Customer Reviews

Micro-Mosquito Indoor RC Helicopter

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This little thing is great fun for a "big kid." I'm 30 and still like to get a toy every Christmas, this was my toy this year. I play / tinker with it just about every morning before work and every evening after work. I'll try to organize my review below in a useful manner:

What "I" liked: (1) It is complex with some adjustments and part replacements that have kept me interested after the "toy" novelty wears off; (2) It is a ton of fun to fly around and improve your skills, especially trying to land on small elevated places or attacking my wife's head; (3) flying it in complete darkness, the lights actually make it easier for me to fly in the dark; (4) a true 3-channel radio control mini helicopter, i.e. up/down, clockwise/counterclockwise, and forward/backwards; (5) lots of internet information for problems is available; (6) the actual body/copter is very durable but see below about parts; (7) it was perfect right out of the box, I haven't been able to get it to fly as well since my first rotor repair; (8) it scares the hell out of our cats and did I mention is it fun!

What I don't like: (1) short fly time, about 8 min at most, I might have gotten 10 min once; (2) frail rotors - you will need extras and the replacements are not nearly as good as the originals - I've found it flies dramatically different depending on the rotors I put on; (3) the charger doesn't come with an AC adapter - but you can buy one that works at RS - a must have;(4) longer than advertised recharge times, mine takes closer to an hour to get full charge than the 20-30 minutes advertised - I use AC adapter; (5) ever changing flight conditions - it seems to fly a little differently each time making it harder to improve flying skills - I believe it is a result of new rotors, occassional falls, and decreasing power life; (6) EXTREMELY sensitive to air movement, turn off the heat/AC while flying and don't event think about outside.

General Observations/Comments/Recommendations: (1) READ the warning this is for ages 12 and over, I'm 30 and find it challenging to fly and maintain - but that is why I like it; (2) buy as many repair kits as you can find from RS as they are 1/3 the cost of other retailers and you will need more rotors; (3) the version I just got seems to be an improvement from earlier versions sold at RS based upon online forums I've read - this one already has the more aggresive tail rotor and better center-gravity weighting; (4) don't buy this if you like a toy that never requires tinkering, this is like a hobby toy, it is fun to mess with it; (5) you can find lots of videos of this little guy on youtube before you buy it; (6) watchout for walls, once you hit one, give up - it gets sucked into a wall and can't get away; (7) there are knockoffs of this online, but the original Bladerunner by Interactive Toy Concepts was great right out of the box and has lots of parts options, whereas the knockoffs do not. You can buy new circuit boards, motors, propellers, and rotors for this thing online - so far all I have needed is the main rotor kits.

Despite the Cons, I love this thing and give it a 5 star rating. Enjoy!

P.S. After so much use, my battery has stopped recharging, so I'm buying another mosquito and use the parts from the old one.

This thing is mad fun. Dont fall for any of those other phony ones, this is the real deal. It is hard at first...but when you get the hang of it, like i did, you can land it on anything (such as the remote to turn off the tv while that pesky remote is in the kitchen :) ) Anyway its a bit slow to fly fowards but compared to other so caled "precice helicopers" its is just best. up, down, turn left or right, foward or backward, (you can also adjust the trim)If it breaks, most likely whe onlything that breaks is the rotors, you can just buy a repair kit. you might not have to though, its just about indestructable. ide recomend it for anyone capable of using RC toys. If you want a faster one, you have to get the micro mosquito 3.0 (the orangeish one)its the same manufacturer but it goes faster and lasts WAY longer in the air and in its structure.

I bought this item, and opened the box. The battery liquid was leaking and I had to go out and find new batteries. Once I put the copter together, there is a weird charger that doesn't work in the states. I come back here following the link I bought it at, and the pictures are completely different. I don't know where to get a proper charger that's specifically for this copter without having to buy a new one.
This was also a gift for someone, and they screwed up the whole message I wrote on the gift wrapping.
Will never buy from this seller again. Highly untrustworthy. Extremely pissed.

Awsome! Hovers wonderfully , has bright green eyes, charge lasts at least ten or more minutes.
I don`t recommend it for children cause it is kind of fragile. Great design out of the ordinary. Super product!

I received one for Christmas, and have had a blast with it. Like all indoor RC helicopters, there's a steep learning curve, and even when you get "good" at flying it, it's still difficult. In fact, if you live in a very small house or apartment that doesn't have a large open room, I wouldn't suggest getting it--you do need quite a bit of empty space to get proficient. Although the rotors are shockingly thin, the thing is surprisingly sturdy. My initial flights (some near a Christmas tree, which was stupid) ended in some startling collisions, but surprisingly, the thing kept going without any problem. Eventually, I managed to actually break one of the blades. These are actually easy to fix with scotch tape. I do, though, highly recommend buying a replacement blade kit: you'll need it eventually. Just assume you're going to destroy one set learning how to fly. Once you're good at it, put on a new set once you get tired of seeing the ugly taped-up ones.

This has provided hours of entertainment for me and hours of terror for our cat. The only downside on the design was the idea of going with batteries instead of an A/C plug. I didn't want to drop any more money on an adapter, but it's still a drag having to recharge all those C batteries when it runs out of juice. Otherwise, it's a fantastic, amazingly miniaturized device, and those glowing "eyes" look way cool in the dark.

Aside from my title of fragile rotor, this is a nice little item. I was able to fly it right out of the box (after charging.) I have been having a bit of a problem with the tail rotor being sluggish but no real problems.
I did what was suggested not to do which resulted in my rotors breaking... I took my heli outside, and broke a rotor blade. I was able to mend the broken rotor with a small piece of scotch tape, and fly again.

However once my cat found it sitting on the table, I was repaid for buzzing my cat by him eating the rotors beyond my repair abilities with tape.

So my lesson to you is: 1. If you buzz your cat with this toy, don't leave it out for him/her to seek their revenge. 2. Don't fly this outside!

This helicopter is very enjoyable for the first hour. Everyone will be fascinated with it.
However it is fairly difficult to fly, and combining that with the fact that it is intended for indoor use -- you obviously will bump it into your tables, chairs, etc.

So after about an hour, the very flimsy plastic rotor blades were damaged, making it un-flyable. Surprisingly, these rotors are around $20 to replace, plus shipping and handling costs, and then you are waiting a couple weeks for delivery of the part, too.

Well when we installed our second rotor (which was not easy, despite marketing claims to the contrary), it also lasted about one hour flight time. This was not from particularly careless flight, just flimsiness -- if you hold the rotor in your hands you will know what I mean instantly -- they must have had to keep it lightweight, and used very thin materials.

In conclusion: At around $25 per hour net cost, we are going to look elsewhere for entertainment.