FLYING FRACK R/C HELICOPTER

Flying Frack* R/C Helicopter, retail $19.99 (www.thinkgeek.com...)
Manufactured by (Unknown)
Last updated 04-09-09




This isn't a flashlight, household lamp, Christmas light set, or other thing that glows, but it *DOES* have a flashing LED in it, so what the hey. I have only evaluated remote controlled (RC) toys several times before, so please bear with me here.

I love things that fly; that's why I took the bate (I saw it in a catalouge while I was sitting on the john a few days before I ordered it - just like I did with another helicopter some time before this one and another shortly prior to that one), and is why I added a seperate section titled "PRODUCTS DESIGNED TO FLY" on my website.

This is a lightweight, easy-to-fly remote controlled helicoper. It is designed specifically to be flown indoors.


* The word "frack" is a substitute for a toliet word (the "F" word); it is used on the TV program "Battlestar Galactica" - where I believe the word originated as well. Because this is a child-friendly website, I'll use "Frack" instead of the F-word whenever I need to say the name of this product.
Notice too, that I applied a piece of paper with the letters "RA" over the "U" for the product photographs and video clip on this web page.

You've heard the saying "I don't give a flying frack" before?
Well, now you ***CAN*** with this product in your Arsenal of Freedom - er...uh..."arsenal" - there I go thinking about the TV program Star Trek: The Next Generation again.


Size of product w/hand to show scale 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 fly this toy.


1: On the underside of the Flying Frack Helicopter's body, there's a small on/off switch.
Use a fingernail to slide this switch to the left (so it moves closer to the"ON" decal).


2: Place the Flying Frack Helicopter on a flat surface in the middle of a large room.

3: Turn the remote control on, point it at the helicopter, and push forward on the left-hand stick.

4: The Flying Frack Helicopter should now lift off the ground. Congratulations, you're now a pilot!!!

For additional instructions & tips on how to fly, please read the instructional material that comes with the product.
This material was missing from the product I received; but I believe it to be a fluke.

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



The battery in the Flying Frack Helicopter 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.
The procedure for charging the battery in the helicopter itself is explained below the battery changing instructions for the remote control.




To change the batteries in the remote, use the included phillips screwdriver to unscrew & remove the small screw holding the battery door on. Remove the battery door from the underside of the remote control, very gently place it on the floor, use your foot to slide it out the door (front door, back door, patio door, etc.), and very firmly 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 used AA cells from the compartment, and dispose of or recycle them as you see fit.

Install six new AA cells into the compartment, orienting them so that their flat-ends (-) negatives face the springs for them in each compartment.

Place the battery door back on and screw in that screw you removed earlier.
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 Flying Frack Helicopter, you'll see a domed "door" near the bottom of the upper surface of the remote control's body. Slide this door down until it comes off, and gently pull out the thin cord with a small plug on the end of it.

With the Flying Frack Helicopter turned off, ***GENTLY*** plug this into the receptacle for it on the underside of the Flying Frack Helicopter's body.

Turn the remote control on; a green light should now turn on. When the green light turns off, gently unplug the cord from the Flying Frack Helicopter, turn the remote control off, stow the charging cord back into the compartment in the remote control for it, and slide the door back on.



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 toliet tank, bash it against a steel rod or against the concrete floor of a patio, let my sister's citty kats or my parents' big dog's ghost uranate (go to the bathroom) on it, run over it with a 450lb Celebrity motorised wheelchair, stomp on it, use a large claw hammer in order to smash it open to check it for candiosity, fire it from the cannoņata (I guess I've been watching the TV program "Viva Piņata" too much again - candiosity is usually checked with a laser-type device on a platform with a large readout (located at Piņata Central), with a handheld wand that Langston Lickatoad uses, or with a pack-of-cards-sized device that Fergy Fudgehog uses; and the cannoņata (also located at Piņata Central) is only used to shoot piņatas to piņata parties away from picturesque Piņata Island), send it to the Daystrom Institute for additional analysis, or perform other indecencies on it that a 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 Flying Frack is ***SIGNIFICANTLY*** more powerful (ie. it has a lot more lift) than I expected; even with the "censor" paper attached to both sides of its body, I had to back off the throttle quite a bit so that it would not smack into the ceiling.



Photograph of the remote control.



Screen dump from the video clip shown below.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the flashing blue LED in the product itself.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the NIR LEDs in the remote.


Spectrographic plot
Spectrographic analysis of the fluorescence of the handle of the screwdriver included with this product when irradiated with the Handheld Blue (violet-emitting) Laser Module.

USB2000 spectrometer graciously donated by P.L.

WMP movie (.avi extension) showing the product flying.
This clip is approximately 1.979 megabytes (2,076,808 bytes) in length; dial-up users please be aware.
It will take no less than ten minutes to load at 48.0Kbps.

I cannot provide this clip in other formats, so please do not ask.







TEST NOTES:
Test unit was purchased on the ThinkGeek website on the morning of 04-02-09, and was received at 10:29am PDT on 04-07-09.


UPDATE: 00-00-00



PROS:



CONS:



    MANUFACTURER: Unknown/not stated
    PRODUCT TYPE: R/C Helicopter
    LAMP TYPE: LED
    No. OF LAMPS: 4 (1 blue in aircraft; 3 NIR in remote)
    BEAM TYPE: N/A
    SWITCH TYPE: Slide on/off on underside of product
    CASE MATERIAL: Compressed foam
    BEZEL: N/A
    BATTERY: Unknown-type rechargeable cells (aircraft), 6xAA cells (R/C)
    CURRENT CONSUMPTION: Unknown/unable to measure
    WATER RESISTANT: Very light splatter-resistance at maximum
    SUBMERSIBLE: For Christ sakes NOOOOO!!!!!!!!!
    ACCESSORIES: Small screwdriver to access battery door on R/C
    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 LED inside its body, so it is at least a bit germane to this website.





Flying Frack R/C Helicopter * www.thinkgeek.com...






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