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Bandit
December 26th, 2012, 09:05 PM
Hello Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here enjoys playing with remote control helicopters and air planes?
My wife and I got a cheap 12US dollar one (Helicopter) last month at a local retail store and we didnt expect much from it so cheap. But after getting the hang of flying that one, we decided to get us two more off the internet that were much higher quality and have a built in gyroscope for stability. Well we lucked up and got two off Amazon from less then 30 bucks each for christmas. Been playing with one of them since yesterday and I have to say they are so much fun. Now the ones we got are good construction, but still way to small to use outside. But never the less I have had loads of fun with these. I was wondering if anyone else plays around with them here.

Here is a pic of the one we got. SYMA Gyros S107G:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31IJc4c3f7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

mips
December 26th, 2012, 09:27 PM
Here you go Stringfellow Hawk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pyYEvg-n58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrekyPIlync
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1ppd1ZgElA

:D

Bandit
December 26th, 2012, 09:50 PM
@Mips, my dad would love one of those. :) But think they are to big for my living room though.
One's we are using are little electric ones. But much more affordable. :popcorn:

cariboo
December 27th, 2012, 03:39 AM
I got one of these (http://litehawk.ca/XL.asp) for Christmas. Two of my nephews have been into RC planes, helicopters and cars for several years, and they always seem to have the best toys. :)

It definitely takes a different skill set to fly one of these samll helicopters inside without breaking something. :-D

Mikeb85
December 27th, 2012, 03:48 AM
I used to fly large (7+ foot wingspan) RC planes that ran on glow fuel and gas... Flying outdoors is the most fun, but the most expensive (and require alot of space, such as a dedicated airfield - and may be subject to airspace laws...). Some of the guys I used to fly with had very large planes, approaching (maybe exceeding?) 20 foot wingspans, and turbine powered jets that flew 200+ mph...

1clue
December 27th, 2012, 04:02 AM
Currently it's the Blade mSR. http://www.hobbytown.com/Shop/-Blade-mSR-X-BNF-Basic-Helicopter/

I've stuck with this same company from the start. A few years back they made a Blade CX2 and I got that, it's about a foot long nose to tail, but twin rotor. I then went to the mCX, and now blade mSR. mSR has a single main rotor and a tail rotor, which is harder to fly. When this gets boring I'll upgrade to a bigger one, then go to 3D so I can fly upside down and such.

If you've discovered that you're really into this then I advise you buy a good radio transmitter and then get the toys without the included radio. You'll save a lot of money and you'll have more adjustments for better control.

I use a Spektrum DX7 transmitter on a bunch of different toys, it stores 20 different machines. My radio is no longer sold, but a variant is: http://www.spektrumrc.com/DSM/Products/airRadios.aspx
The advantage with this sort of radio is you can bind it to a specific receiver, and then that receiver will no longer pay attention to any other transmitter in the world until you bind it to something else. Also, your transmitter only talks to the active reciever and none other, meaning that if you have an aircraft and it's bound to the transmitter, and you have the wrong memory slot active, the plane still won't operate. It prevents you from flying on the wrong program settings.

Bandit
December 27th, 2012, 05:54 AM
Cariboo, if you get one that has the built in Gyro chip. You can get them to hover just about in one spot in your house. Fairly easy to do and the one I got is 8 inches, so if it falls out of the air chances it want even ding it up being made of aluminum and flexible plastic. So pretty durable. Wife and I just found a Syma 17 inch model on Amazon for 33 USD.. Looks pretty good and if its as good as the 8" Syma's we got now were in for a treat. You should check them out if your interested.

1clue, neighbor of mine used to fly some model airplanes back in the day about like that. He has since moved to the real thing now. Not sure if I want something that big to mess with, but maybe later on this summer we may upgrade to something that can fly outdoors without crashing. :)

montag dp
December 27th, 2012, 06:03 AM
Oh, definitely. Designing/building/flying model planes and helicopters is my biggest hobby. Well, actually I only design the planes, not the helicopters. Most of my designs are posted here (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/member.php?u=61597) and the two helicopters I have are the Maxir (http://laheli.com/web/article.php?kid=3&kategorie=Heli) (now Ricco) and the Blade mCPX.

chadk5utc
December 27th, 2012, 06:05 AM
nothing like the smell of 15%Nitromethane in the morning...

S.P.A.D.S anyone???

QIII
December 27th, 2012, 07:03 AM
Irritating the bejeebers out of the dogs by buzzing them with a helicopter in the livingroom is excellent sport.

wirepuller134
December 27th, 2012, 01:31 PM
My daughter and myself both fly glow fuel. She has a ugly stick and a senior telemaster. We built both of them. The ugly stick is covered in silk. I wanted to teach her how it used to be done. I have several different ones that I built when I was young, that still fly. We are presently building a Cessna 337 skymaster, that should be in the air by spring.

bfmetcalf
December 27th, 2012, 02:52 PM
This is the one I fly, not often, but I do fly it when I'm not in the cessna

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0001p?&I=LXCAS2&P=0

1clue
December 27th, 2012, 03:33 PM
...1clue, neighbor of mine used to fly some model airplanes back in the day about like that. He has since moved to the real thing now. Not sure if I want something that big to mess with, but maybe later on this summer we may upgrade to something that can fly outdoors without crashing. :)

The mSR is an indoor helicopter. The difference between mine and most of the models being talked about here is that mine has 1 main rotor and a tail rotor, and it uses a 5 channel radio. Mine is missing only a collective to make the controls the same as a full size heli.

FWIW if anyone is considering getting into this, the bigger the heli the easier they are to fly, all other things being equal. Also, the twin rotor ones are MUCH easier to fly, because the top rotor is set up like a stabilizing rotor. The problem is, you can't get really crazy with those.

Personally if I were to start over again I would still go the route I went: Get a twin rotor heli (Bind-n-Fly is what I got, for Spektrum radios, but any 2.4ghz would probably be similar) and a bunch of extra batteries, charge them all up and start flying in your home. When that gets boring, get the next level of difficulty and try again.

One advantage of the smaller birds is that repairing them is much cheaper.

Gremlinzzz
December 27th, 2012, 07:31 PM
:popcorn:Man builds giant quadcopter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5P68ExcgD0


slightly better version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=L75ESD9PBOw&feature=endscreen

Bandit
December 27th, 2012, 07:52 PM
The mSR is an indoor helicopter. .........
O wow..

Wife ordered us two 17" models last night. Not sure on the specs but their Syma's like the ones we have now. So they will prob arrive in a week. Fairly excited to get them.

KiwiNZ
December 27th, 2012, 07:56 PM
I love RC choppers but I am hopeless at flying the things.

Mikeb85
December 27th, 2012, 08:05 PM
I love RC choppers but I am hopeless at flying the things.

You should try RC planes. You can get some small, cheap electric things that you can fly in a park, or other fairly small outdoor spaces (and they're very quiet so they won't bug people). Giant glow fuel, gas and turbine powered planes are fun, but so are small, slow-flying electric planes.

Bandit
December 27th, 2012, 08:11 PM
I love RC choppers but I am hopeless at flying the things.

Serious about the ones with built in Gyro's. They can just about float mid air with little effort at all. Now those without built in Gyros like my older one, now they are a challenge to get to stay in the air were you want them and they want hover most of the time as they are designed to always move forward.

1clue
December 28th, 2012, 06:08 AM
The dual main rotor acts as a gyro. It's set up to be inertially controlled, to bring the heli back to hovering mode. Basically your radio tries to move it, and that top rotor fights you the entire way.

The electronic gyro is a definite plus, and I don't know if a small single-rotor-plus-tail-rotor helicopter would even be viable without one. The bigger helicopters are also much more easy to fly.

Bandit
December 28th, 2012, 10:12 AM
The dual main rotor acts as a gyro. It's set up to be inertially controlled, to bring the heli back to hovering mode. Basically your radio tries to move it, and that top rotor fights you the entire way.

The electronic gyro is a definite plus, and I don't know if a small single-rotor-plus-tail-rotor helicopter would even be viable without one. The bigger helicopters are also much more easy to fly.

Ahh, I believe all ours are dual main rotors then. There are two motors, turning the lower blades and then another motor turning the upper blade in the opposite direction. Plus a weighted counter throw above the top one. Is this what your referring to?

EDIT:
Here is a photo my wife shot the hell flying.

fdrake
December 28th, 2012, 10:36 AM
Hello Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here enjoys playing with remote control helicopters and air planes?
My wife and I got a cheap 12US dollar one (Helicopter) last month at a local retail store and we didnt expect much from it so cheap. But after getting the hang of flying that one, we decided to get us two more off the internet that were much higher quality and have a built in gyroscope for stability. Well we lucked up and got two off Amazon from less then 30 bucks each for christmas. Been playing with one of them since yesterday and I have to say they are so much fun. Now the ones we got are good construction, but still way to small to use outside. But never the less I have had loads of fun with these. I was wondering if anyone else plays around with them here.

Here is a pic of the one we got. SYMA Gyros S107G:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31IJc4c3f7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

My nephew (6 years old) bought one of those last month. I tried to play with it since he insisted.......wow they are damn funny... Would be cool if you can costumize your own , bigger, more powerfull, maybe with a camera, like a drone (but without the bombs :P). By the way does anyone know if there is a size limit for airplane models (that flies) in the US?

Bandit
December 28th, 2012, 10:44 AM
My nephew (6 years old) bought one of those last month. I try to play with it since he insisted.......wow they are damn funny... Would be cool if you can costumize your own , bigger, more powerfull, maybe with a camera, like a drone (but without the bombs :P). By the way does anyone know if there is a size limit for airplane models (that flies) in the US?

Good question. I am sure there is a size and possibly even a range limitation. But from what I have seen its quiet large. Possible a few feet across before you run into those restrictions. And of course larger plans have longer range. FAA's website would prob be the best place and most accurate info on those restrictions.

chadk5utc
December 28th, 2012, 10:50 AM
I am not 100% sure about the size but I do know there are control limitations/drones are discussed a lot. I have personally seen some Incredibly large scale planes the largest Ive ever flown had about an 8' span
have a look at a few of these
https://www.google.com/search?q=Giant+scale+rc+planes&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=L2vdUKXYD4b28gTWvIGwCQ&biw=1750&bih=893&sei=MmvdUIieNJPc8AT-roDwCQ

mips
December 28th, 2012, 02:10 PM
I am not 100% sure about the size but I do know there are control limitations/drones are discussed a lot. I have personally seen some Incredibly large scale planes the largest Ive ever flown had about an 8' span
have a look at a few of these
https://www.google.com/search?q=Giant+scale+rc+planes&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=L2vdUKXYD4b28gTWvIGwCQ&biw=1750&bih=893&sei=MmvdUIieNJPc8AT-roDwCQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KxLuShpaKrQ

http://www.aviationtrivia.info/images/RC_A380_2.jpg

18ft Airbus A380

1clue
December 28th, 2012, 04:32 PM
Ahh, I believe all ours are dual main rotors then. There are two motors, turning the lower blades and then another motor turning the upper blade in the opposite direction. Plus a weighted counter throw above the top one. Is this what your referring to?

EDIT:
Here is a photo my wife shot the hell flying.

Yes, exactly. Hold it in your hand, power off, and move that counterweight around to see what it does. Then, still holding it, power it up and spin the rotors not quite fast enough to take off, tilt the heli around and watch what happens to the main rotor.

An electronic gyroscope helps the radio maintain level flight by telling it where the horizon is, much like a full size one in a manned aircraft. The electronics take that into account and adjust the aircraft accordingly so the only movement is what came from the controls. Sorta. It's hard to describe. But you can do anything your heli is capable of, including in some cases loops and flying upside down.

The second rotor is a mechanical equivalent, but rather than moderating the wind gusts or other anomalies of flying it just tries to make the thing hover, no matter what. So your heli is slower and less agile than it would otherwise be.

1clue
December 28th, 2012, 04:40 PM
I think the highest "standard" scale is quarter scale, but then they have giant scale. Some of these models are larger than some manned aircraft. For example that airbus has an 18 foot wingspan, and the world's smallest manned aircraft has a wingspan of either 5.5 feet (it successfully flew but almost killed the pilot on landing) or 6'3" (for several successful flights)

The key here is that you can't fly where manned aircraft are flying, or anywhere that innocent bystanders stand a significant risk of being hurt.

screaminj3sus
December 28th, 2012, 09:48 PM
I got one almost identical to the one in OP for christmas, pretty fun to mess around with. I tried flying it outside too and was suprised at how high it would go, would start shaking pretty bad if you went too high though :D. They are also suprisingly resilient to crashes, consider how cheap it was i expected to break it lol.

1clue
December 28th, 2012, 10:00 PM
The cheap toys tend to be heavy, slow and durable. The expensive ones tend to be light, fast and fragile.

The other part of the equation is that the cheap ones you buy, run until they break, then throw them away. Stuff you buy at a hobby shop, you can buy every part right there in the hobby shop, and usually there is a selection of premium upgrades for that model as well.

I have a Losi Micro-T with a 3-cell LiPo battery, high-speed steering servo, brushless motor and other performance related upgrades (including a Spektrum receiver) that can catch the cars going down the street in front of my house. This is a 4 inch long car that easily catches 30+ mph cars. I've also raced it against a lower-end nitro 1/10 scale car and blew that away too.

If you buy a high performance machine, you WILL break parts, especially when you're learning to drive it. For the helicopters I had it's the blades, the central hub assembly and the landing gear mostly. Parts are cheap, so people tend to have a few of whatever breaks, one of things that usually don't and tons of batteries. And a really good charger or 3.

cariboo
December 29th, 2012, 01:05 AM
I took mine outside today, just for a little more room, :) even though the temperature has warmed up to -7°C (19°F) I didn't wear any gloves, and after the about 5 minutes my hands were just to cold to do much of anything. I think I'll stick to flying it inside, until spring. :-D

Bandit
December 29th, 2012, 05:03 AM
@1clue,
Thanks for all the info. I did notice the heli the way it counter through the wings. I assumed thats also how the trim was helping stabilize the spin since it didnt have a horizontal prop on the back like standard helicopters. Cant wait for the 17" ones to come in, but gonna play with those and see how it turns out. Got to teach my wife how to fly them as well.

wirepuller134
December 29th, 2012, 05:18 PM
The biggest plane I have ever owned was a 17.5' B-17 bomber, which was built out of aluminum with aluminum and silk covering. My Dad and I built it when I was 13 to fly in shows. The plane was destroyed in a tornado, so all I have is pictures, 2 of the motors and both radios it took to fly it back then. they are The big old blue Futaba radios when they first started building them. Surprisingly they are still operational....state of the art 4 channels......
But it was fantastic to watch it fly. Pain to get all 4 motors in sync, but once they were warmed up and tuned, it was a blast.

1clue
December 29th, 2012, 06:46 PM
Interesting. My sister lives in Ida Grove IA, a small town. They had an air show every year, there was a bomber of some sort that took two people to fly it. I thought the bomber crashed at one point rather than a tornado, but I could be wrong. That wouldn't have been you would it?

swoll1980
December 29th, 2012, 07:58 PM
You see this vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEROVWDp3n0) yet? Awesome stuff!

wirepuller134
December 30th, 2012, 06:57 AM
Nope wasn't us, never flew it in that state. This was over 20 years ago... The motors still run. Got them out today and started them up.

Bandit
December 30th, 2012, 07:54 AM
You see this vid (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEROVWDp3n0) yet? Awesome stuff!

LOL that was pretty good. Got a good LOL out of watching it.

Bandit
January 13th, 2013, 02:12 AM
I have a question about getting one of mine to hover better.

I recently got a JXD Drift King 340 4 channel helicopter. Its very nice looking with plenty of eye candy LEDs.
The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't have a stable hover and it also tends to drift backwards or to the side. Side motion is cuz battery is loose and needs better securing and I am gonna fix the back drift with a weight in front soon. But it is difficult to maintain a stable hover elevation. One min its 3ft from the ground, the next I am backing the throttle to keep from hitting the ceiling. Would adding more weight help fix this issue. I can hear the normal motor whine and they are not jumping up to fast or to slow, its very smooth to acceleration. Just feels like it needs another few ounces of weight to keep stable, but wasn't sure and was looking for advice.

Thanks,
Joe
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bTgU6-gyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

HermanAB
January 13th, 2013, 05:39 AM
The real fun starts when you convert an RC plane into an autonomous aircraft. See diydrones.com for details.

I've been working off and on, on an autonomous electric RC glider with 2 meter wingspan for about a year. At the current rate of progress it should be ready for its first flight in about another year - or next week...

chadk5utc
January 13th, 2013, 06:24 AM
I have a question about getting one of mine to hover better.

I recently got a JXD Drift King 340 4 channel helicopter. Its very nice looking with plenty of eye candy LEDs.
The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't have a stable hover and it also tends to drift backwards or to the side. Side motion is cuz battery is loose and needs better securing and I am gonna fix the back drift with a weight in front soon. But it is difficult to maintain a stable hover elevation. One min its 3ft from the ground, the next I am backing the throttle to keep from hitting the ceiling. Would adding more weight help fix this issue. I can hear the normal motor whine and they are not jumping up to fast or to slow, its very smooth to acceleration. Just feels like it needs another few ounces of weight to keep stable, but wasn't sure and was looking for advice.

Thanks,
Joe
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bTgU6-gyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg


Using weights to balance any aircraft can be a double edged sword. try first to adjust the balance with the battery and secure it before adding more weight to it. Honestly I think once you've found the "sweet spot" moving the battery around and securing it I believe you'll see a huge difference in flight characteristics. Proper balance or CG is crucial for any aircraft.

Paulgirardin
January 13th, 2013, 10:44 AM
Irritating the bejeebers out of the dogs by buzzing them with a helicopter in the livingroom is excellent sport.

This goes one step further in the irritation stakes,with a water cannon.

http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=GT3496&keywords=helicopter&form=KEYWORD

cariboo
January 13th, 2013, 11:06 AM
This one is just plain strange. :-D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Kslv7l75jQ

chadk5utc
January 13th, 2013, 11:15 AM
Here kitty lol interesting not sure Id do it but to each his own.....

Heres one for all you gun enthusiasts
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZCH1492CzA

Bandit
January 14th, 2013, 03:50 AM
Using weights to balance any aircraft can be a double edged sword. try first to adjust the balance with the battery and secure it before adding more weight to it. Honestly I think once you've found the "sweet spot" moving the battery around and securing it I believe you'll see a huge difference in flight characteristics. Proper balance or CG is crucial for any aircraft.

Yea got to secure that battery back.. I had the thing a part for a week. Had chipped a tooth on a gear and ended up replacing a motor and upper wings shaft/gear also. But weight can be a double edged sword, can make it stabler, but also eats battery life and speed. Not looking to add much though, just a very very small fishing weight up around the nose of the craft to keep from it creeping backwards, also should add little more speed tilting the nose down more. X fingers..

NRP
January 14th, 2013, 06:02 AM
Hi all, Been Flying for a year and a half now this is my collection so far.

Align T-REX 700E 3GX V2

Walkera V450D01

Walkera Genius CP

And a Walkera V120D02S not in the pics.

Once you get hooked thats it your spare cash is gone. Not an easy hobby to learn but if you keep at it, its a rewarding one.

http://www.helifreak.com/picture.php?albumid=8520&pictureid=67774
http://www.helifreak.com/picture.php?albumid=8520&pictureid=67785
http://www.helifreak.com/picture.php?albumid=8520&pictureid=67783

1clue
January 14th, 2013, 07:27 AM
I have a question about getting one of mine to hover better.

I recently got a JXD Drift King 340 4 channel helicopter. Its very nice looking with plenty of eye candy LEDs.
The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't have a stable hover and it also tends to drift backwards or to the side. Side motion is cuz battery is loose and needs better securing and I am gonna fix the back drift with a weight in front soon. But it is difficult to maintain a stable hover elevation. One min its 3ft from the ground, the next I am backing the throttle to keep from hitting the ceiling. Would adding more weight help fix this issue. I can hear the normal motor whine and they are not jumping up to fast or to slow, its very smooth to acceleration. Just feels like it needs another few ounces of weight to keep stable, but wasn't sure and was looking for advice.

Thanks,
Joe
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51bTgU6-gyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Don't add weight. That's a hack and has more disadvantage than advantage. Your heli is designed to do well at its existing weight.

I would recommend securing the battery, and look at anything else that might be moving or slipping. Check the rotors to make sure everything is really floppy. If it's stiff at all it can contribute to the sort of behavior you're talking about.

Another thing, find out what sort of radio it has, and go buy a better one. If you can get a programmable transmitter you can trim it to do almost anything you want, and you will inevitably get an easier to fly aircraft.

Bandit
January 14th, 2013, 08:16 AM
Don't add weight. That's a hack and has more disadvantage than advantage. Your heli is designed to do well at its existing weight.

I would recommend securing the battery, and look at anything else that might be moving or slipping. Check the rotors to make sure everything is really floppy. If it's stiff at all it can contribute to the sort of behavior you're talking about.

Another thing, find out what sort of radio it has, and go buy a better one. If you can get a programmable transmitter you can trim it to do almost anything you want, and you will inevitably get an easier to fly aircraft.

Hey 1Clue, its just a small helicopter not much bigger then a S107G w/ a IR remote. About 1.5cm longer at best. I did tape the battery and centered it up with some clear masking tape. How ever I did add 2 pennies next to the batter for frontal weight. Gonna test it tomorrow and see. Everything is tight or tight enough on it. I am sure this should solve my drifting issue, just hope this helps on my hovering issue. I havent crashed it hard or anything, ran into my jacket hanging on bedroom door and it fell 1 meter to the ground on carpet. Thats the worse "cough" landing so far :D Over all its a good indoor mini helicopter, but think they made it lighter on purpose because its a "racing" hely, yea races into a wall. Has even a high speed forward button.. I should take a video of it tomorrow and post it. Daughter is a sleep or I would do it now.

1clue
January 14th, 2013, 04:32 PM
@Bandit,

My Blade mSR is actually smaller. I looked yours up and found out that you have an infrared remote, which makes this discussion irrelevant for your particular heli. If you have an IR remote you'd have to change out receivers to get a good radio on there anyway.

FWIW the smaller the aircraft, the less it can tolerate additional weight of any sort and the more it can benefit from the features on a good radio.

Bandit
January 14th, 2013, 07:21 PM
@Bandit,

My Blade mSR is actually smaller. I looked yours up and found out that you have an infrared remote, which makes this discussion irrelevant for your particular heli. If you have an IR remote you'd have to change out receivers to get a good radio on there anyway.

FWIW the smaller the aircraft, the less it can tolerate additional weight of any sort and the more it can benefit from the features on a good radio.

Good Morning,
Hehe.. Just tried out my heli this morning and 2 pennies is 2 much.. LOL..
Soon as I went to take off it made a bee line very quickly. May have been fun for racing outdoors as it was moved quickly forward. But I did take them off. Seems better now that I got the battery in the correct spot. Ironically now it has a very slight forward draft, but its enough to help without hurting it. Yea I want to get some good real RC ones one day. I go so many plans this summer i will just have to see how things go. If I do upgrade its prob gonna be a big jump up to drone heli with camera that I can control live and watch live video. Not one of the control now - watch later ones. :)
I do photography as a hobby, would be super nice to use this for arial shots.

hydn79
January 14th, 2013, 07:41 PM
Hello Everyone,
I was wondering if anyone here enjoys playing with remote control helicopters and air planes?
My wife and I got a cheap 12US dollar one (Helicopter) last month at a local retail store and we didnt expect much from it so cheap. But after getting the hang of flying that one, we decided to get us two more off the internet that were much higher quality and have a built in gyroscope for stability. Well we lucked up and got two off Amazon from less then 30 bucks each for christmas. Been playing with one of them since yesterday and I have to say they are so much fun. Now the ones we got are good construction, but still way to small to use outside. But never the less I have had loads of fun with these. I was wondering if anyone else plays around with them here.

Here is a pic of the one we got. SYMA Gyros S107G:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31IJc4c3f7L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Thats a good living room starter. That's the exact model I started on... in red:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zYDNldg2T4

I'm now up to Blade Helis. If you are wondering whats the next step try this...
http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=EFLH2400