I think I was given the KA-58 Stealth Helicopter to review as I’m truly the biggest kid on the team… however, with hindsight, that might not have been an overly sensible decision on Alex’s part, although I’m exceptionally pleased she gave me the opportunity to play with it.

But it’s always best to start at the beginning, so…

The KA-58 arrived just before Christmas, and it was out of its box in a flash, being admired by one and all, with plenty of ooohs and aaahs at the sheer beauty of it. 400mm long, light as a feather, with twin rotors, elegantly crafted and with one of the most comprehensive controllers I’ve ever had my hands on.

I got it on charge, and just an hour it was all ready to fly, with a promise of 10minutes flight time… but with the erratic winter we’ve had there just wasn’t any opportunity to take it outside and give it a proper test.

So, whilst I waited for a dry, bright, clear & windless day, I got to practicing with it indoors… The enclosed manual was helpful, concise and allowed me to practice with all the functions on the controller. I spun up the rotors, adjusted the trim and did several trial take offs & landings in the living room. It flew like a dream, but keeping it low and balanced in a room full of furniture wasn’t easy. But it was fun!

Finally, mid March I got my clear, dry, calm & bright day, and in the company of good friends (a couple of whom are TakTik reviewers themselves) headed out to the green in front of the house and prepared for the maiden open air flight. Having started up with no problem inside the house, as soon as we got outside, it refused to start! Back to basics we went, battery out, check connections, and reattach… test the controller – success, the blades were spinning again.

Gently, I edged it up to speed, and up it flew, perfect… I balanced off the height, and hovered for a moment, before pushing forward and away it went. It was great! With it flying like a dream just above our heads, I relaxed into the controls…

I guess I got it about 10ft off the ground and forward about the same distance when DISASTER struck! A combination of a momentary lack of concentration, and a surprise gust of wind, and CRASH!

That was it… around 45 seconds of perfect flight, and then back to earth with an almighty bump. I was distraught. And my friends were caught between disappointment, and hilarity… They consoled me as we picked up the pieces and headed back indoors. One broken wing (superglued back in place) three out of four rotor blades completely ruined (luckily there are a set of spares in the box) and sadly, one set of guns from the undercarriage lost forever in the grass.

So, my verdict, a definite 9/10 for the chopper, just slightly let down by the fragility of the wings and undercarriage, although in more expert hands I’m certain it would last a lot longer. For the pilot however, a very low 2/10… Time, patience, concentration and perfect conditions were definitely needed for this trial… and I was lacking in at least two of them! Another scan of the packaging reveals this is a borderline ‘Professional’ product, so perhaps it’s time for me to drop down a level (or maybe two!), and try something lower spec! But I’m not defeated; I shall be playing with more flying machines, and who knows, perhaps I’ll get over a minute of flight out of the next one!

RRP: £64.99 - For more information and to find stockists see the Revell Website