so in that third recording, you can really only see it
taking off and then crashing into the grass approximately twelve seconds later.
But you ***CAN*** hear it.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the helicopter being flown outside at sunset.
This clip is approximately 3.4 megabytes (3,691,010 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than twelve minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

Again, the helicopter is very small, so in this fourth recording, you can really only see it
taking off and then landing in the grass approximately twelve seconds later.
But you ***CAN*** hear it.


WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the flashing yellow LED inside - this
is the newest version, a warranty replacement that I received on 06-15-07.
This clip is approximately 1.2 megabytes (1,442,370 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than five minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.


I cannot provide any of these clips in other formats, so please do not ask.



TEST NOTES:
Test unit was ordered on 03-08-07, and was received on the afternoon of 03-23-07.

Product was made in China. A product's country of origin really does matter to some people, which is why I published it on this web page.


UPDATE: 03-24-07
I tried flying this helicopter outdoors after sunset last night to see how high it could go, but the chance of having the poor thing land on a roof or get stuck in a tree and never get it back was too great, so I'll have to retest for altitude capability when I can find a more open area devoid of these hazards.


UPDATE: 03-25-07
O NO!!! I've already broken the cute and loveable little baby "helicopopter".
The stabiliser blades above the main rotor appear to have come off the main post; attempts to repair it have been - so far anyway - futile. I emailed DealExtreme about this to see what recourse I have.


UPDATE: 03-25-07
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, a same-day update.
This is such a fun, addictive toy, that I ordered another. It should be here within the next three weeks.


UPDATE: 03-25-07
No, you aren't seeing things.
Yes, yet another same-day update.
I have received the return information from DealExtreme; I can send it back to their US address anytime after 03-30-07 and then have it exchanged with a replacement.


UPDATE: 03-26-07
I received an email earlier this morning that this helicopter may be a phoney; a model called the "PicooZ" made by Silverlit Toys appears quite similar. I was directed to the following web page: Silverlit Toys to have a look.

I ordered a third one to give as a birthday gift; as long as it works, I'll be a happy camper.


UPDATE: 04-10-07
I received another one today (the one I ordered, not the warranty replacement), and I'm flying once again!!!
The one intended to be used as a birthday gift arrived on 04-07-07, and I tested it before giving it to him the next day - it functioned properly.


UPDATE: 04-14-07
Guess what?
This one is now broken...the tail rotor no longer turns.


UPDATE: 04-20-07
The warranty replacement came today; once it finishes charging, I'll go see if it flies.


UPDATE: 06-15-07
The second warranty replacement arrived today; instead of a flashing blue LED inside, this one has a flashing yellow LED inside.


UPDATE: 10-05-07
I received an email yesterday afternoon, regarding some problem this person is having with the helicopter. Below is the email and my response:

"Hi there Craig!
I've just been checking out your website which I found after doing a google for X-smallest copter.
Hope you might be able to help me! I bought one of those copters from a street-seller when I was on holidays in Milan, Italy, as a gift for my 6 yr old son. When I got home and we opened it, I discovered that the only instructions included were in Italian! After much slow reading and a lot of guesswork, we got the copter flying. Great fun and much excitement, except it keeps going around in circles all the time and we can't fly it in a straight line. Am I doing something incredibly stupid - looked at your mini-film, and yours is flying better. What are the little metal weights for, that came with the copter? Should I be putting one on the body somewhere to stabilise it? If you could help me out I'd be really grateful.
Yours in circles,
{anonymous}"


Hi {anonymous},

If your chopper just goes in circles, try this:
If the copter circles clockwise, repeatedly press the left "trim" button (while the helicopter is flying) - the "trim" buttons are located directly below the right hand control stick.
If the copter circles counterclockwise, repeatedly press the right "trim" button (while the helicopter is flying).

The metal "weights" are designed to be placed directly under the nose of the helicopter to help encourage it to fly forward with greater speed; they will not stop the spinning or otherwise stabilise the helicopter - that's what the "trim" buttons were made to do.

If you keep track of how many times you pressed one of the "trim" buttons, you can use this on all future flights - on future flights, get everything powered up, hold the helicopter by its body or tail boom, gently nudge the left hand stick forward until the main rotor spins, and while holding the stick that way, press & release the "trim" button that worked before as many times as you pressed it before when you got the helicopter to work properly, and *THEN* go fly it.

Yes, the "trim" setting will become lost every time the helicopter is powered down; that's why I furnished the instructions directly above.





PROS:
Very cute and loveable
Made to be flown indoors - won't break lamps or dent walls
Charges directly from the remote - no seperate charger necessary
Decent warranty service/replacement


CONS:
Breakage appears to be somewhat of an issue


    MANUFACTURER: Unknown
    PRODUCT TYPE: Very small remote control helicopter
    LAMP TYPE: Blue LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 1
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide on/off on side of product
    CASE MATERIAL: Styrofoam & plastic
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: 6xAA cells (remote), 3.7 volt Li-Poly rechargeable (helicopter itself)
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: No
    ACCESSORIES: Screwdriver, spare tail rotor, 6xAA cells, 3 weight stickers
    SIZE: Main Rotor Diameter: 5.25" (130mm) Length 6.5" (170mm) excluding rotors. Rear Rotor diameter 1.25" (30mm)
    WEIGHT: 10 grams fully loaded
    WARRANTY: Unknown/not stated

    PRODUCT RATING:

    Because this product is not intended to emit
    light, the standard "star" rating will not be used.
    It *DOES* have a flashing blue LED, so it is at least a bit germane to this website.





X-Smallest Copter * www.dealextreme.com...






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