1st,Hottest Helicopter in China now. It even better than the famouse Syma S107.
2nd,
Brand DFD
Model F103
Type radio control
Channel 4C
Material metal alloy
Gyro support
Function Forward, backward, ascending, descending and turn left or right function.
Compatibility suitable to fly indoors
Battery for Helicopter 3.7V rechargeable lithium battery
Battery for R/C 6 AA batteries (not included)
Others easy-disassembly battery cover
Minireview:
Flying this helicopter seemed quite different than an ordinary 3-channel. The left control stick goes up by tiny notches meaning you can take your thumb off it without the power switching off. Unfortunately you can't just leave it hovering in the air as one notch has the heli slightly rising while the notch below it falls.
The four channel works with one button for "leftward" and the other "rightward". It comes packaged in a really nice box and would make a great gift. Hopefully everyone enjoys theirs.
has the tracking status on your order changed ???
mine says it's still at the airport… (2011-05-26)
The tracking status hasn't changed. You should hopefully get yours in a day or two:
Passed China Customs AUSTRALIA Beijing International Airport 2011-05-25 (is the latest update)
So hard to control. I keep crashing my one. Impossible to just let it hover in the air like halfrabbit said. Surprised its not broken yet..
If you have a reasonably large room it's not that hard to fly. Windows and air conditions can blow small helicopters so closing those might make it somewhat easier. My box came with two extras of each blade so hopefully it should last awhile.
Umm, do you know where to adjust the band on the helicopter? I cant seem to find it..
You choose the band on the remote. Then you move the control stick. The first band the helicopter picks up thats the one it will use (until you turn it off then on again).
Umm, I'm charging the Heli using my PC, but theres no light indicator to tell me when its done. Is this normal?
There charging light is on the usb end of the cable. It goes off while charging and comes back on when charged,
Hectic!!! Finally getting the hang of it. Full charge last for about 5mins. lolz.
i watched those vids posted early the guy continutallu feles balde and drops the thing then proceeds to fly it no worries.
mines passed cutoms in china an en route to AUSTRLIA. hopefuly be here today. when ig et home from work.
Mine is at home apparently. Can't wait to give it a fly after work!
Passed China Customs AUSTRALIA Beijing International Airport 2011-05-30
is my last update. hopefully it will come tomorrow or friday to me in sydney…
is it possible to get spare batteries for this thing… 5 mins doesn't sound like much… :S
can it charge off the remote ???
Since it takes only 20-30 minutes to charge it's not that bad. I'm pretty sure you couldn't add a battery as the body is quite small and enclosed. There's a wire charger enclosed in the remote for charging, though I'm not sure how well it works.
I'm pretty sure you couldn't add a battery as the body is quite small and enclosed.
Sounds like something Apple would come up with… the iHelicopter… :S
I'm pretty sure you couldn't add a battery as the body is quite small and enclosed.
The rep posted in the front page info
"easy-disassembly battery cover"
Is this a lie ???
Doesn't look like you can get spares for the heli but yes, it can charge off the remote.
thanks…
wooooo came today and must say packaging looks slick. Only 5 mins is incredibly disappointing considering they said 8 on site :( Is it possible to remove LEDs and increase flight time?
removing the LEDs might add a second or two to the 5 mins… 99% of the drain will be the motor…
I read you - so ur saying it's better to remove the motor and have hours of LED action :P
Figured LEDs wouldnt do much but thought worth a try.
And I should have charged my AA batteries earlier - gonna be tomorrow night by the time they're all charged :(
Maybe if you covered the floor with fans pointing upwards you could rest your motors more and just float; using the power only to turn and go forwards and back. Other than that a DIY giant charging lifeline that you can fly with might do the trick :)
And I should have charged my AA batteries earlier
thanks for the reminder… how many does it take ???
It requires 6AA's (and a philips head screwdriver to put them in)
It requires 6AA's
cheers…
so ur saying it's better to remove the motor and have hours of LED action
lol, that made me spill my weetbix.
damn i got no batteries where is the cheapest place for 6AA?
bunnings… you can get 30 varta ones for about $9
This thing is great! The only unfortunate part is that it seems to have a clockwise bias, and is constantly slowly rotating clockwise. Any ideas on how to fix this?
Little dial on the rightside of the controller. Once in the air twist it until the helicopter stops involuntarily turning.
Thank you! This has just made it soooooooo much easier to control.
It's great!
Does the left dial do the same thing?
my left dial doesn't move… only the right one adjusts the turning bias…
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/3-7v-500mah-20c-battery-for-rc-…
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/walkera-3-7v-400mah-rechargeabl…
3.7v 500mah or 400mah RC heli cells that will fit neatly under the belly of this model. you'll need to do minor soldering and taping work to install it.
should extend running time to about 3 time original.
would the extra weight still allow it to fly ?
i thought about that. maybe.
the heli weighs 49g.
the dx battery weighs 15g.
the original 180mah weighs maybe 8g.
if the heli could carry 15g extra weight, then install the new battery while keeping the old one. if it couldn,t you'd have to remove the old one, and make do with about 2x running time instead of 3x.
will these batteries still charge fine using the USB cable ?
if the new battery has internal overvoltage cutoff, then yes. thats how the stock battery stops charging once full.
the dealextreme ones don't seem to mention whether they have or not…
yeah i'm only guessing they do, based on the cell having a protector-like part. if it doesn't then i cant charge with usb.
Last status:
2011-05-25 departure from outward office of exchange, , AUSTRALIA,
Arrived this morning (2/6/11). Flies well, gonna take some getting used to though
Same, and same. Metro qld has landed ;)
lucky. mine departed 30th, so maybe I wont receive it this week :(
Mine still says
Tracking# Year Status Destination Last Location Date
XXXXXXXCN 2011 Passed China Customs AUSTRALIA Beijing International Airport 2011-05-26
:(
Got mine today but both the side motors don't work and the rear rotor is also not working.
Sent email to Lightake so see what happens.
i'd be pretty pissed off…
post back when you hear back from them…
… They aren't meant to spin unless you are pushing the right hand joystick to move it forward/back (back rotor) or the side buttons to strafe left/right (two side motors). They only "wake up" for those moves.
Got mine today - blasted thing doesn't fly straight - banging all over the place
FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!
probably why they reduced the price… :(
Have you adjusted the trim (little wheel right side) so that it only turns when you tell it too? Other than that it does need some practice and a large room
yeah - tried the trim
when I try and lift off, it lists to one side and the rotors start whacking the floor
can't even get the stupid thing off the ground
OK - so I watched one of the vids posted earlier in the comments - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxSzse2b_C4
The guy in that one was twisting and whacking and generally abusing the thing. I gave every blade and rotor a good hard twist - just like in the vid.
She's flying (sorta) true now - it's almost enjoyable. Recommend the same for anyone having trouble
Recommend the same for anyone having trouble
lol…
I aint touching that one jv
Just got mine! Batteries were all ready charged. The thing flies awesome! Great deal.
Got mine today, loving it so far.
there's a delivery at home… must be the helicopter as i'm not expecting anything else, but being addicted to Ozbargain, it could be anything ????
Will test it tonight… fingers crossed…
What does your tracking status say now?
same… lol…
Tracking# Year Status Destination Last Location Date
RXXXXXXXXCN 2011 Passed China Customs AUSTRALIA Beijing International Airport 2011-05-26
Are you sure you haven't got an imposter in your house…lol.
Fun !!!
hmm considering you guys shipped on 25/26th and mine shipped on 30th probably will get it early next week..
SO
DAMN
HARD
:P
5mins seeming like an awfully long fly time now since i can't get it flying for more than 10s :(
Am i the only one who pushes the L stick forward to much and then with the heli about to hit roof pull stick back only for it to crash to the floor. And then with slow reflexes push the stick forward again and repeat?
Must say much better quality than i thought
Lol… Don't over react and expect immediate effects. Less is more!
Nah dude, I'm right there with you!!! :)
The missus picked up the controller & was flying like a pro in about 15 seconds…bitch! :s
It's much much easier when you take off from a flat hard surface like floor boards… Initially i was trying to take off on a carpet it was too hard… put it on the floor and it was much easier…
thats what she said
The eagle has landed! Well, it actually landed at about 4.30pm, but work has kept me grounded! Charging now! :)
Build quality on this is EXCELLENT. Very pleased with this little copter.
I've owned another mini helicopter before, this one is a million times easier to fly and I'm pretty sure will last signifcantly longer (y)
Absolutely, lucky it's tough, mine's survived numerous crashes very well! I've discovered I'm a terrible pilot…the missus is way better…how embarrassment! ;)
Mine constantly goes backwards as soon as its in the air. Anyone else have this problem?
Just turn your house around 180 degrees.
tried that now it just goes forwards ;)
Seriously though anyone got his problem?
Try moving the vertical tail fin forward to move its centre of gravity.
mine's done that a few times at take off, but most of the time, it just hovers fine…
This blows….everyone's got theirs.
Mine's probably fell off the ChinaAir Hercules and sitting on the tarmac.
the batteries should be pre-charged so just try full throttle…
Just tried it and it caused 2 other ChinaAir planes to veer left.
lol
still havent got mine.. got sent to Aus on the 30th.
hopefully next week then… mine got sent 4 days before yours and it arrived yesterday…
Got mine yesterday… compared with the Syma 107 from the last deal this thing handles like a (fat) dog.
Still fun to play with but not as responsive.
thought was just mine that doesnt respond well. still love it tho. Will one day move up the ladder but lack of responsive probs a good thing for me now :P
Im pissed off cause i finally got mine today but its useless.
After a long USB charge and new AA's in the controller, all i get are the flashing LEDS. at one point when i was closely looking at it for a loose connection it started to work for a min then switch off, ive opened the controller and the heli to look for a loose wire but cant see anything. i just so badly wanna play with it, looks like i gotta send it back…
Mines AWESOME!!!!!
Wooooooo! ^_^
sounds like the bettery is not charging properly…
are you waiting until the light on the cable turns back on, to indicate it has charged ????
when the the battery is flat, led's still work but motor wont start, or turns for a second or so before it stops…
in case the charging cable is faulty, try charging from the cable in the controller..
Yeh i charge until the red light comes on on the cable. so it seems power is at least getting to it from the cable..
Ill try the controller method however and see how this works…
Nope, ive come to the conclusion its not a power problem, the controller charge showed it was fully charged and still nothing besides those damn teasing LED's.
It doesnt seem to be receiving any signal from the controller.. on either A B or C channel bands.
Play around with the channel band. Sometimes it takes awhile to catch the signal at the beginning.
When it turned on for a second it was on the A channel, so ive kept trying with that unless it decides to change channels?
My one definitely did! It went from B to A for some reason overnight.
Make sure you turn the helicopter on first, then the remote.
Push the left joystick upwards (main rotor for lift). Even if the main rotor doesn't spin, leave the left joystick pushed upwards… If you move the right joystick or press the strafe buttons, do the rear or side rotors spin?
Yeah ive tried this before….
and no, no rotors work on either channels… seems to be some sort of signal problem.. maybe ill re-open the controller and see if anything is wrong in there.
I've emailed lightake, which they replied in asking whether its the remote or helicopter that isnt working, to which i replied i dont know, so we'll see where it goes from there. hopefully they can send me a replacement, i cbf mailing the dodgy one back to them..
Mine arrived today and after some minor adjustment it is now able to hover nicely. The damn battery only last a few minutes of play and need another 30min of recharge.
So my father decided to play with it whilst I was at work and managed to break it (crashed it many many times, very hard).
The top rotor stopped spinning.
Thankfully I managed to fix it. Opened it up and there are two motors controlling the two top rotors… Each have a small gear driving a larger gear connected to the rotor shafts. The small gear on one motor has slipped down the shaft and wasn't aligned with the rotor. Pushed it back up with a small screwdriver (very delicate procedure) and it's all good again!
hope mine lasts, this seems like a pretty tough copter if that youtube vid is anything to go by.
my grandma broke it within seconds. she flew it into the ceiling, then it flipped upside down and flew into the ground at full power.
tail motor's shaft is bent.
My helicopter passed china customs, Beijing on the 25th. It arrived today with some batteries in country NSW.