Easy to fly with right software

AR Drone uses the wifi signal from your iPhone (or soon Android device) to control the craft. It's limited only by the range of your wifi signal which is approximately 150 feet. At ...Read complete review

AR Drone uses the wifi signal from your iPhone (or soon Android device) to control the craft. It's limited only by the range of your wifi signal which is approximately 150 feet. At 150 feet you'll have to squint to see the orientation of the aircraft, but you'll be able to look at your phone and see what the front and belly camera system sees to get orientation.

The craft is pretty durable. Initially I crashed mine from about 100 feet. There was a tear in the belly's plastic. That craft actually resulted in a loose chip that came unglued. I sent it off to the factory for free repair. A new process for soldering the control chips has been used to keep parts from falling off. Ever since replacement of the new board I haven't had any problems related to hard landings or crashes. Earlier models may have the older circuit boards which are prone to chips coming unglued (a manufacturing process which has been changed by the company).

Your phone controls the craft. The program is free on iTunes but it's not the best. Various programs exist that costs $4.00 or less and provide better control for the aircraft. Some allow you to record video from the aircraft onto your phone. Another program (App) allows you to control the Drone by simply using the orientation of your iPhone. The only thing you have to worry about is altitude controls.

Battery life is good. I average 12-14 minute flights I purchased 3 additional batteries to keep me in the air. The only downside of the battery technology is that they take 1.5 hours to fully recharge. So you may want to consider additional chargers to reduce down time.

The craft is extremely stable under the right conditions. The craft uses ultra sonic sensors beneath the belly of the craft to measure distance from the ground at or below 20 feet. It also uses the belly camera to maintain position by referencing objects/patterns that it detects. It's like a low tech GPS. Flight indoors is more trick than outdoors because the ultra sonic sensors will adjust it's height automatically for terrain (such as chairs, stairs, tables etc.) This may result is what you think is uncontrollable behavior when flying indoors. So you'll need a wide open area for indoor flight outside of just hovering in one spot.

Outdoor flight is fun. The ultra sonic sensor will adjust for terrain. Be sure not to obstruct the sensors or allow them to become blocked by debris (dirt, grass, mud etc. ) Blocked sensors will cause the craft to continue to climb uncontrollably. The craft is very stable above 20 feet (outside of it's sonic sensor range).

The Drone will land by itself at low battery levels. The craft will alert you when the battery level is low. You can configure a visual, audio or vibration alert on your phone so that you know to land it. Take offs and landings are performed with a press of a button on your phone. There is an emergency button that will allow you to immediately stop all motors and cause the craft to fall if an emergency exists. The only fail safe not built in is when you are outside of wifi range the craft will not land itself. This has resulted in a few people watching their craft fly away. It flies high and far enough at 150 feet for this Drone, so the average user should not have any problems.

The technology used in the AR Drone is pretty high tech and transparent when you fly the craft. You may have to get used to virtual control schemes vs actually have physical control sticks for the flying the craft. One app (referenced earlier) allows you to control the AR Drone with one hand and uses the orientation/tilt of the phone to control flight.

I've flown my Drone several times without any major issues (outside of the chip falling off of the circuit board -which was repaired/replaced for free).
You get a lot of bang for your buck when you look at the technology.