Syma S109G 3.5 Channel RC Helicopter with Gyro

The Syma S109G Helicopter is a great small indoor helicopter for everyone from beginners to those simply wanting to add to the collection. Overall the 109 is a quality made product. Although it is made up of fairly lightweight materials, it is durable enough to stand the many crashes that are bound to happen especially when flying around in a fairly small space. This helicopter offers enough speed, although not overly quick, while still maintaining the stability and control that makes it so easy to fly. The ease of control of this helicopter makes it a great option for you to learn how to fly if this is your first helicopter. This was my first helicopter and after only a few flights I had learned the basics enough to control it quite well. It will sometimes back-up on its own if you simply allow it to fly still as well as spin slightly to the left, but after a quick adjustment on the controller and a short learning curve, you will soon be an expert at fly it all over the house. Other reviewers have complained that the helicopter struggled to fly and died shortly after the first few flights. I have had it for at least 6 months now and fly it at least a few times a month and have had no such issues. The battery life is still excellent, as it will fly strong for at least 10-15 minutes after each full charge. The design and detail of this helicopter is second to none for a beginner’s level helicopter. It looks awesome and looks identical to an Apache helicopter. It even has two LED lights, which even makes flying it in the dark possible. This is an excellent helicopter that is tons of fun to fly around and even pester your friends or pets with. It is an excellent value that will last a long time and keep you occupied for short periods of time day after day. This helicopter looks great whether being flown around the house or sitting on your desk getting charged. If you are looking for a helicopter that is easy to fly all over the house, whether a beginner or expert, this is a great option. It is a great value for a quality product that will be tons of fun to fly around.

I thank God that I don't fly anything with me in it because I crash this helicopter about a thousand times. I tell you this helicopter is extemely fun to fly, albeit a little slow. It was amazingly stable when it is hovering. Here are some of the things I notice about this toy: 1) battery life(per charge): it last about 5 to 6 minutes, which is long enough for cat harassment. I have since bought other RC helicopter to keep me occupied. The charge taking about 30 to 40 minute. After reading other reviewer regarding overcharging, I am now more diligent and unplug the charge whenever it is done charging. 2) operation: I like the simplicity of the control. The "drift" capability in other helicopter makes it more complicated to control. one thing I noticed is that as the helicopter flys toward you, it begin to slow down. Not sure why. I thought it might be due to the angle of the IR emitter. When it flys away, it picks up speed. 3) durability: ultra, ultra durable. I crashed in the ceiling, curtains, walls, cats, more walls and still flying. The rotory blades are a bit worn but still holding up. I have nose-dived 20 to 30 times and nothing broke. On the contrary, I broke the landing skid on the new V911 in the first 30 seconds of flying. I have this helicopter for a month now and am still loving it. 4) modification: the slowness of this helicopte annoyed me a bit so I decided to lop off the two side wings with the missiles and the two tail wings. It did make it fly faster, a lot faster. This translated into more furious crashes. I had to tape a penny on the back of the helicopter to balance it so that it hovers right. Also, remove/disengage the spring for the throttle so you can hover without actively pushing on the lever. That's a crash preventer! Summary: I love the way this helicopter banks and slides through the air. I also love the way it flys straight at you at eye level. It is like having a duel with yourself and see who flinches first, you or yourself. It makes a very good cat toys (for the human). The cat smacked at it a couple of times but the rotor wind and noise scared him. If you are looking for a cat toy, or a toy for your kids, this is the one to get. It looks mean, like a giant flying locust. I didn't think the coast guard version was as cool looking.

I told my sister I was buying this for her son for Christmas and I guess she heard the enthusiasm in my voice because she bought me one too. I couldn't have been more thrilled with this thing. I would have become a mini-helicopter junkie if these had been around when I was a kid. I got close even being an adult. I thought this was the coolest thing when I found out I could use my Ipod/Iphone as the controller. Not until I put batteries in the real remote did I realize how hard it is to control on your touch device. It was still pretty cool being able to brag that you can control a helicopter with you Ipod/Iphone. It took me a little while to learn how to fly this thing, but not long. Then again I remember opening this around 4 in the morning Christmas day. I had worked at a bar for Christmas Eve so I didn't have the highest level of senses during my initial test flight. I then flew this thing every hour for the next couple of weeks until I wanted a faster model. This thing is relatively small in size, but not too small. Perfect for indoor use. As you can see in the picture it's about as long as an adult hand and probably about half the width of an adult hand. Of course the blades are a lot wider, but I'm talking about the body of the Heli. The speed on this thing is built for a beginner. At first it will be almost too fast, but once you get the hang of it, it'll feel like a tugboat. The hardest part is controlling the lift and maintaining an altitude without losing all lift. This thing will hover in place though which is cool. Sometimes it will need some adjusting as it will sometimes spin in one direction. It is very easy to correct with the provided controller. The controls are very responsive. This isn't infrared so you don't need a direct sight between the controller and the heli, but the distance isn't that great at the same time. Most people don't live in houses big enough to go beyond this distance, so I wouldn't worry about it, unless you're trying to fly into other rooms of your house. That's the other thing. You have to fly this indoors or outdoors when there is absolutely no wind. This thing is so small that any slight breeze will mess it up. I tried flying this outdoors in Chicago and it was all over the place. I had basically no controls other than lift. I wouldn't say don't do it, just don't do it in a place where you could lose this on a roof or something. If you lose communication this thing will just drop out of the air so be careful. I almost lost this in a tree multiple times because it's fun to see how high you can get it to fly and you don't have to worry about hitting walls/light fixtures/fans. This thing is very durable too. It has hit so many things in my house, yet it still flys like it's brand new. All of the blades have dings in them from hitting things, but they still work. There are replacement blades available and they're not very expensive. Battery life is probably the biggest con. This thing only lasts for about 7 minutes. You'll notice when the power is getting low because you will not be able to get very much lift. Whenever I would fly this I would completely drain the battery by spinning the blades while it was on the ground. Recharging this helicopter is reasonable too. It takes about an hour to recharge. There is a little red light that comes on as you are charging and it will go off when the battery is fully charged. The nice thing is that they have a wall charger and a usb charger. The look and feel of this thing are great. For the price it's top notch. It doesn't feel flimsy like it's going to break at any moment. This thing can and will take a beating. It's durable. I personally love the look of this thing compared to the other more expensive helicopters out there. Lastly, I would almost recommend this for older kids or even adults with a kids heart. The Heli that I got my nephew who was 7 at the time wasn't really into it. I was completely shocked when I heard this, but I get it when you're that little. Coordination isn't fun when you're little. Initially they couldn't get it to work for whatever reason, so they sent it back and I got him some GI Joe Jeep (boring).

The Syma 109G is excellent. Got 3 of these for a niece and a pair of nephews for Christmas. Everyone loved them including my father (65 yrs), me (25), and the kids (10,9,6). The 6 year old just liked seeing how high he could get the heli before the controller cut out and the heli came crashing back to the pavement. It was a respectable 30 ft, and it survived great after 4 charges of pure punishment. Top notch durability if you ask me. The ten year old eventually got his stuck in a tree, and the balance bar on top of the blades broke because we had to beat it out of the tree with a PVC pipe, the parts kit is about half the price of the heli and is well worth it. One complaint I have is that there is no apparent way to change the channel of the helicopters and all the ones we got were channel A. So don't plan on flying two at the same time. But even so, they were excellent fun for everyone who was able to get their hands on a controller. Don't plan on flying them outside in the open, even a 1-2 mph breeze makes a pretty big difference. I had the kids fly them between some school buildings, and the 6 year old got his on the roof of the building pretty quick, but it was an excellent location for the 9 and 10 year old. The flying time is about as advertised probably around 6 minutes, which is fine. They are surprisingly easy to fly if you know a little bit about how they work. The 6 year old couldn't master it, the 9 year old could control the general direction of flight and the 10 year old could make it go pretty much where he wanted. Regardless of skill level they all loved the them. As far as actual maneuverability this heli is great. My niece and nephews would hold out their hand I and could land it on their hands pretty consistently after a bit of practice, It helps that they "help" by moving their hands a few inches. I after a few tries I could also land it on the blade of a ceiling fan (kinda tough to do since the fan is very close to the ceiling, but with more practice would be quite doable). The forward and backward speed is about walking pace. Now that I've gone home after Christmas, I can't help but buy one for me. I plan on taking it to class and flying up to one of my "cool" professors, then landing it on his desk. These are the most fun I've had for under $30 in quite some time. I highly recommend the Syma 109G.

I ordered 8 of these (various Syma models) as Christmas gifts this year for all the guys and they were a hit with everyone. I've never seen so many people have so much fun for such a long period of time with such an inexpensive toy. I figured they'd all be broken within a matter of minutes but they actually held up very well. One of them (Coast Guard 111) was defective out of the box; wouldnt move forward because of an issue with the tail motor (could move backward). Items that were broken over the course of the day were a couple tail rotors, a main rotor head, and some misc parts (ie canopies, side pods from a 108, etc). I was going to return the 111 but decided to just order another and we canabalized the 111 for the parts to repair the broken rotor head on the 108. Of the models purchased, the 108 seems to be the most aggressive in terms of flight characteristics. The 109 (Apache) seems to be the most stable of the lot and was very easy and predictable to flight in tight spaces. The 102 (Black Hawk) seemed to have the most lift out of the bunch but also had the touchiest throttle (tough to hover without throttle input where the rest of them seemed to hover without as much throttle manipulation). We've only flown 4 of the 8 and of those 4, 1 was defective out of the box. I'll update after this weekend (rest of them will be given out) and report on how they're doing. I cant believe how durable they have been though; none of the recipients had flown helis before with the exception of myself (limited experience) and it showed. I cant count how many times these things have hit the concrete from 8-10' off the ground. None of the main blades have broken yet but we did have the one head failure late Christmas night. Of the 3 that were operational all day, the 108 consistantly had the longest run time of the bunch and usually last 2 minutes longer than the 102 and 109. The 102 and 109 had very similar runtime to one another; perhaps the 108 we got just had a very good battery (2 more 108s will be used this weekend so I'll report if there is a pattern with the longer runtimes). We were able to fly 3 of them at the same time. I'd read that while the 108 had 3 channel selections, only 2 seemed to work. The 108s remote wouldnt bind to any of the other helis. We put the 102 on channel B, the 109 on channel A, and used channel B on the 108 (which reportedly didnt work from other reviews I've read) and were able to fly interference free all afternoon. The remote from the 108 is a bit different from the others and has 3 channel selections vice the 2 that are available on the other 2 models. I guess channel may be a bit confusing here, the remote and heli is a 3 channel unit providing throttle, rudder, and forward/backward motion. There are also the channels (pretty sure that was how it was labeled in the manual) that can be used to separate your remotes from the others so you can fly simultaneously around other helis.

I've now owned two of these Syma S109G 3.5 Channel RC Helicopters with Gyro. The first one I bought about two years ago, and the second one I bought more recently after the other one got stepped on and smashed by one of the kids. I bought each one for under $18 on Amazon, and at that price, this is an outstanding value. EASY TO FLY The controls are simple and relatively intuitive, so after a little practice, you'll get the hang of flying it pretty quickly even if you're completely new to RC helicopters. In fact, if you play video games, you'll probably pick it up almost immediately, since the only real challenge is having good manual dexterity to make gentle corrections to the flight controls instead of pressing too hard on them (which causes abrupt changes in flight that lead to crashing). Within minutes of getting this copter for the first time, I was able to takeoff and land on a small area--such as the corner of a small end table or the seat of a dining chair--without crashing or colliding with nearby furnishings. To fly, you press up on the left thumbstick. The further you press, the more aggressively the copter ascends. Holding it somewhere in the middle (depending on battery life, which makes the exact position vary over time) will cause the copter to hover. Releasing it slightly will allow the copter to descend. And, of course, pulling it back down immediately cuts the power and allows the copter to drop. One interesting note here: On the first one I bought two years ago, the controller's left thumbstick was spring loaded so that as soon as I removed my thumb from the stick, it would snap back down to the off position and de-power the copter. Thus, I had to apply constant pressure while flying. On the second one I bought more recently, however, the left thumbstick stays in whatever position I leave it (which is slightly more convenient for flying) and must be manually pulled back down to de-power the copter. Either there is a slight defect in one of the two controllers, or there has been a minor design change; regardless, both controllers were easy enough to operate and worked fine. The right thumbstick is a 4-way controller that controls the ability to rotate left or right, and to move forward or back. It is reasonably responsive, but feels just relaxed enough in its responsiveness to make flying feel relaxed and controllable. Obviously, if you fly into tight spaces, you'll still need to be well practiced and accustomed to the mild drift that can cause you to collide into a wall or object, but as you get used to it, you'll find yourself being able to fly under tables and chairs without crashing. It's that controllable! DURABLE The first one I bought lasted nearly two years, and probably would've kept going if not for one of the kids falling on it and smashing it. During that time, it had crashed into a LOT of furniture and had frequently dropped from a height of eight feet or so onto hard tile. Yet nothing seemed to damage it. After months of abuse, there were some slight dents in the leading edge of the blades, but they did not adversely affect flying performance, and we never had anything break on the copter in all that time. That's impressive. It's very durably built from moderately flexible plastic, and also very light weight. The combination of those two qualities makes it virtually indestructible in our experience. SAFE AND FUN I bought this copter to fly with my young daughters. My oldest was 2 at the time, and now our middle daughter is 2 years old. Even around a two year old, this copter is pretty safe. Yes, if they reach out and get their hands or their face in the way of the blades, it's going to sting, but in the three or four accidents we've had like that, it has never broken the skin or caused any significant injury. The copter is light enough that it tends to strike hard (like a very sharp slap) and immediately repel itself away from whatever it strikes, as long as you cut power immediately by releasing the left thumbstick. And after the first accident where each daughter got a little overexcited and rushed in to get "bit" by the blades, they became much more cautious afterward, which is why we had so few accidents in two years. RELATIVELY SHORT BATTERY LIFE The only "downside" for this copter--at least initially--is that the battery life is so short. We were able to get up to six minutes of flight time, which can be stretched out to perhaps 15 or 20 minutes of play if you're not constantly flying at full throttle but also landing and depowering briefly as you try to accomplish various challenges, like landing on someone's hand or whatever. It's not bad, but at first, it feels way too short. Later, as some of the novelty wears off, it's actually plenty of battery to give you a brief flying fix, and there have been a few times I've been glad the battery runs out as soon as it does, or else my daughters would probably never have let me quit flying it. To recharge the copter, you plug the cord into your computer's USB slot and then into the side of the copter. It takes about 45 minutes to an hour to recharge for another 5 to 7 minutes of flight time. When the copter is finished charging, the USB plug will light up red. On our first one, the USB light had a short in it so it would flicker erratically, but it didn't prevent it from charging so we just used it and waited at least an hour to ensure the copter was fully charged. On the second one we just purchased, the light in the USB plug works properly, and it's nice to know exactly when the copter is ready to go. INDOOR USE The infrared controller is really meant to be used indoors, so if you're wanting to fly outdoors, you'll be better served by looking elsewhere. In bright sunlight, the controller loses its responsiveness and sometimes its entire connection to the copter, causing many more crashes. Also, the slightest breeze will significantly reduce the copter's maneuverability also. It's really meant for indoor flight--which I find to be more fun anyway. (The LEDs on either side of the motor are a nice touch when you fly into dark corners of the house, ensuring you don't lose visual track of the copter.) Indoors, though, the gyro stabilized design and simple controls make this a real pleasure to play with. CONCLUSION All in all, this is an outstanding copter for someone new to RC flying or for someone who wants a very stable, very controllable copter for just playing around the house with. If you can snag it for under $20, just do it. I also like that it has a lot more character than some of the more "modern" but generic looking RC copter bodies. This one has that cool military gunship look, and thus, makes it pair very well with G. I. Joes. It's pretty cool to let Joe call in reinforcements and then have dad fly to the rescue with this bad boy. :) If that sounds like what you're looking for too, I highly recommend it!

I ordered the S109G helicopter for my husband for Christmas. He loved that it was put together and with some practice, he was flying it like a pro in no time. Running in to walls and other house hazards, it's really quite durable. It also takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'. When the battery is wearing down, it becomes irresponsive to the remote. Unfortunately, the battery doesn't last too long~ 6 minutes or so on a 25 minute charge. My recommendation for the manufacturer is to fix this problem quick. It gets annoying, especially with our toddler saying "Fly the helicopter, Daddy!" and the darn thing sputters out. It has a shorter attention span that she does. On a separate note, if you find your device having steering problems, the tail blade may be locked up. There's no replacement part and it seems easy to remedy with just your hands. Update: After two weeks and multiple crashes, the Apache AH-64 puttered out and and no replacement parts are available. If you're going to spend the money, I'd recommend going with something more durable or at the least, be repaired in the event of a breakdown.

A coworker got a Sigma S107 recently, which has started a new craze around the office. When I looked on Amazon to get one, I saw this model was only a few bucks more and had significantly better reviews. This is the first toy of this kind I've owned, so the only point of comparison I have are the few others I've seen that I got to play with for a few minutes. I do find this helicopter to be of a better make than the 107 model by Sigma, but I haven't seen enough other brands to know how they stack up. But I'm quite happy with the S109. One thing I really like is that it's a nice representation of an AH-64 Apache. It's got a cool, mean look to it and the level of detail is actually pretty good. The rotors seem more substantial and the flight characteristics more refined than the S107, but the landing gear consists of plastic pretend wheels, whereas the S107 has rails that are a little easier to land and can be used to try and air lift objects of admittedly no consequence about the office. Not that this works anyway, even the S109 lacks the power to lift even a pen very far, and the S107 is about the same. These copters can be tricky to control. I find the vertical dimension is especially challenging, but also forward and backward momentum are difficult to control with any precision. It may take a bit of practice before you can land your copter on a medium size end table without it ending in calamity. But, for the price, you can't expect much. Also, beware of walls and nearby objects, as they seem to create turbulence that sucks the chopper into them and disrupts navigation. When I first saw these, I assumed that RC meant "Radio Controlled", but I was wrong. Apparently, it only means "Remote Controlled" and the controllers actually use infrared, which as you might image has some serious drawbacks: 1) it requires line of sight between controller and the chopper. This is not as bad as you might imagine. You can be pointed away from the chopper and somehow still controlling it, but eventually you will lose signal. 2) Don't cover up the sensors. 3) Bright light can also interfere with the signal. 4) From time to time, I find that I will have my signal momentarily drop out (and my chopper drop out of the sky as a result) even when only a couple of feet away pointing right at the chopper. I wish this was radio controlled. On the bright side, it doesn't have a big antenna, and this only happens once in a blue moon (maybe I need fresh batteries in my remote instead of the ones I stole from every other household device!). Overall, it's not usually a problem and works better than I expected. A key consideration with toys like this is batteries. The Helicopter has a built in NiMH rechargeable battery. You need to charge it via USB, which can be a pain if you don't always have a computer or other USB device nearby, but you can use any USB wall AC adapter (such as the one that came with your smart phone) with no problem. These can also be purchased cheap online for a couple of bucks. You can also charge the chopper directly from the remote control, which is nice. This also explains why the controller takes 6, yes 6, AA batteries! The biggest drawback of this toy is the capacity of the built in battery in the helicopter itself. It takes 40-50 minutes to charge it and a full charge will get you around 5, maybe 10 minutes of flight time. That's not a good ratio, if you ask me, and 5 minutes of play time is not likely to satiate you, especially when you are first trying to learn to fly it. That said, it may be just as well because it serves as a good way to take a quick break during the day: fly your chopper and when the battery dies, your break is over. I'm sure the battery life is a consequence of weight concerns and cost concerns. Lastly, there are a few more fragile detail pieces on the S109 than than S107, so keep that in mind if buying for a kid. The chopper is still AMAZINGLY durable. I've crashed mine dozens, if not hundreds of times in the past couple of days. Into the cieling, then floor, tile, linoleum, carpet, you name it. I even crashed it into my girlfriend's head and got the rotors caught in her hair. But the chopper is completely unharmed! I, however, ran for my life. Overall, this is a lot of fun. I love mine. It has a lot of compromises and imperfections, but for the price this is an amazing and cool little toy.