Double Take: Force RC - 2010/12

76 MODEL AVIATION
DO YOU FEEL restricted by the walls of
an Xbox? Has the Wii roller coaster ride
lost its thrill? Did the train leave the
PlayStation without you? If you’re looking
for an interactive indoor
activity that offers
everything a video game
can and more, put down
the reset button and look
at Force helicopters from
Horizon Hobby.
I’m lucky to have
friends in the RC hobby.
William and Jacob
Ramsey take me out
flying every now and
then, and they have
almost made me a solo
RC pilot.
They called me for a
sleepover recently and I
was surprised at what
was in store for my visit.
If someone told me that
I’d leave their house the
next day a solo helicopter
pilot, no way would I
have believed it. And I
Double Take: Force RC
ZAKARY WILLIAMS
A reAl-life video gAme thAt creAtes rc pilots
The optional Ground
Target is great for
shooting practice and
can be configured as a
particular team asset.
It requires three direct
hits to be taken out of
action.
William Ramsey test-hovers the first Force RC machine out of the box.
He (center), Jacob (L), and Zakary (R) are amazed at its stability. Team
ID functions are easy to set for blue, red or green.
The FHX version matches the performance of the optional
MX-35 body style. Onboard options include methods to make
the helicopter more aerobatic.
wouldn’t have gone, because that
sounds like work.
We were to do battle, but I
wouldn’t need my football padding
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or video game remote. Battle-simulation
games are a favorite, and we always play as
if we’re actually in the cockpit of a gunship.
As it turns out, the time we spent
pounding buttons on a remote and
screaming at a flat screen weren’t the
waste of time our
parents might have
thought. Eye/hand
coordination is a
good skill.
Force RC
features models
December 2010 77
SpecificationS
Skill level: Beginner (14 years and
older)
Type: Ultramicro coaxial RTF
Main rotor diameter: 7.5 inches
Gross weight: 1.1 ounces
Length: 7.9 inches
Radio: DSM2 system (included)
Power: 120 mAh 14C single-cell, 3.7-
volt Li-Poly battery pack
Charger: Integrated unit built into
transmitter (Time to charge:
approximately 20 minutes.)
Flight time: 4-5 minutes
Site location: Indoors
Price: $139.99 Replacement body styles include desert camouflage and an MX-35 blue scheme. Hair and
dust around the motor shafts reduce performance, so keep your gunship in tip-top shape.
Install and charge the batteries and fly in roughly 20 minutes. The
decal sheet can be used to identify squadron leaders and fighter
aces.
Photos by Michael Ramsey
In the left grip of the transmitter is the charge port for the included
120 mAh battery. A red LED indicates charge status. Approximately
10-12 cycles are possible using the included AA batteries.
Members of the same team can’t hurt each other with friendly
fire. The FHX and MX-35 are remarkably resilient to damage
caused by pilot error or death-spiral landings.
born from the widely popular line of
mCX helicopters sold by E-flite (now
Blade RC). I understand that thousands
of mCXs have been sold, and even an
editor of MA magazine once wrote “ … a
cross-rotor-blade helicopter is the best
RC trainer money can buy.”
For our weekend of fighter-ace glory,
there were enough samples of Force RC
machines that we didn’t have to share.
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They are fully assembled and flighttrimmed
at the factory.
Batteries are included (you hardly
ever hear that these days) to power the
2.4 GHz transmitter. The included singlecell
Li-Poly battery can be charged from
the transmitter.
The controls feel familiar, such as a
cross between typical radio control and
something used with a PlayStation-type
game. It’s got triggers!
Force helicopters come in one of two
versions: the FHX or MH-35 body styles.
Both have the same performance, but one
is more “military”-looking than the other.
They automatically start with the
onboard LED glowing green, which is the
“free-for-all” mode; everyone is a target.
That feature got a lot of laughs. A
number of programming options are
available, which we messed with, but
they aren’t required to have fun right
way.
William and Jacob knocked my model
out of the air almost instantly during
every flight! At the time, they were much
better pilots than I was. So the range of
their onboard LED guns was shortened
from 20 feet to 10 feet.
I could have started flying with my
helicopter in the SimpliFly Mode, which
disables the roll control, but these
machines basically hover themselves. It
78 MODEL AVIATION
didn’t take long before I had solid
command of my gunship, and then I could
work on combat strategy.
When the gun trigger is pressed, a
machine gun sound effect comes out of a
speaker in the user’s transmitter. A brightwhite
LED glows on the helicopter that is
shooting.
When a hit is registered, it’s as if the
flying target is spanked with a Ping-Pong
paddle. A helicopter can be hit twice; the
third strike sends the opponent into a
death spiral.
The first hit spins the aircraft 360°.
Amazingly, the Force RC helicopter
recovers instantly from the violent action.
The second hit blazingly rotates the
model backward and then forward. The
third contact is when power reduces to
less than half and the victim helicopter
pirouettes down (the death spiral). It’s
awesome! A few seconds later, the
downed model is ready for revenge.
The durability of the Force RC
machine is incredible. William’s and
Jacob’s helicopters collided in the air a
few times, and every time I was shot
down it was never over something soft or
a piece of furniture large enough on which
to land.
We can fly for probably 5 minutes per
battery charge. After close to 20 sorties,
the Force RC machines still work as if
they just came out of the box.
The instructions with these helicopters
are great. I probably could have learned
on my own how to operate the models by
just reading the directions. This is much
better as a group activity.
For team sports you’ll want to have a
couple of Force RC Ground Targets. They
take hits the way the helicopters do and
can be programmed to work only when a
specific team color attacks. When a guard
helicopter protects the module, battle
tactics start to be explored and the game
gets intense.
In the day we spent battling the Sofa
Scoundrels of the Great Room and Easy
Chair Extremists of the Foyer, I actually
became an RC helicopter pilot. We
laughed all day long, ducking our whirling
machines behind convenient cover, and
didn’t bother the dog or stain any laundry.
Now all we need is theme music. MA
Zakary Williams
[email protected]
Sources:
Horizon Hobby
4105 Fieldstone Rd.
Champaign IL 61822
(800) 338-4639
www.horizonhobby.com