Remote Control Gold Rosita Osprey AirGround DualPurpose Helicopter

Reader Reviews
I did not buy my Osprey from Amazon, I bought it from a well known toy store chain who market this exact same item under their own company name as an exclusive. It looks great! but sadly it is a terrible performer.I had been looking for an indoor remote control Osprey for some time to add to my collection and was quite excited to find this one. I had read a couple of bad reviews but thought I would test it for myself as I am very patient with these things and know some of them just need a little time to learn how to trim and fly them. Unfortunately the poor performance of this model is linked to the design. So why is it so bad? There are several reasons, first it is 2 channel, it should fly forwards continually allowing one channel to control altitude and the second channel to control steering. After take off, the Osprey levels itself out, eliminating any forward movement after a few seconds. As for the steering, steering is 'controlled' by a small tail rotor which is supposed to push or pull the tail left or right, similar to a regular helicopter. The tail rotor is so close to the Osprey's center of gravity that it has a tendency to move it sideways rather than steer it. At best, I was able to take off (quickly or it turns over) and fly erratically around my large living room two or three times using the tail rotor to move it rather than steer it, before landing heavilly. Most flights were much shorter and a lot less controlled. Luckily it is reasonably strong although one of the flashing LED's failed while taxiing before the 2nd take off.To sum up, the model looks really good and would make an attractive ornament. But when it comes to flight - it would make a good ornament! Save your money and use it on one of the many other options there are to choose from.If you are new to this game, I would recommend looking for a 3 channel model(allowing forward and backward movement in addition to altitude and steering). look for one that has counter rotating blades (looks like two rotor blades, one above the other), and make sure the model you choose has a 'gyro' to help with the stability. They need not be expensive and Amazon have some really good choices starting from around $20.