my tips:

1) start out with enough space to lift the copter up and get it trimmed.

2) if the copter seems like it wont move forward very fast. attach a paper clip to the front wheel. the extra weight really improved the handling and speed of my helicopter.

3) avoid objects. it can take a 4 or 5 foot fall in the y-axis (vertically downward). but, any horizontal x or z axis crashing could prove deadly.

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I received this for a gift, and it was just what I wanted!

Being a 3channel heli, it’s easier to fly than a 4,5,or 6channel, but still have forward motion (a drawback of the 2ch models). It took me a while to get the hang of flying it, since it’s indoors and there isn’t much room for error, but I got good at it quickly. There’s really just 2 things to learn – how to keep the trim adjusted properly, and how heavy/light a touch to use on the sticks to turn only as much as you want to.

I got it pretty scuffed up while learning, but it still flew well. It wasn’t until I took it outside and, because it lost signal with the remote, it fell to the pavement that it cracked the main rotor. Fortunately, I had already bought 2 replacement blade sets, thinking I would have needed them before now. Replacement is a little tricky – you have to take all of the screws out (except those on the missiles), and carefully remove the rotor assembly after removing the cover. I had to do this twice before getting it right, so the rotor/gears didn’t rub. If you have to do this, pay attention to how things are positioned – I didn’t, so it took me 2 tries to get it back together right

Frankly, I’m amazed at how well this little helicopter works. It’s fun to fly around fairly small rooms, picking small surfaces for landings and takeoffs. It’s reasonably tough – I’ve gotten too close to walls a couple of times and had to shut it down. It’s fallen several feet with no damage. I could certainly see how kids or beginners might stay on the power too long and end up breaking the delicate parts on the top rotor, however. Despite being small and light, it’s a fairly intricate little machine.

I would add a caveat to the battery life comments. I find it to be very well-behaved for about the first 3-4 minutes. It will fly about another 3 minutes, but it starts to get harder to control. It won’t hold its heading nearly as well. As the batteries get weaker, I pick a slightly larger flying space to avoid hitting anything.

All in all, I must say I’m very pleased.