Wow Wee Bladestar Flame Indoor Flyer

Other products 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: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• Note: Gift-wrapping is not available for this item.
• ASIN: B0013UO6S8
• Item model number: 4055W
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Batteries: 6 AA batteries required.
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,755 in Toys & Games (See Bestsellers in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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

40 of 46 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 

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.

13 of 14 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 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 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Fun toy but switch broke on third flight., November 2, 2008

By	Erin E. Kelso "mom2three" (Colorado) - 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 

We gave our son a Bladestar for his 9th birthday and the first one just didn't work. We charged it and did everything correctly but the thing just wouldn't start. That one was exchagned for a second which worked great--until the switch to turn the flying part on/off broke off. The toy did seem fun on the three flights we had. The auto pilot mode worked and it stayed away from walls, etc. We decided not to buy another and were able to return this one to Target.