I usually have a few rules about buying new airplanes or any hobby related items,
1)FLY SMART. . . . BUY SMARTER!!!!!!
2) Do the research on the product.
3) No impulse buying.
4)Check the internet forums, you can get a wealth of information on the item you intend to buy if you just invest a few minutes!!!
On this occasion I threw the rules out the window, and plunked down $40 bucks for the Air hogs gyro havoc. I had never seen this airplane/auto-gyrocopter contraption before, and having always been fascinated by auto-gyros,( I loved the James Bond auto gyro called little Nellie) I wanted to be flying this sweet looking bird a.s.a.p.!!!
BIG FREEKIN MISTAKE!!!!!!!! HUGE WASTE OF HARD EARNED CASH!!!!!
When buying a new airplane, I will always take it home, open it up and inspect the contents, especially when purchasing the item from Toys-r-us, Target or Walmart. I also inspect the box in the store, making sure it hasn’t been opened, and had parts removed, OR WORSE. . . been flown, crashed and returned.(both have happened to me). I have never had this happen at my local hobby shop.
After familiarizing myself with the airplane and charging it, I took a evening ride to the local aircraft flight test center (schoolyard) and attempted a few test hops. The winds were calm to 3 m.p.h. and it was about dusk.
I spooled up the rotor blades as the instructions explained, by waving the airplane in an up and down motion, throttled up to 3/4 power and hand launched it straight out in front, stubby wings level. The result was a hard descending left turn, or as we call it it the hobby, A LAWN DART. No amount of twisting or tweeking could compensate for the diving turn, so I decided not to throw it into the ground over and over and so i flew another airplane that evening.
That night i did my research. . . . i went online, and in 10 minutes had found a thread on r.c.u. or wattflier. It must have had like 300 posts and they all seemed to agree that moving the thrustline on one of the motors would more than fix the problem. O.K. I decided to try that fix. Big Fat Mistake!!!!! It took about 10 minutes to do the modification and the stubby little bugger was ready to go again. . . . or so i thought. And now that i had modified the stupid thing, it couldn’t be returned to the store for a refund. Like it or not I was stuck with it.
After a few nights of windy conditions, i finally got a break and the wind died down. Back to the schoolyard, and after about four attempts with the same result, left hand death dive. . . I again decided that the plane would be better off if i didn’t continue trying to launch it in this condition. Nose First Into the cement was all it would do. And it wasn’t going to take to many more of those!!
I returned to the internet and after reading most of the threads I have concluded that if after over something like 300 posts nobody ever really got this thing to fly well enough to post a 2 minute video, then this plane wasn’t worth trying to re-engineer. there are a few posts on the threads by folks who claim their Gyro-Havoc flies well, but it seems that nobody can post a video of a sustained flight. So I’ll believe it when i see it with my own 2 eyes.
I did find one short vid of a gyro-hawk in a gym somewhere, but it wasn’t really flying, it was real squirrely and never really under control. It seemed that the pilot was always fighting to keep it from hitting the floor for the most part. And that “flight” lasted 40 seconds at most.
While I’m not an expert, I do have 20 years of experience flying, building and repairing r/c airplanes of all types, from large warbirds to aero aces!!! I even have a witch on a broom that flies really well. . that thing is 12 lbs and has a 5 foot wingspan!!! What I’m saying is. . . this airplane should have flown much better out of the box, and while I have no problem trimming a bird out or adjusting a c.g. now and then, Consumers should not have to waste their precious flying time re-designing a poorly designed and constructed product so it will perform as the manufacturer advertises!!!!
DO YOURSELF AND YOUR WALLET A FAVOR AND PASS ON THE AIR-HOGS GYRO-HAVOC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Next week I will review the SILVERLIT PALM Z!! So remember to check back here real soon.
Any and all comments are welcome.
REMEMBER. . . . . FLY SMART. . . . SPEND SMARTER .
2 Comments
Write a Comment»they all are cool and maybe you should put videos of them.
I bought mine from Target, which has them on sale right now for $14.98. I guess the reviews have hurt the sales on this pretty bad. I am glad that I didn’t read the reviews before I bought it though. I have had pretty good luck with mine. I bought it for my 5yr old son, whom has been able to have longer flight times than I, which on the average are 5 minutes. I have had a number of lawn dart flights also, but I toss with the wind (instead of the directions) into the wind and seem to have better luck. My fear has been gaining altitude and landing on the roof on the neighbors. (which means it is at least flying.) I did some minor trimming, but nothing major…I guess I must be the lucky sole out there, as I was thinking about getting the another one at the store sale price. I can not say that my son is choosing his flight pattern, but it gives him his first r/c plane success with flight times longer than any other kit out there. I have a megatech heli which I can hover for a bit, but the wind will topple it, and my son will still be flying his gyro havoc. I can try to get some video if anyones interest, but it looks like most have already made up their minds. It might take 2o mins to charge up the lithium battery, but it will fly for 30 mins without recharging. I am pretty thrilled with it, as I have been looking with a simple system to get my son into r/c.