There are a lot (a lot!) of lousey micro helicopters out there and a few good ones. This is -the- one to get. Controls are effortless and as long as you're in a room with a decent amount of space, you'll be flying fine in no time.
First off, the remote is infrared--meaning you'll need to keep an open line of sight between the control and the helicopter (don't let the "RC" fool you--it's remote control, not radio control). That said, the remote must be very bright because I haven't lost signal to it once. The controls are 3 channel: you have control over power, yaw, and pitch. Basically, you can go up and down, turn left and right, and move forward and backward (about all that's missing is roll--you can't move side to side). Flight is easy and intuitive, thanks in part to the built in gyro. This thing is easy to fly. Take it off, and put the stick somewhere in the middle, and it'll just hover before you. It's extremely resonsive to turning. Forward/backward movement is a little sluggish, but not bad (just not as responsive as turning). Because this is a dual-counter-rotating system, the helicopter is inherantly stable, unlike a real helicopter. There's no rotational moment to compensate for as on a traditional helicopter (and in fact, the tail rotor is vertical--it's only function is forward/backward propulsion).
The heli is very light--you won't want to use it outdoors unless there isn't even the slightest breeze. You also won't want to use it outdoors in direct sunlight as that can blind the remote sensor and you'll lose control. Even indoors, you'll want to avoid air conditioning vents and fans.
The heli is very sturdy for it's size. While you won't want to slam it into walls, I've had a few mis-haps and the little thing just gets right up and flies again. The mostly-metal construction is solid and looks nicer than the cheap plastic ones, too.
The heli has a tiny Li-Po battery which keeps it in the air for about 5 minutes. You can charge it via a wire that comes off the remote, or via a USB cable (the latter has the advantage of not draining your remote batteries). Charging takes about 45 minutes. Don't worry about it suddenly dying and dropping out of the sky--flight will be stable and predictable, until, after 4-5 minutes, you'll find yourself giving it more and more power to keep it in the air. When you notice this, it's time to land and charge.
Other notable features
- The rotors are not rigid but are on hinges, which I believe makes it a little less likely to break a blade on impact with any walls/furniture/siblings.
- The remote has a trim adjustment for rotation--just turn in until the heli stays facing the same direction, and it's good to go (you probably won't ever need to adjust it again after that).
- There is a neat blue/red flashing light in the nose (which, personally, I think would be neater if it were just white so you could fly it in complete darkness).
- It also comes with two replacement main rotor blades, and one replacement tail rotor. Since this model is so common (for good reason), it's also easy to find other parts online should you need them.
- The remote can be set to one of three frequencies so up to three should be able to fly with eachother without interfering with eachother (I'm not sure, but possibly the color dictates the frequency? There are also Blue and a Yellow models).
Bottom line: this is an absolute bargain at $25, and unlike many other RC helis, this one won't disappoint. It's as fun and easy to fly as the youtube vids make it look.