Though quads are much more trendy in the tech world today, as you can see from that video, plain-old RC helicopters are pretty amazing today. The biggest advance in the hobby IMHO has been the development of very small (~1oz) RC helicopters (e.g. [http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=BLH33...) that include the same fundamental control system (called collective-pitch) that enables these large (~10 lbs) helicopters to be so acrobatic. The size shrink brings huge benefits: Small helis basically don't get damaged in most crashes, they mostly can't hurt you, and they are cheap.
Today's super-stabilized and gps-locked quads are like a modern AAA game: you press "A" over and over and watch them go, and say "Wow!". A micro collective-pitch heli is like an old-school game--you're going to need a lot of restarts, but is great fun and will provide many hours/months of challenge.
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For any interested HN'ers:
Though quads are much more trendy in the tech world today, as you can see from that video, plain-old RC helicopters are pretty amazing today. The biggest advance in the hobby IMHO has been the development of very small (~1oz) RC helicopters (e.g. [http://www.bladehelis.com/Products/Default.aspx?ProdID=BLH33...) that include the same fundamental control system (called collective-pitch) that enables these large (~10 lbs) helicopters to be so acrobatic. The size shrink brings huge benefits: Small helis basically don't get damaged in most crashes, they mostly can't hurt you, and they are cheap.
Today's super-stabilized and gps-locked quads are like a modern AAA game: you press "A" over and over and watch them go, and say "Wow!". A micro collective-pitch heli is like an old-school game--you're going to need a lot of restarts, but is great fun and will provide many hours/months of challenge.