XHeli Silverfox 3ch
Street Price: $37.95 US
Manufacturer: Generic, sold by XHeli
Mfgr's recommended min. age: 14+
Our recommended age range: 8+
Primary use: Indoor
Radio: Unknown
Includes:
- Assembled helicopter
- Transmitter
- Charger
- Instructions
- 1x 9V battery for the transmitter
Initial Impressions
I've played with micro 2-channel helis like the Air Hogs Havoc and Venom Micro Rescue, tried out a cheap big one in the Syma Lama V3, and had a great time with the pricey Air Hogs Reflex. What we have here with the Silverfox is a co-axial (two counter-rotating rotors) heli around the size of the Reflex, but at half the cost. The construction seems familiar, with a really lightweight foam body sealing the motors and electronics inside. I think it looks pretty decent with the paint scheme and the window details they've painted on.
Preparing to Fly
The Silverfox uses a wall charger, which I think is a good thing because it doesn't require you to use a lot of transmitter batteries. In fact, one 9V is all the transmitter needs. The wall charger is plug & play and the instruction sheet lists some good, basic safety precautions.
Testing
Alright, let's get to the good stuff. The controls are simple, with your throttle (up/down) on the left, and on the right you have turning, plus forward flight control. There's no reverse, interestingly. Like all helicopters, some trimming was required to keep it from spinning in circles on its own, but this was easy with the "rudder trim" knob on the controller. After that, flight was pretty straightforward. The controls are responsive and immediate. I had some trouble keeping it going straight though, because it seemed to always want to turn a little bit. Forward flight was actually really slow, and when you first push the right controller stick forward, the heli turns slightly to one side before it lunges forward slightly, then moves at a crawl. This was frustrating because it took work to get it lined up in the direction I wanted to go, and as soon as I told it to go forward, it'd always turn and I'd have to adjust again. Every once in awhile all of the fighting between me & it made it go crazy, and it would start to wobble in the air before suddenly falling.
Video
(Click a video a second time to view it larger in a new window.)
Conclusion
The Silverfox looks okay and seems like a good value at first, but it's really difficult to fly the way you want it to. I think the fighting & fussing made for a fun challenge flying it, but I'd really rather have a heli that goes where I want it to! I think the Silverfox is okay for a gift to fool around with every now & then, specifically for someone who has never had a heli, but you can really do a lot better, so I can't really recommend it.