The International Cessna^® 170 Association

I know a lot of you guys are RC modelers, but I have never messed with any r/c stuff. Oh sure, I had a gas powered Aircobra line model as a kid. Probably made 3-4 total revolutions before I really messed it up.

Anyway, the other day I needed some pocket door hardware that I had found on Amazon. Shipping was costly, but if I got my order over $50 shipping was practically nothing! (you can see where this is going....) So I ordered one of the Syma S110G RC helicopters. What fun!

http://www.symatoys.com/product/show/1833.html

These things are cheap (under $30) and surprisingly pretty durable and well made.

Only problem is that it gets about 7 minutes fly time out of a 30 minute charge.

Anyway, I've got an appreciation for all you r/c guys. These things really teach eye/hand coordination.

I won't be a threat to Bruce for any rotary wing jobs, but I'm getting better and having fun. Only problem is that Becky is after me to land the d..n thing, quit crashing into her stuff and get on to other projects.

Just received my Syma S-107G from Amazon today. Our 7-yr. old granddaughter received one for Christmas and I had so much fun with it, I had to get one for myself.

Kyle Wolfe wrote:http://www.symatoys.com/product/show/1833.html....

Kyle, I've been playing with one of those for a couple of months now. Pretty amazing what you can buy for $20!

Yes it is amazing specially if your back ground is like mine learning to fly model helicopters in the mid 80s before all the electronic stabilizers were available.

A problem I see with these things, specially the slightly larger versions, is they are dangerous. Not that the danger can't be mitigated with some common sense. But people don't have the respect they should for them and safety is not an inherent thought when operating them. They for the most part are not in the same class as the inverted flying lawn mower I use to fly but they can easily cut and poke an eye out not to mention broken stuff you hit and people diving out of the way. And then when you get good with that small version there is that one that is bigger and better and then another that is even bigger and better, but still no respect for the machine.

I've seen it just about every time I've seen these being flown. I watched a good well intentioned friend of my daughters hover his 4 motor open prop hover craft within 2 feet of my two grand kids eyes with their parents watching until I insisted he stop. And it was malfunctioning. But it is a toy what could go wrong.

I've seen an aircraft mechanic flying his in the open half of the hanger. When I asking him if he zigged instead of zagged does he think he might scratch the King Air just behind him and what that might cost, like maybe his job. It's just a toy. He got smart real quick.

Yes they are toys and they can be fun, but they are not harmless. Be careful.

As for me, I've not fallen for any of the new smaller fling wing models. I've come close and I've thought about it but I've got a 54" rotor 8lb model in my basement waiting to be upgraded, and I don't want to slide down the slipper slope of $20 for a small toy, three days later $1000 for updated electronics and the latest composite main rotor blades. We've all been there done that.

Besides, it's much more fun to find a friend with his latest "toy" trying to fly it around the room unsuccessfully and ask if I can try it. Once or twice around the room is usually enough to elicit the reaction I've seeking.

Have fun, be safe.

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:...A problem I see with these things, specially the slightly larger versions, is they are dangerous. ....

That's what I've been saying!

Well said, Bruce.

Now if I could just get Becky to realize this thing isn't a clay target and have her put down the shotgun I'd feel a lot safer! Besides, she knows she can't shoot that thing here in the house.

(First thing I did when I tried to fly it was to put on safety glasses.)

Bruce Fenstermacher wrote:Yes it is amazing specially if your back ground is like mine learning to fly model helicopters in the mid 80s before all the electronic stabilizers were available.

A problem I see with these things, specially the slightly larger versions, is they are dangerous. Not that the danger can't be mitigated with some common sense. But people don't have the respect they should for them and safety is not an inherent thought when operating them. They for the most part are not in the same class as the inverted flying lawn mower I use to fly but they can easily cut and poke an eye out not to mention broken stuff you hit and people diving out of the way. And then when you get good with that small version there is that one that is bigger and better and then another that is even bigger and better, but still no respect for the machine.

I've seen it just about every time I've seen these being flown. I watched a good well intentioned friend of my daughters hover his 4 motor open prop hover craft within 2 feet of my two grand kids eyes with their parents watching until I insisted he stop. And it was malfunctioning. But it is a toy what could go wrong.

I've seen an aircraft mechanic flying his in the open half of the hanger. When I asking him if he zigged instead of zagged does he think he might scratch the King Air just behind him and what that might cost, like maybe his job. It's just a toy. He got smart real quick.

Yes they are toys and they can be fun, but they are not harmless. Be careful.

As for me, I've not fallen for any of the new smaller fling wing models. I've come close and I've thought about it but I've got a 54" rotor 8lb model in my basement waiting to be upgraded, and I don't want to slide down the slipper slope of $20 for a small toy, three days later $1000 for updated electronics and the latest composite main rotor blades. We've all been there done that.

Besides, it's much more fun to find a friend with his latest "toy" trying to fly it around the room unsuccessfully and ask if I can try it. Once or twice around the room is usually enough to elicit the reaction I've seeking.

Have fun, be safe.

I thought you meant DANGEROUS as in what comes next as my wife sees it.

Dave got one for Christmas. The cats are having a He77 of a time

but they can easily cut and poke an eye out not to mention broken stuff

You sound like you'd also disapprove of my hopped up Nerf gun at work.

bagarre wrote:

but they can easily cut and poke an eye out not to mention broken stuff

You sound like you'd also disapprove of my hopped up Nerf gun at work.

Would that be similar to a potato cannon?

We take Nerf pretty serious around the office.
It's amazing what you can do with some O-rings, brass tubing and a coil spring that looks like it came off a tailwheel
To be honest, this thing really could put out an eye.

Bagarre, you gotta show us the nerf gun stuff! My crew has done the spud guns, slingshots (that you sit in and adjust with sights), and we hold a winter BB gun league where anyone can do about anything to their gun - but we've got a claiming price on anyone's gun so guys know that they can be bought from week to week. But we've not done the nerf guns.

Pictures? Building details???

You know, boys and their toys......

Wish I could say that my RC skills are similar to those quad rotor drone gizmos, but it's not. After a number of crashes I started to get what's known as the "toilet bowl effect". Heli wouldn't fly right. So, like any good tinkerer, I tore into it. Bottom line these things are pretty easy to fix. Here's a great website for help. Thought it might help others....
http://syma107.com/forum/frequent-syma- ... ft-repair/

Thanks for posting the link, Kyle. I've been having a blast with mine while our 170 is down for annual. At last count, there's been about a dozen family and friends that have ordered theirs after "test flying" mine. Lanny