If you have ever seen or built one of the RC aircraft kits that you see at the hobby store you know that it can be an ordeal. The Picco Z comes ready to fly. All you need to do is remove the Picco Z from the package, install the six AA batteries into the controller and charge the Picco Z Helicopter itself. Charge time is about 20 to 30 minutes for a full charge and the flight time is around 15 minutes.

Once you get the Picco Z charged up the first step is to trim the copter so it doesn’t rotate or turn itself unless you tell it to. This process is easy, but can be time consuming to get the trim just right. Trimming the Picco Z is done by bringing the copter into a hover, pressing, and releasing the trim buttons under the left/right control stick. Foil self-adhesive weights are also included to help you further tune the Picco Z.

Controlling the Picco is very easy, even my five-year-old son could do it (the Picco Z is for eight and up). You have two control sticks on the hand help IR controller. One controls the amount of throttle the Picco gets, which in turn controls the altitude of the copter. The other rotates the Picco left and right to control the direction it flies.

The Picco Z helicopter itself is made from Styrofoam and has a small internal electric motor that is powered by a rechargeable Li-Poly battery. The main and tail rotors are made from a very durable plastic. You also get a replacement tail rotor as well. Range for the copter is 100 feet and you can even change the IR frequency between three settings so three different Picco Z copters can be flown at once.

Flying the Picco Z is a blast. I have tons of stuff that comes through my home to the point that my family and I don’t get overly excited at most of the gear other geeks salivate over. When the Picco Z came in everyone wanted a turn from my wife to my son and my two-year-old daughter. Naturally sine this was a “work” project I had first dibs. After the charging and trim process, I set about chasing the kids around the house with the Picco Z.

It was great fun; the Picco is quite responsive even if the altitude control is very sensitive. I found myself hitting the ceiling frequently and when I backed off even a little the Picco would drop like a rock. You have to move in very small increments to avoid this. Thankfully, for as small as the Picco Z is it is very durable.

I crashed the Picco Z into just about every piece of furniture in my home from my couch, TV, and coffee table to my TV and even the ceiling fan (luckily it was off). The Picco Z dropped like a rock a few times and I was sure it would be broken, but it files just as well after all the pilot error as it did before. The coolest part about the Picco Z is that is cheap at only $39!