So as Scott said, I did indeed buy a helicopter a couple weeks back: the Blade CP. This little beast is amazing, especially considering the price. It has a 6 channel transmitter/reciever, a full collective control system, and everything else you could want. It gets rave reviews everywhere, and people all over the place are hailing it as one of the best micro helis out there.

Only problem is, I don’t know how to fly a heli.

I bought it figuring ‘how hard can it really be?’ Turns out, pretty hard. Granted much of the difficulty stems directly from the fact that I’m trying to learn in the office, which means I can only slide laterally around for a distance of 3 feet to 10 feet, depending on the direction, before I have to shut down the engine out of fear of a crash. If I could keep it in the air a little longer, I just know I’d be amazing at this thing.

Don’t assume, however, I am always able to do that – shut it down before a crash. On the very night I bought this magical little toy, I flew it under a van. A parked van.

Thankfully, it’s remarkably resilient. So far, I’ve been forced to purchase only two crash kits. These contain new main and tail rotors, landing gear, and stabilizer bars. at a cost of $20, it’s not too bad. I can honestly say, it’s probably the cheapest way to fly a full CCPM heli.

What prompts me to write this out tonight, however, is my most recent upgrade purchase. I read online that upgrading to the acrobatic kit does many wonderful things to the experience of flying this heli, including enabling inverted (UPSIDE DOWN!) flight, but more significantly to me, increasing the head speed making a hover remarkably smooth and steady. So I went shopping. I bought the upgrade kit, a lithium polymer battery, and a lithium polymer charger. Of course, I haven’t been able to fly it yet, for a reason I will cover shortly; now let me tell you about our hobby store.

The hobby store on 30th between 7th and 8th is a virtual wonderland of fun and games, with myriad flying, driving and floating vehicles. It has fair prices, a wide selection of parts and models, and is close by – meaning I can get my blow that money and leave with happiness in hand, rather than waiting a week for delivery of my joy. However – and this is a big however – The man who operates this store… well, he’s something else.

The first time we met this man, he informed us of his son’s multiple high level connections throughout the world, oh, maybe a dozen times. His son, by the way, apparently owns three dozen stores, two factories in china, and has at least a bakers dozen black market sexual slaves. He’s also, I believe, a member of royalty in no less than 4 middle eastern and asian countries. Needless to say, this man was a little overzealous in trying to get our respect, or something. I haven’t a clue.

The second time I met this man, he told me how there’s this great guy in the FDNY, who happens to be black, who can fly a helicopter amazingly well. He even flew the blade cp through the corridors of the store! Of course, he doesn’t recommend we do anything like that. Oh, and by the way, his son hates great planes, and tamiya.

In any case, I went in to get the parts, and the guy gave me a lipo, and a charger. I, stupid little boy that I am, figured he must know what he’s doing, so I just took them. Bad move! Of course, the charger requires a 12 volt power supply (can’t plug it in the wall) and the lipo won’t connect to the receiver because the plugs are totally different (the lipo has a deans connector, and the receiver has a JST adapter.) The store is of course closed, so I sit here, gently weeping, cradling my handicapped chopper in my arms.

Tomorrow though, oh ho, tomorrow.