stupid miniature helicopters!

[killbilly]

So, because of the other thread (too lazy to look it up) I checked out an bought one of those Picco Z (or Picoo Z) little r/c helicopters.

And I spent about 6 hours last night flying it. Or, rather, should I say them. Because I have a second one now that I'm going to mod a bit from stock to see if I can make it better. Oh, and a third one that may get modded or be a gift.

These little suckers are like crack. Seriously. If you value your time at all, you will avoid getting one.

The challenge of trying to hover and land one precisely on my cat's scratching post was fascinating and still consumes vast amounts of my free time. Thank God my girlfriend is out of town this weekend.

[TFaudree_ERAU]

I had my first experience with one the other night. Thankfully, I was not given the chance to take it home.

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by TFaudree_ERAU

I had my first experience with one the other night. Thankfully, I was not given the chance to take it home.

Ahem... helo section anyone? Kidding.

But really... magnify that by like a zillion when you fly the real thing. They're a blast!

[JaceTheAce]

Okay... these things are MAJOR hot items and will sell just by word of mouth. Prime example: My father bought one at the same time I did, happened to see the videos on You Tube... okay... I thought that was enough... NOW my mother bought one and is addicted to flying it!!!!!! Now my mother went BACK to Radio Shack after putting one on hold that she special ordered (because they keep selling out) to by one for my little 12 yr old cousin... how cool is that? Word of mouth is the best form of advertising!

I am addicting to flying this thing... it's amazing how well they fly for how small they are.

[triplec76]

We went to 2 Radio Shacks to find this thing. It could only be ordered from the website for $40. I happened to be shopping for my sons birthday on Friday and saw them at ToysRUs for $30. So if you can't find one at Radio Shack, try there.

[killbilly]

Originally Posted by triplec76

We went to 2 Radio Shacks to find this thing. It could only be ordered from the website for $40. I happened to be shopping for my sons birthday on Friday and saw them at ToysRUs for $30. So if you can't find one at Radio Shack, try there.

If you go into Radio Shack and they are out of stock, they will order it for you and have it shipped to your house, for free. You pay for it at the store. It took 36 hours to arrive at my door.

Modding to commence as soon as I crack open this beer...

[EatSleepFly]

Hmmm...these things sound like a promising form of entertainment for someone who lives in an empty apartment. I'll have to find one.

[triplec76]

Originally Posted by killbilly

If you go into Radio Shack and they are out of stock, they will order it for you and have it shipped to your house, for free.

The guys we talked to here in central Ohio acted like they had never heard of the item in their lives. They thought I was talking about their miniature chopper, which is like 3 times the size of the Picoo.

Actually, we were looking at several items that night. I'm a guy that asks tons of questions about products I'm interested in (thank God for the internet regarding consumer education). These guys didn't have a clue about anything I wanted to know.

This is off-topic, but I think companies are satisfied with educating their employees just enough to BS the naive customer.

[Doug Taylor]

Originally Posted by triplec76

This is off-topic, but I think companies are satisfied with educating their employees just enough to BS the naive customer.

Try the Best Buy computer section.

[triplec76]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

Try the Best Buy computer section.

Oh yeah. Been there, done that, got a BOX of those T-shirts. I've been hearing some really humorous stories about the Geek Squad or whatever they're called. It really blows my mind.

[Doug Taylor]

My favorite: "Ma'am, this is a pentium-III, you're going to need clean power so I suggest this highly overpriced surge protector and our GeekSquad something-or-rather-package"

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by Doug Taylor

My favorite: "Ma'am, this is a pentium-III, you're going to need clean power so I suggest this highly overpriced surge protector and our GeekSquad something-or-rather-package"

Yes, for the low price of $399.99 you will have Adaware installed on your computer, even though it's free to download and so simple to install but we won't tell you that you're getting ripped off. Oh, and that MonsterCable surge protector for the low price of $999.99 will work wonderful to make your Pentium I 60Mhz with 4MB RAM operate like a Mac G5!

[Airdale]

I'm going to get one today.

How hard is it to fly? I used to build and fly big R/C planes and I remember one day at the field this guy had an Airwolf helicopter. The thing was awesome, but watching him fly it was nuts. Talk about trying to balance a tennis ball on top of another tennis ball.

[killbilly]

Originally Posted by Airdale

I'm going to get one today.

How hard is it to fly? I used to build and fly big R/C planes and I remember one day at the field this guy had an Airwolf helicopter. The thing was awesome, but watching him fly it was nuts. Talk about trying to balance a tennis ball on top of another tennis ball.

The answer is...it depends...it doesn't have cyclic/collective/torque controls, so it's not a 'true' helicopter and as such, real helicopter skills won't apply. But it's not as easy to fly as it looks...it does take some practice, and when you re-trim it you have to learn how to fly it again.

You can do things to trim it for various flight characteristics - that's ultimately why I have two of them right now - one I've got "stock" so it flies slower but it's more stable. The other one I've got rigged for more forward flight. But they both fly differently - the rigged one, right out of the box, has a strange wobbling problem that I haven't sorted out yet, the other one is smoother, but I have to 'jumpstart' the tailrotor on it because it doesn't spin up immediately.

Best advice I can tell you is small moves on the sticks and you'll figure it out. Just takes some practice. I've done a lot of crashing and they hold up to abuse really, really well. I actually hit a wall pretty hard - and as it caromed off the wall I maxed the throttle and the damned thing recovered in mid-air. I was shocked.

Oh - one other thing...

Get some 3-in-1 oil or hobby lube, and get a couple drops into the main pinion gear and on the tail rotor. It will last longer on a charge and be noticeably quieter. I used a sharp exacto knife to cut out a little "window" in the main housing (you'll see it when you get one) so I could get the oil in there. I've read that you can split the chassis easily enough but I've not been brave enough to try it yet.

[JaceTheAce]

Originally Posted by killbilly

The answer is...it depends...it doesn't have cyclic/collective/torque controls, so it's not a 'true' helicopter and as such, real helicopter skills won't apply. But it's not as easy to fly as it looks...it does take some practice, and when you re-trim it you have to learn how to fly it again.

You can do things to trim it for various flight characteristics - that's ultimately why I have two of them right now - one I've got "stock" so it flies slower but it's more stable. The other one I've got rigged for more forward flight. But they both fly differently - the rigged one, right out of the box, has a strange wobbling problem that I haven't sorted out yet, the other one is smoother, but I have to 'jumpstart' the tailrotor on it because it doesn't spin up immediately.

Best advice I can tell you is small moves on the sticks and you'll figure it out. Just takes some practice. I've done a lot of crashing and they hold up to abuse really, really well. I actually hit a wall pretty hard - and as it caromed off the wall I maxed the throttle and the damned thing recovered in mid-air. I was shocked.

Oh - one other thing...

Get some 3-in-1 oil or hobby lube, and get a couple drops into the main pinion gear and on the tail rotor. It will last longer on a charge and be noticeably quieter. I used a sharp exacto knife to cut out a little "window" in the main housing (you'll see it when you get one) so I could get the oil in there. I've read that you can split the chassis easily enough but I've not been brave enough to try it yet.

I had to "jump start" the tail rotor on mine too. I used gas-powered R/C engine lube to get the gears nice and lubed up. It will run smooth and quieter...and probably make the battery last longer. I wouldn't know how longer the battery lasts because I added the lube right out of the box.

These things can take abuse. I've crashed it into the walls at full speed wtih three thumbtacks on the front to make it go...about 6 knots? and it will not break.

[Airdale]

Damn this thing is fun! I think I recharged it about 6 times last night.

Its a challenge to get the little turd to do what you want it to do. I figured out that if you move the directional control stick quickly left and right, you can get it to hover somewhat. The problem I'm having is that I have to retrim it almost every flight. I put a tack on the front like you guys have done, and that gets the thing moving along pretty good, but then its a pain to get it to hover. I'm still trying to hover and land on specific surfaces.

Hello, my name is Dave and I have a problem. I am addicted to cheap flying toys.

[killbilly]

You really don't want to use a thumbtack - from what I've read, the LiPo battery is stored somewhere in the nose and the tack can very easily puncture the little foil packet containing the battery. Not good if that happens.

I solved my weight problem with staples. I took the staples out of my desk stapler and broke off a few sections of varying length so I could try different weights. I've found that a length of staples about 1/4-3/8" in length (depending on the speed you want) will snug nicely onto the nose without really penetrating the foam too much.

I haven't opened up my third one yet. My second one is behaving REALLY erractically so that one might the one that gets opened up for....surgery.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by JaceTheAce

Yes, for the low price of $399.99 you will have Adaware installed on your computer, even though it's free to download and so simple to install but we won't tell you that you're getting ripped off. Oh, and that MonsterCable surge protector for the low price of $999.99 will work wonderful to make your Pentium I 60Mhz with 4MB RAM operate like a Mac G5!

True story - I needed a firewire cable and PCI card for the handycam we inherited. I went to best buy a few days ago and the cheapest they had them for was $35 for the cable and $35 for the card.

I bought both online for $23 including shipping and photo editing software.