Shiny Review: WowWee Flytech Dragonfly : Shiny Shiny

WowWee, maker of humanoid droid Robosapien, also has a flying insect division and the Flytech Dragonfly is the result of its hard work.

Forget your remote control planes or hand propelled gliders - this is a remote control toy that flaps its wings to fly, like a real dragonfly would. WowWee is claiming it's the world's first radio controlled flying insect. Can anyone find evidence to the contrary? I’ll admit to not having fully researched this claim.

The kit consists of two parts - the dragonfly itself and the remote control handset so you can tell it what to do. The handset takes six AAs, while the dragonfly has a built in battery - it charges via a lead on the handset. The handset also features a magnetic perch, where your dragonfly can live when it's not busy flapping about.

The handset is easy enough to operate - one lever controls how hard the wings flap, while the other is used for steering. Once you've mastered basic controls there's a switch to throw it into advanced mode for sharper turns and greater responsiveness.

Despite looking a little on the fragile side it's made of sturdy stuff and can cope with the odd crash landing - which is just as well.

Getting to grips with actually flying it is no simple task. It takes a good bit of practice to get the hang of how much power to apply and when. Don't apply enough pressure and it'll gradually descend towards the floor, flap its wings too hard on the other hand and it'll nosedive in a quite spectacular fashion.

It's best suited to large open spaces for practice and it's probably best to make sure there aren't any prized family heirlooms nearby until you've mastered its idiosyncrasies.
It's also a bit on the noisy side as the mechanical wings flap manically up and down, but at least it gives people fair warning there's one coming their way.

In addition to being a wonder of engineering, the FlyTech Dragonfly is also an incredible amount of fun. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's not too hard to get to grips with. With an asking price of £39.99 from I Want One Of Those it's a little on the steep side - but if you're shopping for the person that has everything, you've now got a new option.

WowWee Flytech at I Want One of Those