I have an almost obsessive attraction to anything remote control, and even more so for things that fly. I have a large collection of RC helicopters, I’ve tried them all from those cheap little polystyrene things to the massive nitro-fuel driven jobs.

One of the main thing you should know about buying a remote control helicopter, if you’ve never had one, is they’re a lot easier to fly as they get bigger. The larger your helicopter is, the more stability it has in the air. So, if you buy one of those tiny copters you get in those kite/slateboard zero-gravity type places you’ll probably spend a lot of time crashing it into furniture or straight into the ground. They’re like trying to fly, well, a fly. Even pros find it difficult to fly these things, and believe me it is only the pros that do fly them in the demo videos. So don’t waste your money on these tiny helicopters, they might only cost like 20 quid but you may as well throw the money down the drain for all the fun you get out of them.

On the other hand, most people can’t afford to shell out 600-1000+ quid, for what might be a fleeting hobby, on a larger scale model rc helicopter, especially when this might happen: http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/rc-helicopter-crashes.html

So, what we have with the Double Horse 9053 “Volitation” Large Helicopter is a pretty cheap, around 60 quid, rechargable battery helicopter that’s larger than most and has a gyro inside to make it easier to fly. It also has counter-rotating rotar blades, which are ideal for beginners as they make it very easy to maneouver.

The flight time is about ten minutes, which is actually fairly standard no matter what type of RC helicopter you own, but you can up that by buying extra rechargable batteries and swap them over – the same way nitro flyers have to be landed and refueled – so you can enjoy a good amount of time in the air. It has an RC range of 60 metres (197 feet), which is pretty massive. The controller has a battery voltage meter built in, which is very important because you need to check this before you fly otherwise you may lose control if your batteries go flat while flying. The main plus of this helicopter though is its large size and robust metal fuselage, making it the ideal outdoor big boy’s toy.

If you’re thinking of starting an RC helicopter hobby, get one of these big beauties! Everything you need to get flying, apart from 8 x AA batteries for the remote, is in the box.