Syma 9093 Dragonfly Review
ele-copter rating:
Introduction
The Syma 9093 Dragonfly (based on the Hughes 300) is one of a number of cheap radio controlled helicopters that have come onto the market recently. They are generally sold as toys but can be quite lethal in inexperienced hands - hence the warning that they should not be flown by young children. Whilst the Dragonfly offers nothing like the amount of control available to a 4 or 6 channel model it does fill a gap between those 'serious' (and expensive) models and free-flight models. The two channels control the speed of the main rotor and also the tail rotor.
Flying
Initially I tried a few test flights with the Syma 9093 Dragonfly in the living room - big mistake! It needs a lot of space to settle down to a stable flight and after I wrecked my DVD player with it I gave up until some decent weather arrived! If you do have a large room to test it don't fly it without the cabin in place - I did and broke the rather flimsy battery cage. You're better off letting the cabin absorb the shock. It's not very strong but then again only £4 for a new one.
Once up in the air you have a vague input into what direction the helicopter will take, but there is still a lot of room for exciting dashes across country to chase it - especially if there is a wind blowing! The throttle has three settings as well as off. The lowest setting just about works as a brake when you want it to come down, the middle setting maintains level flight and the high setting sends it climbing into the stratosphere! The 9093 Dragonfly certainly needs trimming out of the box. I ended up cutting 1/4" off each blade of the tail rotor - it was a bit too efficient. Although there is a small potentiometer on the control board to adjust the threshold at which the tail rotor starts spinning it seems a bit crude.
Because there is no pitch control available to the main rotors as in a more expensive model vertical flight is achieved purely by the speed of the rotors - the faster they spin the higher you go. To achieve forward flight it is necessary to balance the 9093 Dragonfly so that it is slightly nose heavy. I have a large washer taped into the cabin which works fine. With a bit of patience you can get the 9093 Dragonfly to do some pretty good flights!
Batteries
Whilst the transmitter is powered by 8 AA cells the 9093 Dragonfly itself uses a 7.2v NiMH battery pack. A three hour charge with the included mains charger will give roughly a 10 minute flight,so it's a good idea to get a couple of spare battery packs.
Spares
There are plenty of spares available online for when (not if....) you break something. So far I've burned out a tail motor, wrecked the cabin and broken the battery cage - although that seems fine with a swathe of duct tape around it. The cabin is very brittle and I haven't found a suitable adhesive to repair it - so again duct tape to the rescue. Spares are cheap enough - both the cabin and tail motor cost £4 each. I have read reports of people breaking main rotor blades although I have to say mine have survived an incredible amount of punishment and are fine.
Conclusion
A lot of fun can be had with these helicopters, and with a reasonable amount of trimming a decent amount of control - you can't really go wrong for less than 40 quid!