Bladez: i-Bladez Flight Salvation Helicopter R/C

Having been sorely disappointed by the previous micro RC 'copter I bought (a close copy of a Pico-Z), my expectations weren't too high for this one. However, it turned out to be pretty good.

The description is a bit misleading - it suggests full control, but actually you can only go left, right (plus L/R trim) and adjust the throttle - no back / forward adjustment. Despite that, you have very precise control, a nice slow forward speed, and within about 15 minutes of practising I could do a lap of the living room and land it back where it started.

Battery life is pretty impressive too (about 7 mins from a 45-min charge), considering the power it needs and the tiny battery. Hopefully this one will allow a decent number of recharges - battery durability is often a problem on this sort of thing. Just make sure you follow the instructions and don't store it with a discharged battery.

On the down side, the 'joystick' controller is a bit of a gimmick - it's fine for use while sitting down, but if you want to walk around the house while flying, it's a bit tricky - a traditional type controller would be more practical, and a throttle you can operate with your other hand (as opposed to the thumb throttle on this one) would allow more precise control.

The controller can be powered by USB, but I *really* can't see the point of that, unless you want to fly it in a train carriage from your laptop power or something equally stupid. It also vibrates - again, utterly pointless.

Finally durability - I've crashed it a *lot* of times, and it's still *mostly* in one piece - just the tail rotor seems a little flimsy (I broke one within 10 minutes of getting it out of the box). You do get 2 spares with it though, and it's only for show - the two counter-rotating main rotors provide all the lift and turning capabilities.

Overall a good, fun toy, for those with a big lounge and that aren't too ham-fisted on the throttle (it will embed itself in the ceiling faster than you can blink if you just blat it open). Try and get a decent discount though - it's a bit pricey at RRP, and plenty of stores are knocking a decent amount off.

The price is good because it comes with the joystick as well as the helicopter. However you can't control the forwards and backwards movement in this helicopter, although in other bladez models you can. This means that the joystick can only be used for turning the helicopter, trim and the throttle, which is a bit disappointing. The only way to use this is to buy another helicopter which you can control the forwards and backwards motion. These are the ones that have the tail rotor facing up. I recommend the bladez salvation micro which is a very similar model. Also the bottom of the joystick I have isn't attached properly so when I move the joystick the bottom comes apart which can be fixed by adding a few screws.