WowWee Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer

by Wow Wee

Product Features

• Safe for Indoor Use in Autonomous Mode, or Use Remote Controller in Pilot Mode
• Built In Sensor Detection to Avoid Obstacles and Fly Away from Them
• Ultra Light and Flexible / EPP Body Construction
• Two Wings that Spin with Helicopter Like Movement
• Choose Between Beginner and Expert Level Settings

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3 x 10.6 x 12 inches ; 1.7 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Shipping: This item can only be shipped to the 48 contiguous states. We regret it cannot be shipped to APO/FPO, Hawaii, Alaska, or Puerto Rico.
• ASIN: B0013UO6S8
• Item model number: 4055W
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Batteries: 6 AA batteries required.
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #45,967 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

WOW WEE Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer. FlyTech Bladestar is a revolutionary indoor flying machine from Wowwee. Let this technologtical masterpiece glide itself through the air using built in sensor detection to avoid obstacles and fly away from them, in easy to use Autonomous Mode, you can use just your hands to guide it. For a greater challenge select Pilot Mode to fully control Bladestar using the 3 channel digital IR controller, and even fly into obstacles as you please. Take advantage of the dual band IR system to face off two Bladestars in duel the fire button on the remote controller allows you take down another Bladestar when in range. Made from light high flex materials and designed to be crash resistant, Flytech Bladestar is built for indoor use. When it starts to lose speed, simply charge it via the remote controller until it is ready for its next flight.

Product Description

Bladestar is a revolutionary indoor flying machine that changes helicopter flight as we know it. This is the first flying toy with a sensor-based navigation that enables it to glide itself through the air as it avoids ceilings and other obstacles. Alternatively you can control it with the three-channel digital IR controller, and with the dogfight accessory attached you can face-off two bladestars to see who will win. When you notice power loss, simply recharge right from the controller. Made from light "high-flex" materials and designed to be crash-resistant, Bladestar is built for indoor flight. Requires 6 "AA" batteries, not included.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars awesome design insight, November 24, 2008

By 

cyber vagrant (Cypress, TX USA) - See all my reviews

= Durability:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: WowWee Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer (Toy)

This is a flying machine unlike anything you've ever seen before. It's not an airplane, it's not a helicopter, it's not an autogyro, it's not an ornithopter with flapping wings. It's a powered maple seed. I'd have never thought of it, and you probably wouldn't have either, but the Wowwee designers did, and they deserve lots of credit for this masterpiece of out-of-the-box thinking.

I read about it in the magazine of an engineering society that I belong to, and the reviewer couldn't figure out what kind of "control equation" allowed an object with no non-rotating reference elements -- everything on the Bladestar spins -- to operate under directed flight. He must have come from the same aeronautical tradition as the ones that proved that a bumblebee can't fly. (We now know that insects use nonlinear "unsteady flows" to gain more lift than traditional aerodynamic equations provide for.)

While the Bladestar employs "AI" according to its advertising, it's not as smart as a bumblebee. But it can successfully avoid light-colored objects under good conditions. In the jargon of AI research this is called situationist autonomous control. If the room you're flying it in has dark walls like my living room, you'll have to guide it away from them yourself. The blades do collect dings if you fly it into hard objects, but the wingtips are covered with heavy foil that you can smooth out and it's nearly as good as new.

It naturally hovers very stably, so you might expect it to respond to the controls like a UFO in a video game, but no, this is a real flying object with gyroscopic effects when it tilts to move sideways. It takes a little bit of practice to learn to anticipate these movements and coordinate the controls appropriately. I was practicing landing on target after about 5 flights.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Bladein', February 9, 2009

By 

D Strick "Entertainment D" (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: WowWee Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer (Toy)

Bladestar is a decent flying toy but might not be what you expect.

It is a unique flyer with a novel form of operation. I had expected rotating blades around a stationary center but was incorrect. Actually via two outlying propellers the entire toy spins to achieve flight; this in an interesting twist on regular flight. I quite enjoy that it spins like a top on the ground just before lift off. Also, due to its spinning nature, if you get in trouble just kill the throttle and it will spin fairly gently to the ground.

If you expect that you will be swooping about the house with it like it is a helicopter you might be disappointed. It does not swoop. Maneuvering is achieved via specifically timed engine pulses (it does not tilt) which, while interesting, does not make for fast or exciting flight. It takes some practice but you can get it to move where you want, just not really fast. It does however hover better than any small battery operated helicopter I've flown, being able to hover in place quite well. Up and down flight handles quite well too.

The control takes getting used to, especially if you're used to radio control. This is IR control (for weight savings I'm sure) so is line of sight. Meaning you must keep the controller pointed at the toy. If you forget and don't point at the toy then it will not accept any commands. At first I'd find myself forgetting from time to time but now that I'm used to the control scheme (hey you have to figure one out for every video game, why not a toy?) it's fairly intuitive. It does have safety features built in to shut off if it does not receive a signal for a certain amount of time.

It has an autopilot and regular RC mode. I like the RC mode but in autopilot it will automatically avoid walls and ceilings and such (the lighter color the better). Ceiling fans (off of course) it does not do so well with. I just don't like the loss of control but a kid may get a kick out of trying to move it by placing their hands in front of it.

Battery life is as advertised. Controller takes 6 AA's but this is because the toy charges from the controller (much like the smaller Airhogs helicopters). It takes about 10 - 15 minutes to charge and will fly about 5 - 7 minutes - this isn't bad for this size toy.

A big positive is that it comes with a carrying/storage case. So instead of just chunk it in the closet when not in use I can pack it in a nice sturdy case which is nice. It also comes with an extra set of blades and an extra set of propellers as well as the dogfight controller attachment but as I don't have two of these to fight with I can't opine in its usefulness.

In closing I will say that had a paid full price not knowing exactly what I was getting I might have felt a bit ripped off to be honest. But I lucked out and found one on clearance. I hope if you plan on buying one that these details help you be better prepared for what you are purchasing.

48 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Looks like fun, but..., May 30, 2008

By 

Martin Nelson (Omaha, NE USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:3.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: WowWee Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer (Toy)

I bought this at a local Target store thinking it would be fun to fly around. Snapped on the wings, put in the batteries, and charged it up. Away we go.

It's very hard to fly, and the IR controller must be pointed at it at all times. The speed adjustments must be made very slowly, or they do not register. The whole thing spins, so it's fairly dangerous to kids faces, pets, and walls - the latter of which it will inevitably crash into.

I am sure I could have learned to fly it, but on my 3rd (crash) landing a critical pin in the mechanism that attaches the large blades to the body came out and disappeared, so it was grounded. It went back to Target for a refund before its first 5-minute-flying-time charge was used up.