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ok. So I got a 9Vdc 500mA power adapter that I can use to charge the mosquito through the charging station without using 6 C-cell batteries. Last night I flew it around out of the box and wasnt happy, so today I wanted to fully charge it and give it a second chance.

I let the mosquito charge to full power and took it for a spin. I was hoping for better performance than it had out of the box, but no such luck.

Right now I really hate this thing. I know there is a learning curve, but it simply doesnt move forward like you’d want it to. you press forward and it nudges forward about 2 inches and then since you are now pulling more current you messed up the trim which means your helicopter is now rotating. And since its rotating it means you are not really going forward at all, you are going in circles. What’s worse is it oscillates forwards backwards left and right so much that the rotors tilt to eachother and the stupid thing comes crashing down.

Then when you start it up again you realize the gears are not in mesh and you have to fiddle with the gear to get it back into place inorder to fly. What’s the point of remote control if I have to fiddle with it every time I land (crash)?

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This particular RC helicopter is made by Interactive Toy Concepts and is available exclusively at Radio Shack. It costs about $70. Hmm sounds like a lot doesn’t it? Especially after I only spent about $30 on the Havoc Heli. I picked this up because it promised real “forward” flight thanks to the little propeller in the back. Its a dual main rotor design which means each rotor turns the opposite direction to concel out each other’s rotation. This allows you to hover steadily without the helicopter spinning around or moving too much. It is also RC and 3-channel, so I thought that was a plus. It also has three small motors. So if it really sucks maybe i can use the parts.?

The first thing I notice is that the controller requires a 9V battery, Yuk. And it comes with a charging station that requires 6 C cell batteries. What? 6 cells? Why on earth is this a good idea? There is no way i am going to buy 6 C cell batteries for this thing. I guess the idea is the charger is portable, but you cant take these things outside anyway so I think its dumb. It does NOT come with an AC charger. At least not the one from radio shack. There is a similar one that sells with a simple AC charger and no charging base here.

Luckily the dumb charging base has a jack to accept a 7.5V 450mA adapter. I will find one and charge it later.

So when I opened up my box I flew the helicopter using whatever juice was left in it from the factory. It has a convenient trim knob on the remote to help stop the spinning. I push forward on the right stick to move forward and it starts to spin while it moves forward. It also starts to drop like its losing power. I guess it might not be fully charged. In any case the forward motion is not fluid. It kind of oscillates just like the Havoc Heli does when you put weight on the nose. The more you try to move forward the more unstable it gets and you can see the rotors tilting wildly. This was a disappointment because Read more »

If you are the least bit interested in picking up a fun toy for yourself or a kid you know, give the Zoom-O ball a try. Literally go to Target and try it out. It’s a “Try me” toy you can play with off the shelf. I bet once you rev its engine and pull the trigger you will be hooked. And when you look at its cheap price you’re gonna buy it. If you can’t make it to Target or you have ADD, need instant gratification, lack self control, or are lazy, then you can try it virtually here.

Who doesn’t want a toy that sounds like that? Yeah it is frickin loud. But man, its frickin loud! Loud spinning wheel toy that shoots balls = FUN Guaranteed.

Alright lets get into the review.

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Also called Picoo Z from the Silverlit company

The gyro is basically the propeller on top of the main rotor. It has small weights at its tip. When it rotates it acts like a gyroscope and tries to maintain its original position.

or at best it resists changing its tilt angle. Its also connected to the main rotor so that as it maintains a level orientation it pulls and pushes the main rotor connecting rods, twisting the main rotor blades which in turn change the angle of the helicopter which keeps it level.

Well, just watch the video and see how the top propeller tries to stay level.

NEW BATTLING LASER HELI!!!!

I havent had the courage to dissect mine just yet, but I found a nice picture of it on the web

click here for tagged descriptions

It was taken by someone who made this instructable for adding a bearing support to the rotor shaft

thanks to fireballxl5