First look: Wolfbush AW911 Airwolf

This Airwolf is apparently a trending RC helicopter and we were given the task of testing and reviewing the model. Is this RC helicopter any good, is it recommended by us? What should you expect from the model? This is what we have experienced so far.

Razordon sent us the model and they asked us to test and review the Airwolf. We are still in the testing phase and we are still collecting the experiences, but we have got the first impressions by now, which will be shared in this article.

The model arrives in a sturdy and nice cardboard box. There's nothing special around the internal packaging: simple plastic storage, plastic bags, they do the job, and despite the delivery guy doing everything to test the appropriate protective packaging; like throwing the box into the puddle from the van (we saw that through the window), but at least he didn't kick the box; the helicopter arrived with no damage at all.

Thanks to Razordon, we are allowed to review and share our impressions without sugarcoating it. Of course, you want to know whether the model is worth its price or if it is better to move on, but this answer (as always) is not that simple. Briefly: yes, this model is not bad at all, but there are limitations to consider. This is like sport cars, they are very good, car guys love them, but they are not the best choice to conquer the jungle.

Before the conclusions let's walk through what we have. The helicopter is a nice 1:34 scale Airwolf model with all of the guns, missiles hanging on the belly, working wheels, and even some sort of scale lights and jet afterburner imitation lights, although they are a bit childish. Apart from that the look is nice and well detailed, so yes, the helicopter is a scale model indeed. Even the windows are semi transparent, although the interior is not too interesting.

Sadly the originally retractable wheels are not retractable, but in return they are strong enough to cope with even harder landings, although, this kind of landing is not too likely. The teeth stickers are a bit too much for me, the helicopter would be nicer without them in my opinion.

But what does she do? How does she fly?

For testing this we have to familiarise ourselves with the transmitter; reading the manual is strongly recommended even if you are an experienced RC heli pilot, because there are switches and buttons which are good to know about. The transmitter is surprisingly comfortable, despite the design not being oversophisticated. The sticks would be better if they were a  bit more spikey preventing fingers slipping off, but if you are pincher pilot they will be good enough. However, you can switch between mode 1 and 2, consequently the pitch is also self centered, it has springs, so all sticks have springs. If nothing else so far, this is a sign that the helicopter is much more like a drone rather than a helicopter.

The motor switch is not in the best location, it would be much better in the top-right corner swapping places with the flight mode switch. If you don't know why: during the flight it's better to keep one finger on the kill switch, so if you are about to crash, and the crash is inevitable, switching the motor off before the impact can reduce the damage a lot. this way it's enough to pull the switch and you don't have to find it. That one second spent on locating the switch is the key difference between total damage and smaller injuries. And this is a rule of thumb with all RC helicopters. As long as your fingers are long enough, this is still doable, although, the flight mode switch is an obstacle.

The display is pretty bright, and informs you about everything you must know during the flight. This includes the direction, battery status of the helicopter, the number of the GPS satellites found, and so on. It takes a bit of time to get used to it, but it certainly does the job.

Before the flight you must calibrate the compass. There's a drone inside, so this must be done every time you are at a new location. And yes, this calibration is not different from any drone calibration: this is the "tribe ritual dance": spinning around with the helicopter horizontally, then spinning around with the helicopter hanging with nose down. But the calibration has never failed so far, I could calibrate the model successfully every time without repeating the "tribe dance" (my highly overpriced drone requires this repeat from time to time).

Taking off - WARNING! Do not try to take off in your living room on your first time flying it, because the take off is not going to be that smooth. The helicopter will take off firmly avoiding the ground effect, unless you actively instruct the helicopter not to do so by pulling the pitch stick down, she will lift off up to almost a metre high. So a hanging chandelier or a bigger leaning ficus can be at risk.

Important: she is much more a drone than an RC helicopter. Yes, the real helicopter flying, when the pilot is in charge for even leveling the helicopter is missing as a feature, which is sad, because the helicopter would have the potential in that. So the maximum you can get is the attitude (or so called stabilisation) flying mode with no external sensors, the helicopter will level herself in all flying modes, you can't fly the model like a conventional RC helicopter, this is why this model is a drone with an RC helicopter look. A software change would make her a proper RC helicopter, but this feature is apparently missing.

I'm guessing the targeted market is not the pro RC heli flyers, so only we miss this feature, absolute beginners, hobby flyers won't. As a helicopter for chilling, flying indoors, or just for having fun, she is enjoyable even for us.

What we get: three flying modes, GPS controlled, optical stabilisation and attitude mode. The GPS positioning is accurate enough, but some drifting must be expected within about a metre (3 feet) range horizontally, altitude holding is even more accurate within 20-30 cm (7-11 inches). And this is provided pretty well even in wind and gusty scenarios. The Airwolf could deal with 15-20 km/h (10-15 mph) wind with 30 km/h (20 mph) gusts and even the tail authority is great in this scenario, although the 2 cell LiPo battery is drained way quicker. The promised 10-12 minutes flight time drops to 6-7. Fortunately the heli keeps an eye on the battery and that does not get discarged below the LiPo limit, if it's required, the helicopter returns to home when the GPS is active, or lands where she is and switches the motor off - strictly in this order, which is quite useful if you want to use the helicopter again.

However, the charging is a pain. Depending on the power adaptor or the USB port the best we could achieve is 1 hour 20 minutes, but this can go up, if the power source is weaker. The drone like battery compartment has a 2 cell 25C 1200mAh conventional LiPo battery inside, which could be charged up (without destroying the cells) in 25-30 minutes with a standard LiPo charger, but this is not an option in this case. Only the Type-C USB connector is available for charging. A conventional charging option would be a game changer by my opinion.

The optical stabilisation can make mistakes if the surface you are flying over is homogenic, nicely cut grass is homogenic for the sensor, the helicopter tends to drift away, but more colourful surfaces provide a good stabilisation reference for the optical sensor and the helicopter holds the position.

In attitude mode the Airwolf flies nicely, but you must be aware that you cannot release the sticks (as in general in this mode), you have to control the helicopter all the time. Nothing will hold the helicopter in position, there are no sensors activated - this is the attitude mode. You are responsible for the altitude, and the flying directions. The only help you get is that the helicopter will self-level. But this is the flying mode, which is the closest to real RC helicopter behaviour. If you are a complete beginner, this is not the way to start flying (unless you have the knowledge obtained in simulator, which is always the recommended way).

Then there are the cheating features, the automatic flying programmes: flying figure eight - precisely flown manoeuvre, two circle shapes, roughly 8-10 metres long (26-32 feet) and 4-5 metres (13-16') wide. It would score the maximum points in a set manoeuvre competition round, sadly this cheating is not allowed. The circle flying is a nose-in sideway circle, a very shallow funnel manoeuvre with roughly a 3-4 metres (10-13') radius around the starting point. So these features are definitely not indoor manoeuvres, but if you touch the stick during the performance, it will terminate the programme and you can "take back control". And this control will really be back to you.

The helicopter is sturdy, made of good materials. The rotor head is aluminium. Two direct drive motors power the helicopter, although the main motor is not a power house, but this is not a 3D performance model. Even though, she can fly upside down in theory; but we could not test this feature yet. That's going to be the next when the battery is charged again. Although this is a scale model, flying a scale model upside down is just silly, but we will test it.

What's good in the drone like behaviour is that a crash is unlikely (unless you are completely irresponsible, you are very unlucky or you have a technical failure). If you don't fly into something and you don't get the tail tangled with grass, the helicopter won't crash, and certainly she will not fall off the sky. But if it happens somehow, Razordon has got the spare parts too, and as we checked, everything is available as spare, so a crash does not mean: "that's it, game over". The Airwolf can get fixed and back in the air.

Now you know a lot about the Wolfbush AW911 helicopter, but who is this for? Well, the primary aim is the absolute beginners, who want to have a famous scale helicopter from the TV series of the '80s, who want to fly with no former experience, with very little effort to fly an RC helicopter. So yes, the model will suit beginners, although as always, an experienced drone or RC helicopter is strongly recommended during the first steps. A nice, big open space is crucial for the first flights.

More experienced pilots also can enjoy the flying because the Airwolf is hassle free.

She seems like a toy, but you can't forget that the helicopter is above the most common 250gr legal limit, which separates the toys from UAS, as she is a bit heavier than 300 grams, therefore, she counts as a drone in most countries, consequently you cannot fly everywhere, and this can mean that even your garden is not necessarily legal. It is possible you might need to obtain a drone competence test and some sort of registration before the take off. Check your local rules before you get caught.

This is what we have for you so far, but stay tuned, because we are still testing the model to get even more experiences to share with you. And a detailed review video will be published on our youtube channel soon. And if you are already interested in this great helicopter, you can get your one here.