Micro Mosquito helicopter takes to the tiny skies

Readers in the UK will all remember bearded TV "celebrity" Noel Edmunds appearing fresh faced from behind the control stick of his helicopter gunship, gurning at cameras at whichever charity even he had decided to grace with his presence. Well, now us mere peons can pretend to be a celebrity in our own rights with what RadioShack are obviously hoping will be the toy of the Christmas season – the Micro Mosquito RC helicopter. Watch the Micro Mosquito buzz around after the jump!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IKTfe5TBmY

Fitting, as is obvious from this photo (unless they chose a man with mammoth hands), in the palm, and using the ingenious BladeRunner double-propeller system which relies on a coaxial rotor to make piloting the 'chopper as easy as stroking a tame chipmunk. A three-channel digital remote controls up & down motion, forward & reverse, turning left & right and even allows the Mosquito to hover.

With two frequencies available, you could feasibly buy a pair of them and have Airwolf style sky battles, though you'd have to rely on the glowing green "eyes" to scare your opponent out of the air.

The landing pad charging station introduces an element of challenge to wannabe pilots, being as it is not much greater in diameter than the stretch of the helicopter's legs. If you can manage to get it hovering in front of your eyes, then you can even see the internals working thanks to the open bodywork.

Micro Mosquito was announced at the Pepcom Inc. Holiday Spectacular! technology showcase, which brings together over 30 of the leading computer software, consumer electronics, wireless, and services companies to hawk their lovely wares for journalists and store representatives prior to the festive season. We're working on getting a review unit in, so that we can practise dive-bombing the FedEx guy whenever he comes into the office.

The Micro Mosquito retails for $69.99 or thereabouts, and should be available now.

More images of the Micro Mosquito in the gallery. Micro Mosquito at Interactive Toy