New Electronic Toys

I left the break room at the office and headed back towards my office this afternoon when I ran into a couple of coworkers carrying a somewhat-large box. I could tell from the extreme grins on their faces that they had a new toy to play with. Considering I work for a video game company, it takes a really special toy to make those coworkers grin that much. I stole a quick glance of the box and it was one of those small remote-control helicopters like I mentioned in my 2012 Christmas list.

There are a number of remote-control helicopters on the market and I have heard quite a few stories about how much fun they are. My son living in Romania picked one up as a Christmas present to himself. Actually, I bought it for him, but as it is easier to send money overseas than actual gifts, he was able to use the money to get the helicopter. It took him a while to figure out how to fly the thing and he managed to beat it up pretty badly. His advice to me is that the gears get stripped when you crash land the helicopter on its side and then try to take off. I will have to remember that.

I was up at Snowbird on Saturday and there was a father who brought his new remote-control helicopter. It wasn't inexpensive. Instead it was one of the deluxe models with 4 rotors and a video camera. The father's plan was to have the helicopter hover above the training course and use it to take videos of the racers practicing. It was a good plan until the toy crashed into the side of the ski hill and couldn't take off again. Luckily the owner was able to retrieve the pieces before they were run over by a skier.

Some of these remote-control helicopter are controlled by your iPhone. A friend was telling me about his experience. It took him awhile to get the hang of hovering and steady flight. He found it frustrating though because he could never get the toy more than a couple of feet off the ground. He almost gave up on it until his iPhone announced that he had logged enough hours to unlock full control of the helicopter. It was like Christmas all over again for this grown man. Instead of being limited to his garage, he brought it to a large warehouse where he worked and had fun ten minutes at a time. Why ten minutes? Because that is all the flight time you get before the battery requires recharging. He spent the day flying the helicopter, working for an hour or so while it charged, then flying it some more.