We’ve bought several cheap toy helicopters that have usually met their demise via the breakage of one of the components that rotates at high speed breaking. Air Hogs has been a favorite brand because they are usually cheap and your face on retail shelves. [The charging port on this doll bears the Air Hogs brand, as well.]
[Somewhat related: our big dog doesn’t like any of these flying things and thinks it’s his mission to “kill” them, giving us an extra obstacle to their longevity.]
This fairy doll is the first one we’ve had that doesn’t look like a standard helicopter for us.
When taking off from its base, the doll floats fairly gracefully to the floor. The doll mostly hovers within a foot or two of the surface underneath her. However, you can cup your hands directly below it and it’ll float above your hands briefly instead. I noticed when I did this, the fairy would float steadily to the ceiling and hover and gradually come back down.
The doll will also take off from your hand, but it’s very easy to not be vertical at take-off and/or to present an uneven surface below it, causing to lift off erratically. I recommend letting it take off from the base stand each time.
We’ve had 5-10 crashes with the doll. One thing I noticed with this doll (unlike manually controlled helicopters) is that power is immediately cut to the rotors when a collision happens. This minimizes the high speed damage that the blades and balances endure when you don’t react quickly enough to cut the power on a remote control.
Between the ease of flight, the safety cut-off, and the relatively more durable structure overall, this doll seems like the best value in the under $50 helicopter department for those of us who really don’t know how to successfully fly a toy helicopter, anyway.
Note:
The doll in the video is the Deluxe Light Up Flutterbye Fairy – Rainbow