Silverlit Picoo 2 micro IR helicopter

by Alan Bell
(Nottingham, England)

I purchased my first micro helicopter on Thursday 5th Feb 2009 from my local electronic store in Nottingham, England.
Whilst I have had some experience of flying conventional r/c fix-wing aeroplanes to fly a helicopter was a whole new experience and a whole new ball-game.
I removed the helicopter and control unit from the packaging and give the helicopter a good check over – to make sure no damage had been done in transit.

I carefully read the instructions and guidelines to familiarise myself with the operating procedures for flying the tiny helicopter. I am fortunate in that I have a fairly large and spacious living room, about 16ft x 10ft x 8ft high. I cleared to one side most of my furniture so as to maximise my flying area.

My first flight was a bit tricky, in that control was hard to follow, the helicopter spun wildly around in a clockwise direction, i.e. to the right. I used trim to stabilise the helicopter and after several false starts I managed to adjust the trim to an acceptable level where some degree of erratic control was achieved.

A full charge of the battery took around 15-20 mins and gives around 7-8 mins of flying time, depending upon flying conditions and speed of flight etc.
After a week of flying every evening, I am now able to make soft landing and have some degree of control. It is a marvellous and simple thing and a great joy to fly. I have made several landing spots and depending upon degree of difficulty, have given a points system for achieving a soft landing at each spot.
One thing is – you can never fully hover on one spot – you have to keep it moving – even if only very slightly and then it prefers to fly in a gentle clockwise direction. After a full charge each time you have to set the trim, but with practice and a degree of experience I can quickly find the trim to roughly the same setting each time.
The flights are getting longer now, with fewer crashes and awkward landings behind the sofa or shelves.
These are remarkable flying machines, and I recommend any one with an interest in flying to either buy one or allow someone you know let you fly theirs – they re a really good way to spend a rainy day when you can’t fly a full size r/c aeroplane or helicopter outside.