Cobra R/C 3 Channel Big Shark Helicopter Review

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(More customer reviews)INTRODUCTION.
The Cobra S006 Big Shark Helicopter AKA Cobra S006 Alloy Shark Helicopter is a very strong, very heavy, 3 channel, coaxial blade outdoor helicopter. Its strengths are also its weaknesses: It has a durable but heavy metal alloy & plastic chassis and metal alloy landing skids. The helicopter itself, with its included, non-removeable Li-Poly battery weighs approximately 16 oz or 1 pound. Unfortunately, this much weight in the air results in amazing force upon crashing - yes, crashing - because the craft is not stable enough with its remote control response to simply land under most conditions.
THE HELICOPTER AND PLATFORM.
If I were designing a remote control helicopter for intermediate R/C beginners, I would consider building it the way that Cobra (AKA Syma) has with the Alloy Shark: The most important part of the craft, its chassis, is made of a metal alloy and high-impact plastic. The chassis holds the craft's two (2) main motors, its plastic landing gear supports, its metal skids, the metal alloy tail boom and two (2) alloy tail boom supports, the non-removeable li-poly battery, and the radio unit (mine operated at 27 MHz). The forward motor drives the lower of the two main propellers, while the aft motor drives the upper propeller and balancer via two (2) large, plastic planetary gears. The craft also features a horizontally mounted, small tail propeller and tiny electric motor which dips the craft down or forces it up to induce forward or rearward flight. The forward end of the chassis is covered with a sleek black and gold canopy made of high-impact plastic. The interior of the canopy features blinking, alternating red and blue LED indicators when the unit is turned on and functioning. The appearance of this machine inspires confidence.
THE REMOTE CONTROL / RADIO UNIT.
The black remote control / radio unit with red control levers is unattractive and cheaply made. The unit requires four (4) AA batteries and comes with a telescoping radio antenna, an ON/OFF switch and an indicator light. In true beginner's fashion, the left stick, or throttle control, is spring-tensioned in the down-most position. Pushing upwards on this stick gives you "proportional" power or throttle to lift the craft from the ground. There are no trim controls for the throttle; merely dead "trim look-alike" buttons. The right stick, or yaw / direction control, is spring-tensioned in the center position and should give left, right, forward, and reverse movement to the helicopter. There is one trim control to synchronise the motors which would prevent spinning and enable flight in a straight line.
Unfortunately, the control sticks on the remote unit break easily. Also, my radio did not transmit a strong signal to the craft. This resulted in a near-fatal crash after the helicopter simply stopped powering the main propellers upon flying out of range of the radio. The helicopter was also impossible to trim properly, and seemed only capable of spinning and flying straight up in the air until out of radio range.
THE A/C CHARGING UNIT.
The black A/C charging unit appears to be a standard American two-prong A/C adaptor with a red LED indicator light on its base. The cord for the charger is 4.5' long. The indicator light stays off while the craft is plugged-in and charging but turns on when the helicopter's battery has reached its full charging capacity and must be unplugged. The receptacle from the charger cord is female, while the craft's battery lead is male.
Unfortunately, my A/C Charger's receptacle unit was damaged upon arrival, making it very difficult to plug into the helicopter's lead for battery recharge. The receptacle's plastic is cheaply made, brittle, and breaks / crumbles easily - even with your fingers.
TOOL KIT.
The Alloy Shark tool kit which was included with my package consists of one (1) tiny Philips head screwdriver and one (1) small tail propeller blade. Main propeller replacement blades are not included with the Alloy Shark, and must be purchased separately.
MY MAIDEN VOYAGE.
Upon receiving the Alloy Shark package and charging the unit and getting successful, blinking red and blue LED indicator lights from the helicopter's canopy, I was very excited. I cleared out the living room, placed the helicopter on the carpeted floor, turned on the remote control and powered up the main propeller. The Alloy Shark rose majestically from the floor in a perfect hover. There was no spin, and no trim needed as the unit hovered in place. I powered the helicopter down, put on my jacket and took the craft outside with me to a nearby baseball diamond.
Again, I powered up the unit and watched it rise majestically from the ground. This time, the craft began to spin to the right, or clockwise - as it gained altitude. There also appeared to be little proportionality to the throttle as the helicopter continued to rise - it appeared to have only three (3) speeds: Slow, Medium & High. I adjusted the trim control and pushed the stick to the left, but the craft did not respond - except that it continued to float upwards. I gave the craft one last tweak of the trim, and got it pointing in one stable direction. By this time, the helicopter was approximately 100 feet above the ground, and drifting to the right. Finally, the helicopter stopped responding to the remote control unit completely, though it stayed airborne on a steady heading for a moment or two before the motors cut out. The helicopter then plummeted to the grass of the baseball field like a rock - I was never able to regain control of the craft.
THE NEARLY FATAL CRASH & RESULTING DAMAGE.
The helicopter buried itself tail-first into the grass and dirt. The force of the crash was enough to cause the following damage:
1) Broken plastic landing skid support for entire left (port) side.
2) Broken chassis supports where metal joins high-impact plastic.
3) Cracked plastic canopy.
4) Upper planetary gear for lower main propeller shaft broken in half.
5) Alloy tail boom struts broken off and not recovered (MIA).
6) Plastic tail boom fins broken off tail boom.
7) Tail boom propeller and motor broken off of tail boom.
I call this a near-fatal crash because, believe it or not, the helicopter still flies and remains aloft in its crashed, damaged state - but it is no more maneuverable than it was before.
SUMMARY.
This craft does not suffer from poor construction, but the remote control unit is terrible and will cause the helicopter to crash at some point in time, no matter how well you believe you have mastered it. I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT FOR ANYONE.

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