Micro RC Reviews

This is one review that I could not wait to write. I picked up an Air Hogs Nano Hawk this evening and immediately came home to fly it. My excitement was fueled by the fact that I have not gotten to fly in quite some time due to the weather outside. The Nano Hawk offered to fill my craving since it is an indoor Micro RC toy much like the Air Hogs Havoc Heli.

Initial Impressions

The overall design of the Nano Hawk is not really new. Silverlit (or Spin Master) has had one of these out for some time. In fact a friend of mine at work has one sitting on his desk that he flies everyone once in a while. The thing that makes the Nano Hawk different from the previous version is that it has a Lipo battery in it. The previous version had a capacitor that would charge but would give you less then a minute of flying. With the lipo battery I got a good 5-6 minutes of flight!

Charging the Nano Hawk is much the same as the Havoc Heli. The airplane charges from the remote control. There are a couple of nice differences between the Nano and the Havoc when charging though. The first is that the Nano is actually cradled by the controller while charging instead of of a wire coming out of it like with the Havoc. This is nice because on more then one occasion I have forgotten that the Havoc was attached to the controller and picked either it up of the controller which left the other piece dangling. The other difference is that the Nano Hawk actually has a separate choice on the switch specifically for charging. When the charging is done the light goes off and the controller is off. On the Havoc you turn the controller to the on position and then plug in the Havoc. The controller stays on even after the Havoc is charged up.

Charging time was about 10 minute.

First Flight

My first flight with it was exhilarating as I did not know what to expect. I had never flown a plane like this and was not sure what to expect. At first I was not giving it enough throttle and the Nano was doing a see-saw up/down motion which made it hard to control. That coupled with the fact that it was veering off to the right sent the Nano into the wall a few times. It did not sustain any damage at all from my encounters with the wall as the plane is so light and durable that I don’t see it ever being damages from your basic crashes.

I set the trim on the controller a couple of clicks to the left and gave it 3/4 throttle to see if that would help. This is where the Nano became a dream to fly. It was no longer doing the see-saw action and was flying strait. Left and right rudder input from the controller was responsive and within a minute I was able to put the plane where I wanted in my living room. I was even able to fly around a column in between my family and dining rooms! I was never able to do that with the Havoc!

After a couple of minutes I decided to push it a little and see what a full fixed right rudder would do. The Nano started turning quickly to the right where the increased air speed gave it more lift. I gave it a little more throttle and was able to maintain my altitude while rapidly circling. Even more amazing was the fact that I was able to pull out of the circle and continue to fly!

As mention before my flight time lasted around 5-6 minutes.

Final Thoughts

Flying the Air Hogs Nano Hawk was some of the most enjoyable flying that I have done. The Havoc Heli is fun and and looks really cool but the Nano Hawk is far more controllable. I think with a little adjustment and maybe a mod or 2 you could start doing some cool tricks with it.

At the around the same price as the Havoc Heli it would be a difficult choice to have to decide between the 2. I’ll put it to you this way – the Nano and the Havoc are sitting right next to each other on my desk. I know the Nano is going to get some serious flight time in this weekend and I think the Havoc is going to be watching from my desk .

Technorati tags: Air Hogs Nano Hawk, Air Hogs, Indoor Airplane, Air Hogs Havoc Heli, Silverlit, Spin Master