The Hoverfly is a tiny, remote controlled model helicopter.  As you can see from the animation above, with its unique three-rotor design it doesn't work in exactly the same way as a normal helicopter but apart from that, it flies just like its radio-controlled counterpart.  It comes completely ready to go and all you need to make it work is either a normal transmitter with a 'buddy lead' socket or a compatible controller.

If you are going to buy a radio-controlled helicopter and have never flown one before, I strongly recommend that you consider buying a Hoverfly.  Although it looks like a toy, the Hoverfly is an excellent training aid and will give you the chance to practise your flying before committing yourself to a larger model.  Many people initially practise on a computer simulator and although this is a good idea, it is all too easy to believe that once mastered, the move to a radio-controlled model will be easy.  Although the simulator trains you to react in the correct way, after a while it is all too easy to fly around and think that you have mastered the technique.  Your illusions are quickly shattered when you try the real thing!  This is why the Hoverfly is such a good stepping stone - it is light, low powered, relatively robust, safe and can stand the odd knock that a novice is likely to give it.

Note for existing Hoverfly Owners If you buy any replacement propellers that seem not to provide quite as much lift as the ones normally provided with the model, the tip from Snelflight is to raise the ATV's on your transmitter to give you more throttle.

I won't repeat here all the information that is contained on Snelflight's website at http://www.snelflight.co.uk but I have put in a few photographs for your interest.

All these pictures can be expanded by clicking on them.  Each of the normal photos is around 350kb.

General Views of The Hoverfly

Take the rotor head and canopy off and this is what you see...

Here is a close-up of the on-board control electronics
(believe it or not, there's a giro in there somewhere!)

This is the tail rotor assembly

This is the tail rotor motor that lives at the front of the aircraft

A couple of views of the motors that provide the lift

This is the new carbon fibre rotor sub-assembly (much stronger than the old wooden one)