Remote Control Helicopter, S026H Military Transport RC Helicopter with Altitude Hold, One Key take Off/Landing, LED Light, Low Battery Reminder, Army Helicopter Aircraft Toys

I have been a fan of Syma's S107 helicopters for years, that feature a constant throttle joystick control on the left, and directional controls on the right (reversed from typical, larger machine RC control layouts I think.)This S026H helicopter has the controls in the same place, but the throttle control is "set-and-forget". You use the throttle to achieve the altitude you want, and then leave the control alone while the machine maintains its altitude all on its own. Also the leftmost button will automatically start the machine and rise a few feet in the air for you to get going; a second press makes it gently drop for a landing. Also, press and hold this button to cut the engine power in a pinch (powering a stuck propeller is hard on the engine!)The directional control joystick operates the same as the S107, rotate left / right, and forward / backward. The S026H uses radio control, rather than the optical signals the S107 uses, so theoretically it would survive outdoor operation more readily, but neither machine will accept much in the way of air motions. I recommend even turning off your air conditioner to improve indoor performance. The other two buttons are used to "trim" the rotational control, should the machine tend to drift clockwise or counterclockwise. In testing the machine, I did not need to adjust trim at all.A depleted battery in flight triggers the soft landing feature. Full recharging will likely take more than 30 minutes (you must provide a USB outlet for the power cord), and flight time will be 5 to 10 minutes, the same as the S107. The controller needs 4 AAA batteries, not supplied.In summary, it is a great indoor helicopter for beginners, with altitude hold to minimize chances of smashing into the ceiling or floor. Once this is mastered, I still recommend the S107, with which you will learn manual throttle control. The S107's also allow two machines to operate at the same time, if you are brave enough to compete.

Controls are lacking ability to fine tune. Speed is binary. Overall, overpriced for the value.

Easy fun helicopter.

I got this for my 16 yo and he was so mad that it would only fly in a straight line forward. It went back immediately.

Not great quality

It’s a good bit of fun for the money and it LOOKS fantastic! Flight characteristics are just OK. I’ve been flying RC for a few decades and have flown all manner of aircraft. These new inexpensive units are really amazing, but sadly they come with some gimped features. This one sits in an odd spot where it is both good and bad for beginners. The left stick is for throttle, which is not linear and is only for ‘setting’ the altitude, and I really dislike that function. It is a crutch that teaches new fliers bad habits, but is also helpful to get them going. The right stick controls yaw (which really should be on the left stick for habit sake of ‘mode 1’ flying) and controls pitch. I’ve found this frustrating as has my daughter who hasn’t even been flying that that long (she’s twelve). So controls are a double edged sword and a bit poorly thought out. I even looked to see if I could swap the controls around on the PCB, but it would be far too much effort to be worth it.Flight speed is fairly slow, as is yaw (turning). It does require a good six foot clear area for a hard turning circle so be aware you need ample flight space. It is not at all agile. It does look great in flight though! Given that it is a Chinook type craft it can also be very easy to lose orientation even within a few yards, you are after all flying what is essentially a green hotdog. If you’re a regular ‘drone’ pilot you will be used to the semi-auto and automatic landing/takeoff behavior. Personally I dislike it, but once again it works for noobs and is rather common these days.Despite the shortcomings it is fun and looks great. The tiny 15mah battery gives just a few minutes of flight and I personally would want more out of it, but it’s not terrible. If anything I wish it was easily swappable instead of built-in. We may try to modify that later so slightly larger cells can be swapped out for longer flying times. Given that this is made by Syma I hope that parts will be available easier than some other brands.It’s a fun toy if it’s under forty bones. Any more than that and I just could not recommend it.

If you are new in the drone world this is a good toy to start.Easy to fly and use indoors and outdoors

This was surprisingly easy to fly as long as you were careful. It is a chopper of course, so no propeller blade guards. When my grandkids (and ME) are flying my indoor quadcopters I prefer to use the ones shaped like a jet or bird or something where the blades are surrounded by the toy. My helicopters I prefer outdoors or in a large indoor gym where there is lots of room. Unfortunately this one, like most small rc airborne toys, gets taken away at the slightest breeze if outdoors. Point being before you go flying it thought the house like the one reviewer showed in their vid, you better take some time to get past the small leaning curve. Failure to do so will surely result in crashing into candles, light fixtures... anything that can get bumped into or knocked over in a house. Which brings me to why it only has three stars. You get only 6 or 7 minutes of fly time, and then the fun is over for 45 minutes while you charge up the INTERNAL battery. You can't simply swap out a fresh battery and keep going as with most of these small rc toys. So you get 6 minutes to learn how to fly this without crashing into Gramma's picture on the mantel! Then you wait 45 minutes while it charges, then repeat for another 6 minutes. That just doesn't sound like a whole lot of fun for me. Three stars because it DOES fly well.