@sohmageek ok... I was in for one... but then I remembered my wife talking about how much I spend... So it comes down to either buying this or sending @JonT some beer... Choices... I hope @JonT recognizes my sacrifices :P
I love new quads but warn new owners that they only include one set of spares, so unless you can find replacement props/blades for this one (I couldn't see any on google etc), this will be pretty much useless after a few crashes. meh.
@blacklotus90 Thank you. I wanted this so badly, but couldn't justify spending the money when I still need to pay for pretty much everything in a month. Now I feel better.
You can get copters with crappy built-in cameras for the same to less, and believe me, footage of the thing spasming, caught in the leaves that you can watch once it finally blows out the next day is worth skipping this one.
@Pantheist@RedOak@sohmageek - They stated a while back that comments can and will be deleted if they're not adding to the conversation in some way. They pretty specifically said just typing "meh" isn't adding to the conversation - they let it slide further down the page, but not near the top. TT does wander over here - but not as an employee. She also doesn't go by that name here.
@Thumperchick Someone mentioned getting you two confused when you post on the forums. I said that if it was a helpful or informative post it was from you, if everything that doesn't toe the woot company line was deleted around the time the post went up, it was tt.
@RedOak It was Me! I am the master at first comments, and it was removed. Why!!!!!!????? Sometimes I add comments to why I think something is Meh or not, other times I just drop a short message. Nobody complained the time I only said "Bath". That was a classic for days with other people posting the same :) @Thumperchick your comment makes sense on probably why.
@Thumperchick thanks - I recall that discussion. And agree with it. 'Wish it also applied further down the page. Side comments are fun, but endless repitionnnnn is tiresome.
In fact, I mocked those "first" posts a while back by posting "A" first which, of course, others followed with B, C, D, etc...
Tempting, but the Youtube video montage with a few short clips strung together showing the thing barely under control tells me that I should probably avoid.
@Superllama7 AND easier to obtain online, and rather inexpensively, most spare /replacement parts and spare batteries should you damage or wear out any part while owning and flying!
Over in the Drone.horse/forum I made the following suggestion to replace Drone. It didn't go very far.
Oh this is too easy. Multi-Engine Helocraft or Meh for short. If you want to apply the RAS syndrome than it would be Meh Helocraft. Done and done. You're welcome. (What do you mean someone owns that? Who can own a common word?) Mehrocco_Mole said Last Thursday at 10:20 PM 0
(And RAS syndrome makes it into Googles top 10 inquiries for its brief but glorious moment in history)
Guys, get this Air Hogs Axis 300x heli for $10 at Walmart, free ship to store, very easy to fly, tons of fun and did I say it is only $10? Silver Air Hogs Axis 300x
@UncleMel Many of us have VMP service so we get free shipping directly to our house and, if we are not in Texas, are not charged for taxes (although technically you're supposed to pay your own state by filing but nobody does).
@UncleMel It won't fly in sunlight since the remote control is IR and not radio. Read or watch any review of this heli and you'll see that it's for indoors only. A fact that AirHogs avoids clarifying on their own website.
My 8 year old has this and it's been a good flier. Much better indoors because it's so light. Crashed it many times and it still works. The flip button is fun-you can make it do a mid-air flip! You can get higher mAh batteries that work in it, and a charger that will charge 4 batteries at once. I bought some spare rotors that are meant for a different machine that are supposed to work with this, but haven't needed them yet.
For $25 it's way easier to fly and more robust than the cheap single rotor copters. If you are looking for a little bigger quad with a crappy camera, the X5C is a decent machine.
@cengland0 I thought @narfcake gets the blame when meh screws up, not when sleepy-heads complain about early stock-outs but don't rise to the occasion when there's still stock left for them to buy when they finally roll out of bed.
Thank you Mehricans for selling them out... I was worried that I'd have to reorder... Then @JonT may not get his beer... With any luck I'll be shipping it out the beginning of next week (I have to wait for special release days to get it.)
The mailman just delivered mine this morning and it flies just as stable as the other quads I've got. The ring and the fiber optics work just as well, if not better than the prop guards on other quads. However, the added weight does require a bit more throttle on take off. Got a birthday party to attend in the evening and I suspect the kids will enjoy seeing this colorful UFO flying around in the backyard.
@kuoh it's pretty easy to remove the four fiber optic loops and the copter is much lighter without them. The outer ring has enough spring to protect the props without the loops.
Just unplug the four power connectors in the center, then unsnap the light rings from the bright green connectors (I left the snaps in place on the frame).
@zippyus That would improve the performance, but the fiber optics was one of the primary reason I bought this. Without them it's just like any other quad in that size category.
Mine came in yesterday.. I've flown it a few charges for far without damage (I didn't make it through the first charge on the water copter)
I'm enjoying it... it won't hover, but isn't too hard to control. The "flip" button seems to cause more trouble as it takes a while to become stable after the flip.
@rmeden It actually hovers quite well, you need to make sure it's on a completely level surface before pairing it with the remote. If you put it on a unlevel surface, the gyros will be miscalibrated, resulting in difficulty hovering. As for the flip, you will want about 10 feet of altitude before making the maneuver, as the weight of the fiber optics causes quite a bit of altitude loss after it's completed.
Well, this copter lasted longer than the previous one! I took it to a friend's house to show it off...
His ceilings were lower so went to the backyard. It got too high and and it flew over the back fence... (over a road). I tried to bring it back, but either the wind took it or I'm too bad at the controls. Soon it was out of range and kept going, until it dropped about 100m away into a field with high grass.
After a search, we were unable to recover. I'm still happy about the purchase and looking forward to the next one!
I got mine yesterday. I didn't even last one charge. After flying for a couple minutes it started tilting on its side. I tried adjusting the controller, but that didn't help. I even unplugged the battery and let it sit on a flat surface to reset the gyro. Nothing helped so far. All it does is tilt to the left and head for the nearest wall.
If I power it up slowly I can see that two of the blades are not spinning as fast as the others. I wonder if the circuit board that controls the motors is bad.
Fortunately I have 3 so I will try another and see if it dies as quickly.
@ryanmc Pull off the props that are spinning slow and check for carpet fibers or pet hairs wrapped around the motor spindle. If that's not the cause, then it's likely something wrong with the gyro calibration.
@ryanmc mine started doing this on the second charge. Then the behavior changed and the one motor turns slowly as soon as I hook up the battery. It does not increase in speed with the others.
What is the best way to get the props off? I have already tried tugging on them, but they are really tight. I don't want to pull too hard and break them. They look too tight to get a lever or anything else under them.
@ryanmc If you can get your fingernails behind the hub, they pop off fairly easily. Or crash it into the ceiling a few times. That seemed to work quite well.
@Homechicken Those slide switches are trim controls for centering each axis for more precise hovering. Since the left vertical axis is the throttle with no centering, there isn't a trim.
@kuoh That makes sense when you think about it. But then I didn't, I just saw a switch that wouldn't move and my first instinct was to break it down and see what was going on inside...
Good to know I'm not the only person who's got a floppy quad heh. I'm 3/3 broken RC's from meh, but undeterred. If you thought sending me broken stuff would stop me from buying, think again.
What you fail to realize about me, is I don't learn from my mistakes. Checkmate.
@Chops Luckily I've got the manual right here in my desk! "Lay the Skyflyer on the ground after connecting the battery. Please wait for the Digital Gyro to take 5-7 seconds to electronically stabilize, then push the throttle up and then back down to connect the remote to the Sky Flyer"
@troy It should be obvious, but is worth mentioning for those new at this, that calibration should be performed on a level surface. Even though the sofa cushion next to you looks flat enough, those few degrees of tilt towards your saggy butt makes the difference between an easy takeoff and hover vs an apparently angry attack drone bent on giving you an unwanted haircut.
@troy Awesome thanks! Must be something wronger than just needing to be recalibrated, was hoping there was some trick to it was missing heh.. Also worth mentioning: violently shaking it doesn't fix it either.
Well after letting mine sit around unused for a few weeks, I charged it up today and had a few minutes of stable flight and hovering, then all of a sudden it started to veer forward and right. I immediately throttled down and it landed relatively softly, but would no longer take off without veering forward and right again. After further troubleshooting, it appears that the front right motor went out in mid air during that first flight. Now that motor just sits there without motion as the other 3 power up without issue. If I give the prop a flick while at 75% power, it'll start spinning, but not fast enough to keep up with the other 3. So those of you with units that will not hover or fly stably, check that all motors are running properly after calibration. If not, then you now have a colorful blinking battery holder / personal fan.
Specs
Condition: New
Warranty: 30 Day Odyssey (bottom right of page for contact)
Estimated Delivery: 5/26 - 5/28
Shipping: $5 or free with VMP
What’s in the Box?
1x Skyflyer quadcopter
1x Remote control
1x Rechargeable battery
4x Replacement propellers
1x USB battery charging cable
Pictures
Everything included
Just the quadcopter
Retail box
Hands for scale
Some dreams can’t come true…
Price Comparison
$89.99 List, $69.95 at Amazon
Find a relevant price comparison? Please share it in a comment in this thread
Warranty
90 days
Looks like Fun... In for 1. Looks larger than the one on drone.horse that there was talk about.
@sohmageek ok... I was in for one... but then I remembered my wife talking about how much I spend... So it comes down to either buying this or sending @JonT some beer... Choices... I hope @JonT recognizes my sacrifices :P
send me mah coptah!
Just how awesome is it?
At least it doesn't run on AAA's.
Must. Push. Meh.
@rhcurry02 x5c $50 and awesome.
"Requires 4 AA batteries (not included, which is probably for the best...)" uh oh was there also something wrong with the aa batteries shipped ?
@liammc nah, just making a shitty joke.
@liammc Probably because whenever you get an item with batteries, they are the crappiest ones available.
@Moose Maybe no one remembers the movie.
I love new quads but warn new owners that they only include one set of spares, so unless you can find replacement props/blades for this one (I couldn't see any on google etc), this will be pretty much useless after a few crashes. meh.
@blacklotus90 that's why you buy three!
@blacklotus90 Thank you. I wanted this so badly, but couldn't justify spending the money when I still need to pay for pretty much everything in a month. Now I feel better.
@Pantheist pay for pretty much everything for a wedding. Stop posting in public places while drinking and tired.
I havent been passing on anything but this item is not for me sorry guys !!!
You can get copters with crappy built-in cameras for the same to less, and believe me, footage of the thing spasming, caught in the leaves that you can watch once it finally blows out the next day is worth skipping this one.
The FAA is already on my back for stealing jet fuel and steel beams, I don't need this to be a purchase brought up in court. Mehhhhh!
@KevinTJ Was it you that posted this?
Was I the only person who saw "meh" as the first post? And I don't think it was by @sohmageek. Gone.
@RedOak It wasn't... I saw a Meh by someone else first...
@RedOak there was a meh first post, no idea who posted it. Weird that it's gone. Did @snapster bring @thunderthighs over?
@Pantheist @RedOak @sohmageek - They stated a while back that comments can and will be deleted if they're not adding to the conversation in some way. They pretty specifically said just typing "meh" isn't adding to the conversation - they let it slide further down the page, but not near the top.
TT does wander over here - but not as an employee. She also doesn't go by that name here.
@Thumperchick ....and my disambiguation for you two I posted in the clubhouse awhile back stands :p
@Pantheist I don't recall what you're talking about and that clubhouse is too big to find it.
@Thumperchick Someone mentioned getting you two confused when you post on the forums. I said that if it was a helpful or informative post it was from you, if everything that doesn't toe the woot company line was deleted around the time the post went up, it was tt.
@Pantheist Aww, I remember now. Thanks again, lol.
@Thumperchick It's the truth :)
@RedOak It was Me! I am the master at first comments, and it was removed. Why!!!!!!????? Sometimes I add comments to why I think something is Meh or not, other times I just drop a short message. Nobody complained the time I only said "Bath". That was a classic for days with other people posting the same :) @Thumperchick your comment makes sense on probably why.
@Thumperchick thanks - I recall that discussion. And agree with it. 'Wish it also applied further down the page. Side comments are fun, but endless repitionnnnn is tiresome.
In fact, I mocked those "first" posts a while back by posting "A" first which, of course, others followed with B, C, D, etc...
@Stallion I originally had your handle/ID in my post but removed it because I was not 100% sure. ;) (Aging memory.)
How about "hobbyist aircraft"?
Leave "drone" to the killing machines.
@Fej honestly quad works well. Hell a lot of people call them tris or quads. Just people (news and such) love calling them drones.
@Nexar But a quad is an ATV.
@Fej Whatever. I'm taking the word back. Happy drones. Don't let the man get you down.
@Fej What's short for Remotely piloted unlicensed multi-engine rotary wing vertical takeoff small scale demonstration aircraft?
KuoH
@Fej How about "5th Trumpet Locusts" from Revelation 9 for a doomsday effect?
Tempting, but the Youtube video montage with a few short clips strung together showing the thing barely under control tells me that I should probably avoid.
I almost bought it until I watched the video and read the write up. My husband will be happy I didn't buy this.
I'm gonna need laser eyes to see this thing fly in my hood.
You can get a Syma X11 quadcopter for just around this price on Amazon (cheaper via china), but it's a sturdier, better-built, easier-to-fly quad.
@Kerig3 And the Syma has cheap, easy to get rotors: http://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00UEAEVKQ
@Superllama7 AND easier to obtain online, and rather inexpensively, most spare /replacement parts and spare batteries should you damage or wear out any part while owning and flying!
The one on Amazon says SKY RAINBOW on the controller.
I want one that says SKY RAINBOW on the controller.
@armchair
Looks a-MEH-zingly flimsy but lightweight. Like a MEH-squito with no victim in sight.
Over in the Drone.horse/forum I made the following suggestion to replace Drone. It didn't go very far.
(And RAS syndrome makes it into Googles top 10 inquiries for its brief but glorious moment in history)
Guys, get this Air Hogs Axis 300x heli for $10 at Walmart, free ship to store, very easy to fly, tons of fun and did I say it is only $10? Silver Air Hogs Axis 300x
@UncleMel Check out this great video review of the Air Hogs Axis 300x
@UncleMel This heli will only fly indoors! Aditionally, it's not a quadcopter and both fly differently. Most say quads are more enjoyable to fly.
@Kerig3 Did I mention that this is $10 and free ship to store? BTW, the Air Hogs Axis 300x will fly outdoors as long as there is no wind.
@UncleMel Many of us have VMP service so we get free shipping directly to our house and, if we are not in Texas, are not charged for taxes (although technically you're supposed to pay your own state by filing but nobody does).
@UncleMel It won't fly in sunlight since the remote control is IR and not radio. Read or watch any review of this heli and you'll see that it's for indoors only. A fact that AirHogs avoids clarifying on their own website.
@Kerig3 Wow, maybe that is why we had to retrieve it form the roof 3 times! My nephew kept saying, "It's not doing what I'm telling it to!"
@UncleMel Yep, that's Infrared (IR) for you! Indoor only, or at night. :-(
@JonT Hey, my comment disappeared, grr!
No laser eyes?
Forget it!!.. Mehcopter.
My 8 year old has this and it's been a good flier. Much better indoors because it's so light. Crashed it many times and it still works. The flip button is fun-you can make it do a mid-air flip!
You can get higher mAh batteries that work in it, and a charger that will charge 4 batteries at once. I bought some spare rotors that are meant for a different machine that are supposed to work with this, but haven't needed them yet.
For $25 it's way easier to fly and more robust than the cheap single rotor copters.
If you are looking for a little bigger quad with a crappy camera, the X5C is a decent machine.
These are hella fun and cheap. Just takes a while to get them.
I blame the East Coast that this has not sold out yet.
But most of all, I blame @Grimmloch :D
@nadroj
what did he ever do?
@nadroj You are supposed to blame @narfcake
@cengland0 I thought @narfcake gets the blame when meh screws up, not when sleepy-heads complain about early stock-outs but don't rise to the occasion when there's still stock left for them to buy when they finally roll out of bed.
@nadroj You can blame @narfcake for anything meh related.
@nadroj Guilty as charged, but they'll never catch me!!!
@cengland0
@nadroj @cengland0 is right. As the monthly shirtgoat, almost anything can be pointed my way. Whether I care is a whole other issue. BLEAT!
What's wrong with just calling them copters?
FRAK! THEY SOLD OUT WHILE I WAS ORDERING!
Thank you Mehricans for selling them out... I was worried that I'd have to reorder... Then @JonT may not get his beer... With any luck I'll be shipping it out the beginning of next week (I have to wait for special release days to get it.)
The mailman just delivered mine this morning and it flies just as stable as the other quads I've got. The ring and the fiber optics work just as well, if not better than the prop guards on other quads. However, the added weight does require a bit more throttle on take off. Got a birthday party to attend in the evening and I suspect the kids will enjoy seeing this colorful UFO flying around in the backyard.
KuoH
@kuoh it's pretty easy to remove the four fiber optic loops and the copter is much lighter without them. The outer ring has enough spring to protect the props without the loops.
Just unplug the four power connectors in the center, then unsnap the light rings from the bright green connectors (I left the snaps in place on the frame).
@zippyus That would improve the performance, but the fiber optics was one of the primary reason I bought this. Without them it's just like any other quad in that size category.
Mine came in yesterday.. I've flown it a few charges for far without damage (I didn't make it through the first charge on the water copter)
I'm enjoying it... it won't hover, but isn't too hard to control. The "flip" button seems to cause more trouble as it takes a while to become stable after the flip.
@rmeden It actually hovers quite well, you need to make sure it's on a completely level surface before pairing it with the remote. If you put it on a unlevel surface, the gyros will be miscalibrated, resulting in difficulty hovering. As for the flip, you will want about 10 feet of altitude before making the maneuver, as the weight of the fiber optics causes quite a bit of altitude loss after it's completed.
@rmeden How long do you charge it before each use? Not seeing that info in the "start guide"
@kevinbeijing Until it's done (light turns out). :) (not that I always waited that long)
Well, this copter lasted longer than the previous one! I took it to a friend's house to show it off...
His ceilings were lower so went to the backyard. It got too high and and it flew over the back fence... (over a road). I tried to bring it back, but either the wind took it or I'm too bad at the controls. Soon it was out of range and kept going, until it dropped about 100m away into a field with high grass.
After a search, we were unable to recover. I'm still happy about the purchase and looking forward to the next one!
Thanks Meh!
I got mine yesterday. I didn't even last one charge. After flying for a couple minutes it started tilting on its side. I tried adjusting the controller, but that didn't help. I even unplugged the battery and let it sit on a flat surface to reset the gyro. Nothing helped so far. All it does is tilt to the left and head for the nearest wall.
If I power it up slowly I can see that two of the blades are not spinning as fast as the others. I wonder if the circuit board that controls the motors is bad.
Fortunately I have 3 so I will try another and see if it dies as quickly.
BTW what is the return policy for meh products?
@ryanmc Pull off the props that are spinning slow and check for carpet fibers or pet hairs wrapped around the motor spindle. If that's not the cause, then it's likely something wrong with the gyro calibration.
KuoH
@ryanmc looks like these have a 30 day warranty through Odyssey, let them know and if you run into any problems hit us up at https://meh.com/support.
@ryanmc mine started doing this on the second charge. Then the behavior changed and the one motor turns slowly as soon as I hook up the battery. It does not increase in speed with the others.
@ryanmc Odyssey is replacing mine for the cost of shipping ($8.50 for me). If this one craps out too, I may frankenstein them together.
@daytonatrbo who did you contact for the replacement?
@ryanmc I contacted Meh first. They contacted the manufacturer, and I got an email a couple of days later with an offer to replace it.
What is the best way to get the props off? I have already tried tugging on them, but they are really tight. I don't want to pull too hard and break them. They look too tight to get a lever or anything else under them.
@ryanmc If you can get your fingernails behind the hub, they pop off fairly easily. Or crash it into the ceiling a few times. That seemed to work quite well.
I can't figure out what the thing that looks like a blue snake head is. Does anyone know?
http://imgur.com/yibfjnq
@Dengue Alternate top cover
@Dengue Ocarina or pipe, but possibly both.
Has anyone found replacement props for these? I'm out of right-hand blades for this.
FYI I tore mine apart, the left-side vertical slide switch that seemed to be stuck is actually not used. Don't assume it's broken like I did.
The antenna is a piece of plastic to make you feel good. Seriously. The real antenna is inside, and is about an inch long loose-looking wire.
@Homechicken I had mine all apart and I don't remember seeing a switch.
@Homechicken Those slide switches are trim controls for centering each axis for more precise hovering. Since the left vertical axis is the throttle with no centering, there isn't a trim.
@kuoh That makes sense when you think about it. But then I didn't, I just saw a switch that wouldn't move and my first instinct was to break it down and see what was going on inside...
I've been flying mine indoors. A house is too small -- it's just not quiiiiite stable enough -- but a large office or warehouse is about right.
Good to know I'm not the only person who's got a floppy quad heh.
I'm 3/3 broken RC's from meh, but undeterred. If you thought sending me broken stuff would stop me from buying, think again.
What you fail to realize about me, is I don't learn from my mistakes.
Checkmate.
Is there a way to recalibrate these via the remote anyone know?
@Chops I haven't had much time to play with mine at home, but I remember a few things about calibration in the instructions. Maybe @troy can help?
@Chops Luckily I've got the manual right here in my desk! "Lay the Skyflyer on the ground after connecting the battery. Please wait for the Digital Gyro to take 5-7 seconds to electronically stabilize, then push the throttle up and then back down to connect the remote to the Sky Flyer"
@troy It should be obvious, but is worth mentioning for those new at this, that calibration should be performed on a level surface. Even though the sofa cushion next to you looks flat enough, those few degrees of tilt towards your saggy butt makes the difference between an easy takeoff and hover vs an apparently angry attack drone bent on giving you an unwanted haircut.
KuoH
@troy Awesome thanks! Must be something wronger than just needing to be recalibrated, was hoping there was some trick to it was missing heh.. Also worth mentioning: violently shaking it doesn't fix it either.
Well after letting mine sit around unused for a few weeks, I charged it up today and had a few minutes of stable flight and hovering, then all of a sudden it started to veer forward and right. I immediately throttled down and it landed relatively softly, but would no longer take off without veering forward and right again. After further troubleshooting, it appears that the front right motor went out in mid air during that first flight. Now that motor just sits there without motion as the other 3 power up without issue. If I give the prop a flick while at 75% power, it'll start spinning, but not fast enough to keep up with the other 3. So those of you with units that will not hover or fly stably, check that all motors are running properly after calibration. If not, then you now have a colorful blinking battery holder / personal fan.
KuoH