Gadget blogging: The BladeRunner Black Ghost RC helicopter
posted at 10:50 am on January 21, 2008 by Bryan
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When you have kids, there are toys and then there are toys. For Christmas, my 8-year-old got a toy from my brother’s family — an indoor RC helicopter called the Black Ghost. Here’s video of one in action.
If you read the reviews over at Amazon, they fall into two camps. One hated it because his helicopter self-destructed on the first flight. If that had happened to us I’d hate it too. The others liked it because you can fly it out of the box (it comes partially charged) and because once you get the hang of the trim and turn controls it’s easy enough for a kid to fly. Count me in the second camp. We’ve had a little trouble with the rotors cracking, but it’s nothing that a little Scotch tape can’t fix up and get it back in the air shortly. And they do sell replacement rotors. You do have to be careful working on it though — the helicopter’s body is a tough Nerf-like spongy thing but the mechanics are delicate. As for batteries, the controller serves as the charger, and a 20-minute charge gets you between 5 and 10 minutes of flight time depending on what you do in the air. That’s not too bad. One funny thing — the controller works on infrared, and so does our cable TV controller. Flying the helicopter and trying to change the channels at the same time can lead to unpredictable results.
The Black Ghost is fun to fly, tougher than it looks and great on winter days with the outside temp hanging well below freezing. I’ve used it to explain the principles of lift and flight to my kid. Your mileage may vary, but we like it.
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Am I the only one who thinks you could have a lot of fun with that thing at a Ron Paul rally with a couple of shills in the crowd to amp up the paranoia?
trubble on January 21, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Heh. The bright green LED on the front of the thing would definitely enhance the effect.
Bryan on January 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
So cool!
petefrt on January 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
OMG Bryan has become part of thebilderberger conspiracy he has his own Black Helo !
/Ronulan
I want the blimp version so I can paint Ron Paul on it and crash it and watch it burst into flames while my local ron Paulians argue that fire cant melt plast or steel
William Amos on January 21, 2008 at 11:00 AM
If anyone does attempt this, video would be greatly appreciated.
smithinmich on January 21, 2008 at 11:02 AM
Bryan, why do I picture you changing channels and the Choppah flying straight into your head?
Mazztek on January 21, 2008 at 11:03 AM
My friend got one of these for Christmas. He really enjoys it, although his rabbits hate it :)
fourstringfuror on January 21, 2008 at 11:03 AM
Our cat isn’t a big fan either.
Bryan on January 21, 2008 at 11:04 AM
heh…And does that chopper come with a “FEMA concentration camp” playset?
JetBoy on January 21, 2008 at 11:13 AM
There’s got to be a house-to-house fighting application for a “toy” like this. Send
oneten of those puppies into Johnny Jihad’s house, drop a frag, and fly out the window. Sweet!Mojave Mark on January 21, 2008 at 11:15 AM
Tie some catnip to the skids. He’ll learn to love it.
fourstringfuror on January 21, 2008 at 11:30 AM
Oh, if only we were in a bigger place… drive the cats insane…
Frozen Tex on January 21, 2008 at 11:31 AM
Dude,
Romney ahead in Florida!
Romney: 25
McShame: 20
Giuliani: 19
Huckabee: It doesn’t matter.
P.S> Nice copter.
CABE on January 21, 2008 at 11:32 AM
catnip is a bit messy. I’m thinking a simple piece of light string would do the job.
wearyman on January 21, 2008 at 11:33 AM
Whatever you do, don’t bother taking it outside. I have a similar model that, once I finally got it under control indoors, I took onto the front lawn. I thought it was an almost windless day, but as soon as it went up, it went sideways, and that was the end :(
Until I get another rotor set, anyway (the scotch tape thing just threw it off-balance for me.)
Hannibal Smith on January 21, 2008 at 11:36 AM
I had two cracked blades on the lower set, so I taped them and then put an equal amount of tape on the other two to account for the weight change. Worked like a charm.
As for outdoor flight, I’ve wondered about that. We haven’t taken ours out yet, but I could see wind being a major problem. Trees too.
We have other flying vehicles for outdoor anyway.
Bryan on January 21, 2008 at 11:40 AM
Yeh, indoor – until it knockes that little crystal tshatshke that Grandma brought from the Old Country off the shelf.
eeyore on January 21, 2008 at 11:44 AM
I have a 5 and 2 years olds. They fight over it. We are on our second since christmas. Very cool, but delicate. Dog hair gets stuck in the stabilizer, then you get black hawk down syndrome.
There were two different models by two different manufacturers, but the insides were the same. China is cranking them out…
tommylotto on January 21, 2008 at 11:45 AM
I wish we had goodies like this when I was growing up.
thekingtut on January 21, 2008 at 11:46 AM
Hmmmm. That gives me an idea. Maybe I could use something like that to deploy this other gadget I just ordered. If I could fly the looj up to the gutter and back down, I wouldn’t need to use a ladder.
pistolero on January 21, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Oh man! That would be teh awsome!
ronsfi on January 21, 2008 at 11:57 AM
Yea, that’s a step up from the Lincoln Logs and plastic indians we had as kids. I coulda had a lot more fun with my brothers if I’d had one of those! heh.
scalleywag on January 21, 2008 at 12:04 PM
I’m tempted to get one just to torment the dog, but I have a feeling that the helocopter would lose a battle against a Doberman if she decided to take revenge.
She’ll just have to be content chasing the laser pointer dot around the house. As a kid I’d have loved one of those things.
Hollowpoint on January 21, 2008 at 12:11 PM
The bright outdoors light overwhelms the IR transmitter and you don’t have very good control. Compact florescent lights also mess with the IR transmitter. I have trouble flying in a room that has them in the lamps. I have quite a few of these little 2ch copters and the Black Ghost was not only the least expensive it is the best flying. I’ve also got some bigger 4ch copters for outdoors but that’s another subject.
jmarcure on January 21, 2008 at 12:12 PM
Uh, that might be the coolest handy robot thing ever invented.
Bryan on January 21, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Flying unannounced aircraft at a political event post-9/11 might NOT be a wise idea…even if they are toys.
Dark-Star on January 21, 2008 at 12:34 PM
I got the Air Hog for my son and it totally sucked. The controls were odd and the calibration was very difficult. Walmart now has one slightly used Airhog in its possession. If anybody can tell me that the BG is better, I would love to give the RC helicopter toys another try.
craig on January 21, 2008 at 12:37 PM
But it’s a Ron Paul rally, there’s no threat of terrorism, just a threat from The Government. Hence the fun of a little toy black helicopter watching there every move…
trubble on January 21, 2008 at 12:52 PM
I got a similar micro heli for Christmas, only mine is RC, not IR controlled. Mine looks like an insect with LEDs for the eyes. Pretty cool.
Snidely Whiplash on January 21, 2008 at 1:29 PM
Will it blend, though?
TexasDan on January 21, 2008 at 1:52 PM
I’ll let you know if it really works. You want me to come up and clean your gutters? Yeah. Right.
pistolero on January 21, 2008 at 2:18 PM
If these things were widely available when i was a yoot,
me and my chaps would have spent all day arranging our toy soldiers, GI Joes, and their equipment in the dirt,
Gettysbeard line-of-battle style, then soaked the copter in lighter fluid, and crashed it right into the midst of the soldiers in a flaming ball.
Ah, youth.
Mike D. on January 21, 2008 at 2:40 PM
Mine loves to watch it but runs when it gets close. When I stop, he’ll meow at me until I start it up again.
I surprised my neighbors didn’t come outside to see what was up when It got out of range, dropped, and bounced off their roof.
- The Cat
MirCat on January 21, 2008 at 2:49 PM
I have been fooling around with mini rc helicopters for over a year now.
The best one I have found to date is the Alany Mosquito hands down. $25.00 – $35.00 total with shipping depending where you buy it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5r-zelrMJPI
gradyman on January 21, 2008 at 4:43 PM
That’s the same one I have, but mine doesn’t fly as well as the one in the youtube video. Could be the pilot!!!
Snidely Whiplash on January 21, 2008 at 5:00 PM
And the tragic loss of the dust-collecting nick-knack would be bad because…. why?
As my son can attest from his experience, yorkie terriers can jump higher than you might first think. Beware of those recon over-flights of the family pooch!
Brian Paasch on January 21, 2008 at 5:58 PM
thekingtut & scalleywag, yeah, no kiddin. The most hi-tech I had in the early 50s was my American Flyer electric train set and my Erector Set. Wish I still had’m. But, yeah, even my grown sons had way more neat stuff in the mid 80s than we had. Ah, technology. Still wish we could get adult sized “Big Wheels”. Oh, yeah. They’re called ATVs. Forgot. Still, a heavy duty plastic adult size, pedal powered Big Wheels would be neat. Hopefully cost less than ATVs! Ha! I can see the dads in the neighborhood racing down the sidewalks in’m!
Roger Brown on January 21, 2008 at 5:59 PM
RC helicopters are neat indeed, but check out this RC Dragonfly that flies with actual wing-flapping action.
Anachronist on January 21, 2008 at 6:08 PM
I had a strange experience with a real black helicopter once. Completely silent.
Don’t know what they used for sound-dampening, but it was extremely impressive how it could be right above me, silent, black, large, and looming.
People are dismissive of reports of black helicopters,
but when you experience it for yourself, you tend to be more receptive to reported encounters.
Mister Ghost on January 21, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Now if I could hang a couple of speakers on it and crank out Flight of the Valkyries turned up to 11…
bloviator on January 21, 2008 at 6:43 PM
Ride of The Valkyries
eh it’s past my bedtime.
bloviator on January 21, 2008 at 6:52 PM
The kid got the same one for Christmas and I could not get the thing off the ground, he had it flying in about 5 minutes and was thrilled with it. A couple of fairly hard crashes later and it was no longer operational.
Have been meaning to see what my repair options are…
AndrewsDad on January 21, 2008 at 7:12 PM
You’ve obviously never had to deal with the blowback from a broken Treasured Family Remembrance.
eeyore on January 21, 2008 at 8:28 PM
I really enjoy the Air Hogs Havoc battle helicopters. They actually shoot at each other with an led weapon. My wife and I battle against each other with them if I can con her into playing. My absolute favorite however is the Air Hogs Reflex, which has forward and reverse thrusters that make it more maneuverable than some of the cheaper helos. I even made a video with it (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QHSeObQpwI)
Dilophos on January 22, 2008 at 12:42 AM
Go ahead and by it for the kids.
But, do not be surprised when Mom and Dad show up on You Tube in compromising situations or conversations.
MSGTAS on January 22, 2008 at 9:32 AM
BWAAAAAAAAAA! Priceless
gradyman on January 22, 2008 at 11:35 AM
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