Air Hogs Havoc Heli - Colors May Vary
by Spin Master
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Our Price: $29.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $17.96 (click here) Category: Toy See more product details |
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Toys and Games Reviews of Air Hogs Havoc Heli - Colors May Vary
Customer Review: Fantastic little toy !!
Summary: 5 Stars
Tiny, fun and amazingly durable.
I came across this by chance whilst looking for the other product by SpinMaster, the Vectron UFO like flying disc. I decided to get instead as I have always wanted a RC helicopter but could never bring myself to spending the big money on a full blown one. At this price, the Air Hogs Havoc must be the cheapest RC heli around. Granted it's not really in the same league, but what a great introduction to RC heli. Remember this heli is about 7 inches long from the nose to the tail and hardly weighs anything.
It comes in a nicely package box as you would expect nowadays. Inside is the Heli, controller, spare tail rotor, some small sticker weights and instructions. The battery for the heli is embedded in its body and is recharged from the controller via a small cable. You will need 6AA batteries for the controller and rechargables seem fine.
The controller is a decent size even for adults (though you might want to extend the levers with a couple of small screws). It is a 4 way controller much like those for RC cars, up/down lever on the left for controlling the lift, left/right lever on the right for turning left/right. Note that it is not technically Radio Control ("R/C"). The controller actually has an ultrawide InfraRed transmitter (like your TV remote). But so far I have not had any transmission or reception problems. I am also quite impressed by the smoothness of the variable speed controls.
The heli construction and design is really quite amazing. They seem to have managed to create a precision engineered device that flies, yet very tough. Looking at the tiny rotor blades and the hairpin components holding it together, you would think it would break after the first crash. But not the case. Not to suggest you crash it on purpose, but so far it holding up well even after all my crashes.
It does take a while to get use to it. Initially I found it hard to stop it spinning round and round, but after a few goes and adjusting the trim (on the controller beneath the left lever) you can pretty much hold it steady in one spot in the air. Given only a 4 way controller, it is actually quite hard to control its forward and backward motion though with some practice you can get it to go in the general direction you want. The battery life is pretty good with probably up to 10 minutes of flight time which is plenty for zipping around the living room and attempting to avoid obstables etc. When the battery does runs out on the heli it pretty much stops dead. Back on the charger and 20 mins later (the controller actually indicates when charging is complete) back in the air.
I've had it a couple of days now and just can't stop playing with it. It is fantastically addictive and fun. Recommended for filling in those moments when you just want to take a 5 min break and your mind off things. Oh and I am sure the kids will love it too.
Customer Review: Greatest toy ever
Summary: 5 Stars
HI guys I grew up with apollo moon missions happening as a background in my life as a little boy. I have always loved flight. I have bought many beginner "RTF" type of craft. Most have failed. I have always been leed to believe that RC Helicopters were for the elite.
The prop driven RC aircraft in the same budget and size are lousy and will not fly indoors with out a large room to fly in.
Well these little helicopters change everything. They make RC (actually Infra Red like your TV) helicopters totally accessible. My 7 year old girl can fly this thing.
Do you remember when they used to sell a helicopter like toy that used a motorized handle thingy to supply power to the propeller? they couldn't fly free...anyway they were the only game in town ...then. Now we have these little beauties. I get at least 5-8 minutes of run time. The run-time actually gets better with use. I haven't measured it but with a fresh set of AA (x6) many many flights can be made. If you use rechargable AA batteries these flights become very inexpensive, since you can recharge the nImH 2900 mAh AA's 500+ times the batteries will outlast the aircraft no doubt. The point of using the rechargable AA with this is that you can have fun flying and not have to but 100's of AA batteries to do it. Imagine all the AA's that don't get thrown away into the land fill if you use rechargable batteries to play with this toy. It costs a bit more but in reality you save a bunch of money since a decient AA costs about $1.00 a 2500 mAh rechargable battery costs about $3-4.00 each. and you have to buy a charger maybe $20.00 so for $40.00 you can have at least 1000 flights. These same flights using alkaline AA's would cost you (say 20 flights on one set of 6 AA's makes it $ .30 a flight) the batteries pay for them selves after 130 flights. that is about one week of play. Trust me you will use this helicopter until it dies, then you will wish you had another. when you buy that second one you will fly it for free.
This is easy to fly.
From my point of view this is the BEST flying toy ever made for the beginner or anybody for that matter. I am able to have so much fun with it that I bought three of them one to fly, one to charge and one for a friend. They are great to fly together.
They are made overseas and as a result quality control is not as good as it could be. From a small sample set of 5 units I have seen one which couldn't be trimmed by the (it would only spin and spin no stable flight) recommended method.(using the buttons on the RC).
For $30 or less this is the best toy ever. I recommend it to anybody who has ever been interested in flying anything.
This little helicopter really satisfies the little boy in me, It may do the same for you.
Yaesumofo
Customer Review: Definitely Not as Advertised!!
Summary: 1 Stars
First of all I bought mine from Walmart for $29 which is their everyday price. But even at that price it was a return item.
I took it out of the box and read the instructions while charging the battery. The instructions are simple and easily read before the battery is charged. I placed it on the ground and fired it up. As per the instructions it does respond to only slight control actions and up it went. It hovered pretty well half way to the ceiling where I backed off of the control to hover it. I then set the trim as per the instructions to stop the clockwise spinning.
I then tried to get some kind of control from it besides up and down but the battery had already died down and it was settling back to the ground.
I recharged it after a short cool down and tried again. and repeated this process over and over adding weight, tweaking, recharging crashing etc, etc.
Long story made short I placed it back in the box and it was returned to Walmart.
After dozens of tries, tweaks and rereads of the instructions I realized that you have no real control over the Havoc beyond its up and down. As far as guiding it around like in the advertisements...... Forget it. It wasn't going to happen. There was no forward or backwards unless it wanted to, there was no left or right unless it wanted to.
Overall this heli is extremely boring with it having no real control besides going up and hovering for a short time and then spinning in circles as the battery rapidly weakened and it spun its way back to the ground, the battery lasted at best 2.5 to 3 minutes before it would not lift it self or hold a hover any longer.
The Good:
The only good thing to say about the Havoc Heli is that for its size it is durable and it looks neat.
The Bad:
No control beyond up and down.
Very short battery life.
Very boring considering there is really no flight control.
Conclusion:
Definitely not as advertised!!
Note: I decided to write this review as I seen another commercial for it on TV and have now seen 3 since I started writing the review. I don't know how they managed to get then to do anything for the commercials but the one I bought was incapable of anything shown in the commercial beyond hovering and spinning to the ground out of control. If hovering is all you want out of the Havoc you are all set to go. If you want more don't bother.
Customer Review: Mini Heli Rocks
Summary: 5 Stars
I have read a number of reviews regarding this heli. I have been flying radio control aircraft for about 10 years now. Never have I run across such a level of complexity in such a small package for such a small amount of money. I really got to hand it to the designers of this model. Flying radio controled anything takes a little savvy and patience in learning. Helis are even more difficult to fly than airplanes, but can be mastered with practice just as well. I found this little machine to be a real blast. I have never flown a heli before. I had this thing hovering in just a few minutes once I had the trim set. The trim will also change as battery power is used up. Not a huge problem, just expect a little difference in performance. If you do not use the nose weights provided the heli will only want to hover. I have all three weights on, one on top of the other placed at the nose and still need a little more to tip the heli nose a little downward to enable foreward travel. Little kids are not going to be aware of this and will find limited performance in the model if flying by themselves. With some adult help they will do better. The charge plug is delicate as it should be for this size model. I had a little trouble inserting the plug the first time. You really don't know how much pressure is needed till it finally snaps in. Make sure you have a perfect line up with socket and plug. After the first time it is much easier to connect now, and it stays in just fine too. My 4-1/2 year old daughter was bugging me to death to try it out. I just knew she was going to destroy it. The first time she flew it she really turned up the power. It flew straight up and hit the ceiling falling to the ground. No damage at all. This was repeated two more times. No damage. She had this thing flying as good as me in only two chargings. She hovers it around then makes it spin to the right then to the left. Her landings are a little rough yet, but overall she did great. The heli bumped off walls, floors, and lamps while she learned. No damage. The foam body absorbs impact well. The thing is so light and moves rather slowly it can't hurt much of anything it hits, especially itself. This little chopper takes top honors from us, a great little toy for sure. I bought three to give as presents (mostly to adults). I think with a little logic and common sense approach linked with some patience most people will really love this little guy. Oh Yes!!!Customer Review: Difficult, But Fun
Summary: 5 Stars
The Bottom Line Is - I DO RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT if you want a challenge. It is durable. It will pass the time away at work, but don't let your supervisor catch you. It is definitely meant to be used indoors.
I suggest that you learn how to hover first before trying to turn and go forward. DO NOT put the tape (sticker that comes with it) on the tip of the nose until you learn how to hover and steer the thing, first. It makes the heli fly forward too fast for beginners. Make sure you don't have the heater/AC blowing out of the vents because you will lose complete control of the thing.
It is better to have the tail of the copter facing you when you take off, just as the instructions instructs you to do.
You have to wait until the blue light on the heli flashes in groups of 3's before trying to launch it, again, after crashing when the radio control is not in its sights. That only takes a few seconds. I fly it mainly during commercials while watching TV. My family loves it. It will launch from almost any surface, including carpet and it haven't knocked down any greeting cards or papers off any furniture, yet.
You must take your time, though, with the controls so as to not hit the ceiling too hard. DO NOT over throttle or oversteer it. Be very patient and be very gentle with the controls. As it starts lifting back off the throttle or it will hit the ceiling. It flys very high and fast for a small heli.
It comes with an extra tail rotor, but I haven't broken the one on it, yet. I tried to just pull the tail rotor off, but it is very difficult to get off. Take your time to pry it off if you have to take it off.
It is very difficult, at first, to get it trimmed. When you can't trim it to keep it from rotating on you and twisting the tail rotor, as per instructions, don't work then check for lint and string to be caught between the tail rotor and the tail rotor motor to get it to be stable again.
It's great fun and not a bad toy for the kids to learn how to fly a heli before stepping up to a larger scale. Get it, be patient, and just have fun with it. You and your family will definitely enjoy it if you love flying RC Heli's.