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Did you spend your childhood dreaming of piloting Airwolf?
Did you charge around the playground spinning and making helicopter
noises? No, neither did we, but our Editor keeps telling us
he did! For those who have always wanted to pilot their own
helicopter then F.E.V.A. has a new gizmo that you'll not be
able to stop playing with...
Air
Hogs is well known for its impressive line of good, solid
airborne toys. Their earlier air-powered and RC planes have
been well received, so a move into the world of whirlybirds
was a natural progression.
The
Sky Patrol R/C Helicopter looks the business when you
see the image on the box. However, like the images in fast
food restaurants, the contents didn't quite live up to the
pictures. Not only are the runners on the box replaced by
four legs on the actual model, but the nice plastic finish
that we are lead to believe we were going to get turns out
to be badly painted polystyrene that looks nothing like the
slick model in the image above. This was something we couldn't
understand, as the previous Air Hog models have been polystyrene,
but have been well painted.
But
we ignored that slight oversight as the thing would spend
most of it's time in the air (we hoped - you haven't seen
our hand to eye co-ordination. And no jokes about not being
able to keep our chopper up!) so an aesthetically pleasing
finish was not necessary. A huge plus point (assuming you
have the batteries to hand to work the charger and remote
control) was that this was really easy to charge and have
flying almost as soon as you open the box - unlike most remote
control toys that require the battery to be charged for at
least a few hours.
And the charger is not some monstrously ugly black box. No,
Air Hogs has cleverly designed a charger that doubles as the
launch/landing pad. So, when you take this out for the day,
all you need is the charger, the remote control unit and the
helicopter - obviously.
A
word of warning though, for those who are expecting a full
multi-channel control system - you don't get one here. And
neither should you expect to at the price.
The
actual flying is easy to get the hang of. And, while you don't
have total control of the direction of flight, as long as
it is a calm day you shouldn't have too many problems. It
is also totally safe for even the youngest child to take control
of. And should the helicopter be taken on the wind there is
a cut of switch that stops the blades rotating so that it
lands quickly. And believe me this switch comes in handy,
especially when you are flying at over 15
metres above the ground.
And
should the worst happen, and you crash, the polystyrene construction
ensures that it is protected. The rotor blades are also designed
so that should they come in to contact with anything they
won't break easily. And another positive point is that everything
fits back snugly in the box to ensure that it won't get damaged
once you have finished playing with it.
Hours
of fun is guaranteed. It's just a shame the product doesn't
look as well polished as the image on the box.
Nick
Smithson
Buy
this item online
We
compare prices online so you get the cheapest
deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below
to purchase this item.
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£49.99
(Amazon.co.uk) |
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£59.45
(Boysstuff.co.uk) |
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£80.00
(Gadgetshop.com) |
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£39.95
(Firebox.com)
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Other
stockist of this item include: Index, Toys 'R' Us, Woolworths,
www.toymonkey.com
and all good
toy shops
All prices correct at time of going to press.
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