FA-005 RC helicopter w/ gyro
Street Price: $59.99 US
Manufacturer: Fast Lane RC
Mfr's recommended min. age: 8+
Our recommended age range: 8+
Primary use: Large indoor spaces, outdoors
Top speed: n/a
Runtime per charge: ~8 mins.
Controller: 27mhz
Includes:
- Assembled heli
- Controller
- Wall charger
- Spare rotors
- Instructions
- 4x AA batteries
Initial Impressions
Nearly a year after my first review of the FA-005, I could not believe my eyes when I saw several brand new ones proudly displayed for sale at my local Toys R Us. I was certain that the horrific performance of the product, if not threats of lawsuit from parents whose kids hurt themselves with the dangerously uncontrollable thing, would have pushed it off the market for good. I also quietly hoped that my generous F+ rating of the thing would have contributed to its permanent disappearance from shelves. Yet, here it was again -- the exact same thing?
Not quite. At first glance this looks the sane as the old epic failure, but there's an incredibly bright glimmer of hope written in small letters on the box. Behold...
Test & Review Video
Conclusion
Well now, that worked out quite well! The original heli should never have been sold in the first place, but it's better late than never that they realized this, fixed the problem, and came out with a replacement that is actually a very good, fun product. As noted in the video, the only real negative here that the price is a bit higher than the online competition. Regardless, I'm very happy that the world has been rid of a very bad RC, and has gained a good one. This also marks the first (and who knows, perhaps not the last) time an RC has been removed from RC Malarkey!