The US police are always at the forefront of technology when it comes to fighting crime, and police from Saskatoon are no exception. They’ve become the first police force to begin using a new RC helicopter, which is to be used at crime scenes to take photos from the air.

The new RC helicopter used by the police is a Dragonfly X6, which was created by the company Dragonfly Innovations Inc. The company have over ten years of experience in making RC helicopters and flying machines, and their new invention will be used by the Saskatoon police force, the first force in the USA to use such a device.

Sgt. Jerome Engele said about the RC helicopter:

It’s like a toy. But it’s a lot more stable and has a lot of capabilities.

The RC helicopter comes equipped with a camera that can be used for still images and video. The RC helicopter will make photographing accident scenes much quicker, as Jermoe Engele explains:

Say we have a major artery blocked in excess of eight hours. Well with this we hope that we can do all our measurements and free that freeway up within half the period of time.

Many websites are full of ideas such as practical uses for this, or practical uses for that, but practical uses are always boring. How about some ‘impractical’ uses for things for a change?

Here are a few impractical uses for RC helicopters, for when simply flying around for the sake of flying just isn’t enough.

Herding pigeons
Pigeons always need herding, as they’re very hard to organise. If you live or work anywhere that has a high number of pigeons, then you’re probably used to throwing them bread or chasing them with an umbrella. Wouldn’t be more fun to chase them with an RC helicopter? That way, you can continue to chase them after they’ve flown away, they won’t be expecting that!

Painting your house
OK, so there’s impractical and there’s really impractical, and painting your house with an RC helicopter certainly falls into the second category. However you could attach a paintbrush to the front of an RC helicopter and hover around those really hard to reach, high up places such as the tops of walls.

The best thing is that the RC helicopter’s rotor blades might actually dry the wall as you paint it.

Let us know if you try any of these ideas.

Whether you buy an RC helicopter or an RC car depends on a few factors, such as where you intend to play with them, how much experience you have with RC models and generally what you find more entertaining.

For example, if you have a large field near your house, or a park, then an RC car would be ideal as you can drive it in the vast open spaces. RC cars are also great for driving off-road, on terrain such as woodland or even the beach. To play with the smaller, cheaper RC cars doesn’t require any prior skills or experience, but the more expensive Nitro cars are really only for the experienced RC enthusiast.

RC helicopters equally can be for the less experienced, or for people with more experience, depending on which type you buy. The Micro RC helicopters are very easy to fly and can be used by children or adults who have never so much as picked up an RC toy in the past. The larger, petrol powered, RC helicopters are for the more experienced flyer, and can be difficult to learn to fly and master.

It can’t have escaped your notice, but the world is in the middle of a recession, a credit crunch that means very few people have much disposable income. This means that the money we used to spend on leisure activities is now getting used on things like food, petrol and paying off debts.

It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy yourself a little bit though, and some fun without spending a huge amount of money.

For example, if you wanted to play a video game you would be looking at upwards of £40 per game, and around £200 for a console, depending on which one you were after.

RC helicopters on the other hand can be bought for half the price of a console game, and then you don’t need to spend money on the console. Plus, with an RC helicopter, or other such radio controlled toy, such as a car or plane, you get the added bonus of getting out of the house and enjoying yourself in the fresh air, rather than staying cooped up inside.

Don’t fret about the recession, do something cheaper and enjoy yourself.

There are many different drinking games you can play at your house parties this summer, some clean, some not so clean, however have you thought about incorporating an RC helicopter into the merriment?

It’s not as daft as it sounds, though possibly as dangerous as it sounds. Imagine the scene, everyone has their drinks, and the last one to finish has to perform a takeoff, lap of the room, and landing in the fastest time. Sounds easy at first, but as the night goes on the players’ control will get slightly worse, and accidents are sure to ensue.

You should make sure though that you play this with a Micro RC helicopter, one for indoor use only. If you try this with a big petrol powered RC helicopter you’ll be on the fast track for disaster. Mostly likely you’ll damage your home, destroy the helicopter or severely injure someone.

Another thing you could try with an electric RC helicopter is to try and deliver a drink through flight. Some RC helicopters come with cargo areas that you can attach certain implements, such as a shot glass.

Be warned though, if you play this game you could go some time without a drink!

It’s the age old question, which is better, the plane or the helicopter? When it comes to radio controlled models, it’s an easy question to answer as you’re able to fly both and compare them.

The main differences lie in where you can actually fly them, and how difficult they are to fly. For example, most RC helicopters can be flown indoors, in very confined spaces such as your bedroom or kitchen. They can be flown without any prior experience with RC helicopters or RC models, and are very easy to pick up and learn. They’re so easy to fly in fact that a child could do it, or an adult who’s not very technically minded.

RC planes on the other hand can be more difficult to fly as they require more experience and skill. They have to be flown outdoors and require a runway in order to take off. Also, when you’re flying an RC plane you have to concentrate as they can cover ground so quickly you could run out of airspace very fast.

Landing an RC plane can be difficult as well, whereas landing an indoor Micro RC Helicopter couldn’t be easier.

As the winter disappears behind us, and the days start to get warmer (at least, they should be) we start to shed our winter clothes, turn off the heating and begin venturing outside to see what mischief we can get up to. With that in mind, our thoughts turn to games and hobbies that can entertain us outside, such as sports, summer garden games and beach games.

One such toy that can be played with outside is a radio controlled helicopter, or other such RC toy, such as RC cars or boats. These toys are perfect for the summer as they allow us to get out and about and experience different locations and scenery.

For example, RC models are perfect for the beach, as RC cars can tear up the sand and can even do jumps and stunts, landing safely on the soft surface. RC helicopters can fly around the beach, sending the sand flying with their rotor blades, creating quite a scene.

They’re also great to play with in the park, around the amusements and benches. You’ll also attract quite a following in the park as everyone loves to see RC toys such as RC helicopters and cars being used.

RC helicopters are a lot of fun, much more fun in fact than goldfish. Sure, goldfish are good pets because they take little looking after and are fairly self sufficient, but they’re nowhere near as good as RC helicopters.

Here are some ways that a radio controlled helicopter is better than a goldfish.

They last longer when in the air
An RC helicopter can last for anything from 5 minutes upwards when being flown, which is a fairly good flight time on a single charge. A fish however doesn’t last anywhere near as long when being flown around the room. You’ll find your goldfish is dead after just a few minutes, and no plugging it into the charger will help.

Maintenance required
Yes an RC helicopter sometimes need maintenance, especially when you crash it into a wall, but on the whole it can be left alone for days, weeks, even months without needing any care. Try leaving your pet fish alone for months, see what happens to it! (actually, don’t do that, it’ll die).

Entertainment value
Fish swim. It’s all they do, and that’s if you’re lucky. Sometimes they’ll just float there, looking lifeless. RC helicopters are far more enjoyable, soaring around, hovering and generally swooping down on things. They’re much more fun than goldfish.

So you see, an RC helicopter is better than a goldfish in every way.

There are a few things in life that children from eight years old, right up to great grandfathers in their eighties (and sometimes well beyond) all find enjoyable. These things include ice cream, good TV and the freedom of getting out of the house.

One other thing that appeals to people aged eight to eighty is radio controlled helicopters. They’re really simple to use, so even a child can operate, and their entertaining and enjoyable to fly. The great part is that an eighty-year-old will also find RC helicopters enjoyable and easy to use.

Children get to play with what they see as toys, exciting toys that fly around the home, whereas adults get to play with what they see as models, perfect scale replicas of real vehicles.

It’s the same as what attracts children and adults to model train sets, for different reasons. The children see interesting toys that are fun to play with and adults see highly technical and exact replicas.

So whether you’re eight-years-old or whether you’re in your eighties (or over) you’ll find RC helicopters interesting and enjoyable. Just don’t expect to keep hold of the controller when another eight-year-old (or eighty-year-old) enters the room!