Air Hogs Sharp Shooter Micro RC Helicopter

Unlike other Air Hogs helicopters with their little foam bodies and sometimes futuristic styling, the Airwolf-style projectile-firing Air Hogs Sharp Shooter has a full light weight plastic body with realistic detailing.

The Sharp Shooter micro RC heli is a coaxial RC helicopter that is roughly about 6 1/2 inches in length. It has a 2-channel infra red transmitter which allows for left, right, up, down movement. There is also a big red fire button at the top of the controller to launch the missiles (in flight only, no sitting still and firing)

The transmitter has two control sticks and a trim knob for tweaking the left right movements to keep it straight.The trim knob is a step up from the usual method used in this type of little heli -- adjusting the little paper and plastic tail rudder.A big plus in my opinion.

Before getting to fly you have to open the box. The Sharp Shooter box contained exactly what I've come to expect from the overly protective Air Hogs company: wire ties that are also taped. I'd hoped they would get the hint by now but I guess they aren't hanging on every word of my reviews and wire rants.

Nevertheless, I would like to take this moment to vent here. Quit triple securing the toys man! I know I sound like a child here but what if I was (No snickering from the peanut gallery) I would have to sit there waiting on and listening to mom or dad muttering and frustratingly try to unravel the wad of tape and wires to get the RC out of the package without damaging it. That is unless you're like me and say "let me get the heavy duty wire cutters out I ain't dealing with this!" Surely there's a better way that's secure, safe, environmentally-friendly, and easy to open.

Once past the wires, what you will get find inside is:

• the Sharp Shooter Heli
• transmitter/charging stand
• three cardboard targets
• users manual
• six projectiles resembling missiles

You will need to have 6 AA batteries for the transmitter -- those aren't included.

At the time of this review there are only two different channels for the Sharp Shooter. If the Sharp Shooter sells well, Air Hogs will probably come out with more than the Airwolf themed red or blue windowed Sharp Shooters.-- much like the continuing releases and evolutions of the very popular Havoc Helis.

After waiting for a good while for the heli to charge (around 30 minutes) I was ready for some missile shooting, flying action. The Sharp Shooter is pretty stable while hovering. I didn't have to constantly move the left and right controls to keep it straight. The shooting mechanism is a neat little feature also. It fires the missiles one at a time each time you push the firing button. Be careful though. Those little missiles can easily get lost -- or confiscated -- as I found out. I'm down to five now after targeting my wife. In the dog house I go! Fun and games aside, it is more stable than the Havoc Heli line of RC helis.

I noticed that with the little missiles loaded the helicopter has a slight forward movement. When unloaded it will pretty much just hover in place unless there is a small draft of air coming from somewhere, such as a fan or home AC vent Overall, the Sharp Shooter is fairly durable. This is coming from someone who has had his fair share of crashes.

Charging and Runtime

I would have liked to have had the charging time shortened a bit. It seems that Air Hogs overlooked this particular point. 30 minutes versus 5-10 minutes of runtime seems just a bit unbalanced. None the less it is still a fun micro heli to fly.

On the plus side of charging, as with many Air Hogs RCs the transmitter doubles as the charging station. They have also improved in the way that you hook the heli up for charging. The charging jack is a little larger and more durable instead of that microscopic input charging jack that is on the Havoc Helis.

Ok, I got through the packaging nightmare and flew the Sharp Shooter. I consider it is a great buy and well worth the $30-$40 I spent on it. I have had a lot of fun flying and hovering through obstacles and shooting down targets that I have set up. Kids a word of advice: "Don't shoot at anything else other than the targets that came in the package" If you do you will probably hurt someone and get grounded or in big trouble like I did... hint don't shoot the family pets!

The Air Hogs Sharp Shooter has proven to be a durable, easy to control, indoor helicopter that provides a little extra challenge with its missles and target-shooting capabilities.

Watch a Video review of the Air Hogs Sharp Shooter Air Hogs Sharp Shooter Missile-Launching RC Helicopter Review In this video the author does a great job discussing the flight characteristics of the Air Hogs Sharp Shooter. He has made a small modification to the missles -- giving them the ability to pop balloons. I don't recommend doing this sort of mod for anything other than balloon-popping. Taping or gluing small nails or needles to a projectile can cause serious injuries if you're not careful. Despite this small safety issue, it's a good video to watch.

Item was purchased by the reviewer.