 "Works well" | 2010-03-09 |
| - Reviewed By Gary Kleman |
I purchased two of these, one for my 11 year old son and one for myself (make sure to buy two that work on different frequencies). We have flown these a few times. As others have mentioned, you need quite a bit of room to fly these. Also, they work best if there is little wind. Others have discussed that these do not fly well, it is very important to adjust the trim accurately, if not, the plane will crash to the ground quickly. However, once adjusted these fly very well. My son and I have flown these for relatively long periods. I would say expect 10-15 minutes of actual flight time from a single charge (Important to fully charge the battery before the first flight). As for durability, they planes have run into trees and a chain link fence with nary a scratch. Other airhog planes we have had broke very quickly, but this model seems much more durable.
The hover mode is OK, but we find hand launching is best if you just want to fly the plane. |
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| "All I can say is take some time with it" | 2010-02-22 |
| - Reviewed By MLunn from Palm Springs, CA |
This is not a toy you can learn on the first day.
This is a flying toy. And with all good flying toys they take time to experiment, learn the quirks, the ways the controls take to work.
I have never taken any good flying toy IE: Helicopters, Planes, Jets. And these that don't fall in any category.
They all take a few days to play and experiment.
There have only been a few cheapies that go up and down, right and left that you could get using in an hour or so.
And they broke on the first crash, or took hours to charge for a 5 to 10 minute flight. Plus they would be in the trash in a week or so from parts falling off, breaking or stop working.
None the less, me and some friends took 2 of these of different frequencies out to the air park to try these out.
The first couple of runs were disasters. When you put in "hover" mode. Its really simple. But you can only go up and down and side to side
But when you morph it into flight mode, it takes a little challenge to fly it. Why? Because its not a normal plane. It has nothing to control it except the power on each motor and wing control.
All I can say is it takes time to master it.
As for those who say it's flimsy. Ours has taken hundreds of crashes. And we have only replaced one prop when it came straight down on concrete.
It comes with 4 free replacements.
Oh, one more thing. This thing is not for indoors, it needs plenty of room to maneuver. |
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 "Christmas is a bad time to order this toy" | 2010-01-21 |
| - Reviewed By Jared Roper from Provo, UT United States |
We haven't been able to fly this beast outdoors yet because it hasn't been above the recommended 45 degrees. We've hovered it indoors a few times an in doing so have torn the corners of the wings off, in spite of soft landings on carpet. We've taped them up but who knows if they'll hold once we take it outside.
So, don't expect to fly this much if you live in an area with freezing temperatures. Wait for warmer temps. |
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 "Terrible Product - Total Waste of Money" | 2010-01-12 |
| - Reviewed By AlohaJeff from Lake Arrowhead, CA |
I am typing this while on hold again waiting to speak with the manufacturer. After an hour I'm still listening to their lousy on hold music. This is the fourth phone call over a two week period and I have NEVER been able to reach a customer rep.
Long story short, our AirHog Switchblade has been a complete and total waste of both money and time. It was purchased new as a 2009 Christmas gift for our 8 year old son. Attempts to fly it on Christmas morning were very disappointing. Fortunately we have a golf course nearby that provides us with plenty of open space to tinker with the trim but no amount of work would get this product to work as advertised. At 5100' of elevation and with a freshly charged battery the Switchblade did not have enough power to lift itself off the launch pad and into the air. In regular "wing" mode we can get it airborne if we give it a healthy throw but it quickly runs out of airspeed and falls back to earth. I haven't been able to reach the manufacturer (after spending hours on hold) but the other reviews I've read online are proof that our flight problems are not unique. This product is an absolute waste of money. |
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 "Somewhat dissapointed" | 2009-12-31 |
| - Reviewed By JM from CA |
My son had very high expectations for this toy. It hovered as it should, perhaps up to 50 feet but after 'morphing' it dived straight to the ground every time even in no wind condition regardless of the trimming adjustments. I was very frustrated, so you can imagine how my 9 year old felt. Turns out that later I tested the unit by holding it lightly and using the controls to see if it responded as it should, and found that the plane only turned right. Turning the trim towards the left did nothing, and turning left with the control only made it go to the right with a bit less force. I then launched it towards my left (not forward)and the plane did much better before hitting the ground again. I ordered a replacement and wisely tested it before the flight and it is responding much better, so I suggest that before anyone spends a day trying to make this fly (frustrated and with an upset 10 year old) test it in a controlled environment, such as holding it by a string and try to turn left and right making sure the plane responds correctly before taking it out for the first flight.
The good part of all this is that we were never able to damage the plane. After many crashes there were no physical damages to the Styrofoam. |
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| "switchblade doesn't work" | 2009-12-29 |
| - Reviewed By C. Barney from miami Florida |
| This toy broke the first time we used it. It works in hover mode, but forget trying to make it switch to airplane mode. Goes straight to the ground. We taped it like they said, but it was still broken. Save your money. |
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