This is a review of the 3Ch Phoenix coaxial heli from Xheli.com.
This helicopter is available in purple, red (2 versions) and
black. I purchased the Purple one for about $30 before it
went on sale, then the red one when it went on sale for $19.70.
They come in 3 channels A, B, and C (mine was A channel for
the purple). The box will say "Phantom 6010" by Steel
Structures.
I can not say how amazed I was at the stability and controllability for
this indoor 3ch helicopter. Even at the price I paid of $30,
it was an increddible deal. Then seeing it for about $20 with free
shipping, I could barely hold back from buying even more than the 2nd
one. Even as a gift, this helicopter is a great buy for the
price. I've handed off to the kids to fly and they took to it
rather easily. The most you have to do is to emphesize to them to DROP
the throttle if they impact anything to minimize damage. DO NOT KEEP
THE THROTTLE UP after impact!!! Follow that simple rule and it will
last much longer.
Setup:
All you have to do is to unbox it and load in 6 AA batteries into the
Tx. I found that it prefered Alkaline batteries. NiMh batteries only
workd for a short while and ONLY when they were freshly charged. The Tx
must not like the lower voltage (1.2 per cell) of a rechargable
battery. It came with a USB powered charger. (note that not
all USB ports on your computer will supply power to charge, try
plugging into a powered USB hub or directly to the computer if it does
not work). There is a red light on the USB charger that comes
on when it's charging. It goes off when done (about 20minutes
on a fully depleted battery). Set the Tx channel value (look
for a sticker on the top left of the front of the box denoting
channel). Turn on the Tx first, then turn on the helicopter. Set the
helicopter down and then wait for 10 seconds before trying to fly (to
let the gyro stabilize and sense still movement). Once
airborn, move the dial on the right side of the TX to center the tail
rotation.
Flight:
WOW, this thing is stable like any small coaxial, but it's the tail
control that really shows. When you push forward on the right
stick to make it move, the tail holds VERY straight. Push and
hold the button (ACCELERATE) at your right finger tip while pushing
forward on the right stick and it will move forward faster.
Be careful in a small room cause it will really get going!
Between myself and my kids and friends, after about 15 flights, we've
had about 20-30 crashes. So long as you drop throttle and
we're flying over carpet, it's been un damaged.
Conclusion:
Looking for a winter indoor heli but you don't want to spend the $$ of
say an MSR (a good heli by the way), this may be the ticket.
Want this heli but it's out of stock? try the Syma S107 on
that link at the top of the page. The Syma is a tad heavier
but very rugged and so popular that you can easily find parts for it
online. The Syma S110 is a smaller and ligher version of the
S107
UPDATE (12/13/2010):
I now have a RED version and ordered 3 more for presents. All reporting
sucess to it's survivability and control.
NERF battle video added.
