Propel Star Wars Quadcopter: Tie Fighter

There are 3 models in this lineup with a 4th that never made it into production before propel went out of business. From best flying to worst, there’s a speeder bike, an x-wing, and this tie fighter. The body size and shape have a lot to do with the flying ability assessment. The speeder bike has nothing impeding the propeller’s airflow, while the tie fighter is like having an aerodynamic brick in the way. You can audibly hear the motors working harder. I didn’t time the battery run times to compare them, but it appears the battery here is a little bigger to compensate. Flying controls are rather standard with throttle and yaw on the left stick and sideways drifting left, right, forward, and back on the right stick. Up too, two stunt buttons cause a flip while the battery is still healthy (indicated by solid lights on the drone, they blink as the battery wanes). Behind those are a 3-speed control button on the left and a fire button on the right. That part is fun, if you get a few of these and get proficient at flying them, you can have an aerial laser tag battle with others. 3 hits causes a downward spiral and forced landing. Priceless time with my nephew. Center buttons have various functions to control volume of the Star Wars theme song and the occasional character guidance which plays during the session and the upper right (center button) recalibrates level flight in case it drifts in flight. Watch for hair in the propellers first which cause drag. These have been sitting a few years now, but if the batteries in the included display case still have a charge, be prepared for a treat opening up the box and putting batteries in the controller. If depleted, use the included usb cable for the battery charger to recharge the display. Re-box everything and open again. It’s worth it. I’m aware of two different packaging schemes. The tall gray box with wax seals is the one to get. You get all that pomp and circumstance upon opening and two batteries. The white flat box skips the theatrics and only has one battery. Otherwise, they are the same lineup and will be compatible for battle. If a flight motor dies and you are handy, there are sourceable motors to replace them with, just watch clockwise vs counterclockwise rotation. Too bad the Falcon didn’t make it to production, that would have been great. However, my guess is it would be like this flying brick. I’ve been enjoying these for a few years now. I’m very happy I found these.