Air Hogs, Star Trek U.S.S Enterprise NCC-1701-A, Remote Control Vehicle with Lights and Sounds, 2.4 GHZ, 4 Channel

As a senior who once started a petition to bring back Star Trek on NBC for a third season, I have loved the show for fifty years.So when this Enterprise quadcopter went on sale, I couldn't resist the temptation.I'm happy to report that this is the ultimate toy for Trekkers, better even than the various phasers, tricorders, and communications pins we've seen over the years.First, though, a word about Amazon's poor packing. The shipping box contained NO air bags or packing of any kind, so the product box inside was susceptible to shifting about and therefore looked as if it had been the victim of a front-end collision.I feared what was intact inside the product box, and my fears were not alleviated when I saw various items -- the remote control and a plastic bag containing a USB cable and the snap-together plastic stand -- loose in the box.Amazingly, though, the Enterprise and the other parts emerged from the carnage unscathed. Apparently if baddies like Khan and the Borg couldn't take the good ship down, neither could Amazon or UPS.As with most toys these days, it took some careful work to release the Enterprise from the plastic tray surrounding its main dish. If you are buying this for your kids, you will probably want to unpack the toy yourself.Then it was easy to install the four AA batteries in the remote -- no screwdriver needed, I'm happy to say -- and to charge the Enterprise with the USB cable plugged into your computer.The blue light on the front of the Enterprise's warp engine flashes while the ship is charging and then extinguishes when charging is complete. A full charge takes about an hour, which yields about seven minutes of flight time.One joystick on the remote controls altitude and the other direction. There are pairs of trim buttons to adjust for spinning and drifting -- I haven't had to use these yet, although I might want to try the spin buttons to get the Enterprise to do a U-turn in my modest-sized living room.There are also two collar buttons, one for "warp speed" -- yes, the Enterprise zips forward accompanied by the warp sound -- and the other to activate a variety of other famous sound effects from the show. These emerge from a speaker in the remote, keeping weight down in the ship.Most amusing is the way the "red alert" alarm sounds whenever you lose control and crash the ship! I almost expected to hear McCoy say, "Damn it, I'm a doctor, Jim, not a pilot!"Otherwise, the Enterprise has a plastic main dish section, while the body and nacelles are made of foam. In addition to the warp engine light, there are also two blue lights in the front of the nacelles, and the central column of the dish lights up in white.As I have only flown my Enterprise indoors, I can't comment on its flight abilities outdoors. I can say it's a good thing that the fan blades are encased in the plastic body of the dish, protecting them from harm when you crash.I also can't speak about durability or reliability. Needless to say, the foam parts will probably break at some point...But for the moment, I am tickled that the Enterprise has come to dock in my humble home, and I imagine other Trekkers will feel the same, especially if you get the celebrated starship on sale...PROS:* It's the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701-A!* Full-function remote.* Fan blades protected from harm during crashes.* Lights and authentic sound effects.* Seven minutes of flight after a one-hour charge.* Snap-together clear plastic display stand serves as launch platform.CONS:* Khan, of course (not included!)

Captain's log: Star Date 170319, Captain Emeritus Larr Ree Brown reporting. Science Officer Spock reports that Star Fleet cadets have a new Federation Starship simulator available to hone their piloting skills. Dr. McCoy recommends that if a cadet has any interest in Starships whatsoever they should get said simulator without equivocation or overthinking it, and he highly recommends it for it's stress relieving and mirth inspiring abilities. Commander Chekov did a few hours during shore leave last month at Starbase 10 and although his Beatle haircut appeared perturbed at the mention that imprecise handling of the simulator caused him to fail to "shoot the moon" during the Kobyashi Maru exercise, his face was "beaming" a wide grin at the stunning beauty of the Starship body work. Chekov mentioned that better handling simulators are available for several times the price at a dedicated "hobby simulator" store, but as far as he knows the Air Hogs simulator is the only flying Enterprise drone available, which makes it a "no-brainer" purchase to any interested cadet, or professional pilot for that matter.It's a respectable effort. The looks are 100%, it looks great, just like Mudd's women. Not as good as the excellent photography of it that is shown on the Air Hogs box, creative photography can make the genuine article look better on the box even when showing the actual item, in the same way that Mudd's women can look better with the help of a little cosmetically enhancing medication. First engineering officer Montgomery Scott points out that even the real U.S.S. Enterprise can be made to look better with the aid of some good lighting and a TV screen, so take that as a point of realism.The simulator proved challenging for Sulu to fly. He said that it flies similar to other inexpensive simulators that he's tried, which is to say it flies, but not like rock steady like the real Enterprise. He had to keep his hands on the controls at all times making adjustments, it always drifted, was not able to "no hands" hover, and would not trim out perfectly. When given a chance at the controls, Communications officer Uhura needed need plenty of room and practice to be able to keep it where she wanted, which was "right here, Sugah."Scotty said that scheduled refuelings were every 5 minutes, the same as most any other inexpensive simulator but a little more reasonable for this one because this is not a feather weight, it's a pretty big Starship.Finally Miranda Jones used her gassomer sensor web to scan the included stand and commented that it seememd similar to the stands supplied with other model Enterprises, space age and sleek and a worthy display. Everyone on the bridge agreed and we started towards our next mission laughing and slapping each other on the back.So my official report is that all interested parties should buy time on the simulator and they will probably enjoy it, as long as they don't expect it to perform 30 minutes between refuelings or as well as simulators costing several times the price.Captain Emeritus Larr Ree Brown out.

I purchased this star ship mostly as a collector's item. Didn't carefully read the description as I should have regarding materials used and overall construction. Disappointingly, the flyer has a cheap feel to it and I have concerns of easy fly-a-ways and don't think that it will hold up to frequent flying as the main hull and nacelles are made of styrofoam. Haven't had the opportunity to fly it just yet due to time constraints and windy weather. Looking forward to getting it up though!

Well when I saw this I was like "I HAVE to get that thing". My first impression when getting it is, well it's not to scale. The warp engines are way too short, second, the decals aren't stuck down too well to any of it. I may try using some clear nail polish to hold down the edges or something. Still the thing looks very cool.As to flying it?, well that appears to be problematic. As soon as I power it the ship wants to fly backward, after several attempts I can get it to go forward but by the time I get there the batteries are pretty much spend and it comes crashing down. There's simply not enough battery life to get the thing calibrated so it can be flown and once the batteries die I think you need to start over from scratch. All in all I'm not super impressed with this toy and truthfully I should have returned it when I got it but figured, I love Star Trek so.......It would have been nice if the instructions gave some written directions as to how to calibrate it, as it is there are just some pictures. Not too useful.

Last year Airhogs made a flying Millenium Falcon. The moment I saw it I said to myself "if they ever make an Enterprise, I have to buy it.". And they did. So I did. The dimensions are a little out of whack, but that's to be expected to make it airworthy.It looks fantastic, especially flying at night with the lights glowing and The Wrath Of Khan soundtrack playing in the background. My inner 12 year old was ecstatic. For about half an hour. Three flights in and one of the rotors stopped working. Can't be repaired, has to be exchanged - but Canadian retailers are out of stock. So now it sits on its display stand, waiting to be returned.I'm hoping my first one failing so quickly is an outlier, that the replacement will fly for years, but for now I have to rate it on my current experiences and I can't really recommend it at this price for as little fly time as I got before it died. When my replacement ships I will update this with any changes in opinion.

Very beautiful and durable model. However, it's very difficult to fly. No matter what trim adjustments that are applied, control is difficult. I haven't flown it outside, so I don't know if it's better there. However, inside, it seems to get sucked towards the walls with very slow responses to stick commands, sometimes no response at all. The built in battery means that after about five or six minutes of flying and the battery is low, the model has to be hooked up and put on charge. There are no extra batteries for you to change and continue flying.

A joy to fly for a beginner. The controls are easy to get the hang of, and the unit is sturdy enough to survive some impressive collisions and falls. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like it's easy to slip in a fresh battery in the field, as it's screwed inside the saucer section cage.

....this is so cool.....

Flew mine a few times and one prop now is not responding. It turns, gears look to be working but there is no lift from the front RH prop (looking from back). This may be a sensor issue. Not sure.So I got to fly it 3 or 4 times. However, I only flew it every week or so, so box is thrown out and probably too late to return it. If you buy this as a decoration, fine, if you hope to fly it, good luck. Others seem to have the same issue.