Silverlit Radio Control Heli Mission - Review

Silverlit Radio Control Heli Mission

£49.99

"Have loads of fun learning how to take off, hover and descend, spin left and right, fly backwards, forwards and even fly sideways with this Heli Mission set!"

The toy that had the boys in the family queueing up to road test was this remote control Helicopter and Duty Truck. 

It came in a very big box but a lot of that was just packaging. The duty truck is a reasonable size but the helicopter is really quite small. Common sense tells me that it would have to be small and light to get airborne but it didn't stop my initial reaction being "Is that it?"

It made a big dent in my Xmas battery stash, requiring 10 AA batteries to power the truck and transmitter. The helicopter needed to be charged for 30 minutes to give approximately 5 minutes of flying time.

Liberty's boyfriend (22 years old, sensible and hard working) executed the first 'Heli Mission'.  His mastery of the duty truck seemed almost instinctive and he was quickly whizzing it around the living room floor like a pro, performing impressive manoeuvres and only struggling when the truck was half on and half off my thick rug so that the driving wheels failed to make contact with solid ground. When he stopped the truck and opened the doors, we all waited with baited breathe. With flashing blue lights and mood enhancing noises, the platform raised and in an instant the helicopter lifted into the air to cheers and applause from us, the eager spectators. The helicopter hit the ceiling, spun around like a disorientated dragon fly then dropped out of the air onto the ground like a stone. It buzzed around like a dying wasp before needing to be retrieved. I hope that isn't 'simile overload' and you do get the picture!

When my girls were finally given a go with the Transmitter, they were surprisingly good at controlling both truck and helicopter. My girls have always been more interested in Playstation games than fashion and make up so it wasn't entirely unexpected. The biggest advantage they had over the boys was that they actually took the time to read the instructions! 

Not wanting to be outflown, Liberty's boyfriend took control again and with practice started to acquire the skills necessary to look like he knew what he was doing.

The helicopter required a gentle touch to stop it spiralling out of control but when it was flying well it was very impressive. My baby boy was transfixed and my 2 year old was whooping with delight.

In terms of short bursts of high octane fun, this was amazing and I'm sure with more practice, death defying aerial stunts will be played out from the comfort of our sofa.