[.ca] Tyco R/C AirBlade Hovercraft 27MHZ

• The next generation in remote control hovercrafts featuring 3 air cushions
• Hover over land, snow, ice, and water
• Tilt and rotate the rear air cushions by radio control to steer and propel your Airblade
• Watertight and fully amphibious

Amazon.com Review:
For those remote control vehicle buffs who have grown weary of cars and airplanes, the Air Blade hovercraft is sure to liven things up! This amazing vehicle has the unique ability to float on air and make contact with the ground in order to produce high speeds and tight turns. When air is drawn into the top grille of the vehicle, it becomes pressurized and is then directed out the three bottom air pods. The hovercraft actually floats along the ground on a cushion of air. Players pilot the craft by moving the controls on the transmitter so that the two rear air pods tilt, rotate, and touch the ground. The hovercraft works equally well on (or over) land, snow, or water, as long as the "terrain" is relatively smooth (no pebbles, powdery snow, choppy water, shag carpeting, etc.). The Air Blade is a sleekly designed vessel, with slick graphics and racing stripes…every bit the vehicle of tomorrow! 12V NiMH battery and charger are included.--Emilie Coulter

Not perfect, but pretty good!:
I've never had an RC hoovercraft so I don't really have anything to compare this product to, but its a pretty fun toy if you don't set unrealistic expecatations. It only hoovers less than a centimeter off the ground, so its not really going "WOW" you with the hoover effect. The hoovering does get the job done. The great thing is that it comes with a battery pack + charger, a must with a product like this. The controls are pretty simple, only 2 buttons are used. It does seem kind of ackward at first, but its not hard once you get the hang of it. This thing moves very fast, and that is both a plus and a minus. Unless you walk closey behind it, it will quickly get out of range of the remote. I estimate the range at approx. 15 feet. It a pretty durable product, as the tires also act as bumpers to prevent damage and they can take a good beating. I used this in my backyard and it bumped into all sorts of objects (I recommend keeping pets and unsuspecting people away from this thing to prevent harmful collisions). The unit has a good weight is pretty stable and never flipped over. I haven't tried it on water yet, as I am a bit skeptical if it would actually float, but it works best on a hard flat surface. PROS: * Very fast * Comes with rechargable battery pack * Good Size (over a foot long) * Pretty durable CONS: * 2 Buttons controls are a bit ackward * Short range of remote * May be dangerous to small animals/unsuspecting people

son barely used it:
bought this last xmas...my son barely used it. It got stuck in just about everything.....it sits on a shelf now.

Fun - but that battery...:
My 5 year old got this for CHristmas, and we all play with it! It is hard to control - but that is part of the fun. It is amazingly durable - we have crashed it over and over with no problems. The lack of control is too uch fun. I can't wait to try it out on snow and ice! The bad part is the battery. I read some reviews about how the battery lasts for an hour??? No way. We charge it for 5 hours and get 10-15 minutes of play time. That's a pain!

Flips over easily, turns unexpectedly.:
We couldn't find the Terraniac this holiday season and settled on the Air blade as an alternative for my son. We should have waited! The Air Blade is pretty much useless unless you use it indoors on a smooth floor or in the garage on very smooth concrete. My son is very disappointed. He'd much rather have another R/C, even one that costs much less (like his little brother's Trak Attack). Normal asphalt and concrete are too rough! The smallest bump or surface imperfection will send Air Blade air born. This usually results in an unexpected 90 degree turn. Worst case, the Air Blade flips over due to forward momentum and the bump induced turn. This is not operator error either. My son can handle other RCs just fine. I've used it and found the same behavior. Drive forward a few feet then it hits a small imperfection and turns or flips. This is either on the concrete driveway, or the asphalt cul de sac. We've exchanged it once and found the replacement had the same defective nature. (we found out after the fact that RC's can only be exchanged for the same model. RCs cannot be returned. What a scam this is). This notice is on the store's receipt. The receipt notice is also useless since you only see the receipt AFTER you've bought the darn thing. If I can't get a return for store credit, I'll attempt to contact the manufacturer for resolution. The Plus side: This RC does seem very durable and able to handle crashes and flips. But this in no way makes this toy worth the money.

10 minute toy:
this thing is pretty hard to control. The surface the toy is on needs to be very smooth for it to work. Our street is too rough. we didn't bother with the pool and the battery went dead right away. it's a flop, but i think it was only $20.