"Come over here and look at this," he said. "This looks like fun."
Looking dubiously at the heliball in its package, I was not initially impressed. It appeared to be a small, fragile-looking hard plastic sphere, about the size of a baseball and topped with paper-thin plastic propellers. But at the same time, I was kind of fascinated by what I saw. So, wrestling down my better judgment, we made the purchase and headed home to try it. I wanted to have it figured out so that I could show Beenie how to work it.
The heliball, I learned, is an LED-lit ball that takes off into the air once it is fully charged and the "on" switch on the bottom is flipped. Equipped with sensors on top and bottom, it whirs around the room as the operator tries to control its movement with a hand just above or below it, or a foot just underneath. The sensors steer it in the opposite direction, saving it from crashing. Usually.
One of the first things I learned was to hold the heliball vertically straight with your fingers around it rather with your hand cupped on the bottom. If you don't, the bottom sensor will be confused, and the heliball will take off erratically and in a way that is impossible to control. As a result, it will crash, and that can be hard on its flimsy little propellers. Here, Beenie demonstrates the WRONG way to hold the heliball as you flip the "on" switch and prepare to release it.
If you hold the heliball correctly for takeoff, it will spin off into the air around you, where you can exercise the proper controls. Here, Beenie waves a hand underneath to keep the ball from going lower.
While the heliball is flying, watch carefully and follow it closely so that you can keep it in safe flying territory if possible.
The heliball will come down if it goes high enough for the top sensor to recognize the ceiling. But if your ceiling is extremely high, it is better to keep the ball in a position where you can get a hand above or below as needed.
If the heliball moves away from you, follow it so that you can be right on the scene if it decides to take a detour.
After a reasonable flight, both you and the heliball will be ready for a break. Catching it while in flight takes a little practice. Here, Beenie gets in position to make the catch.
Catch the heliball by gripping it with one hand as you would if you were preparing to unscrew a light bulb. Here, Beenie makes a perfect catch.
He is now ready to put the heliball back on its charger for a while. You can figure on five to seven minutes of play for every twenty or so minutes on the charger.
I honestly don't know if it was Beenie or I who had the most fun with the heliball, but it turned out to be a great addition to his eighth birthday celebration, In fact, the heliball is recommended for children eight years old and above, although Heero, who is six, had a couple pretty good flights with it, too.
It is better to turn a kid loose with the heliball after some explanation and demonstration. This keeps the kid from getting frustrated and the heliball from meeting an untimely demise, which I imagine sometimes happens.
The enclosed instructions explain a way to actually control the heliball with a TV remote, like some kind of colorful little living room drone. We didn't try this ourselves; that is for the more electronically capable than I. But Beenie, Pa-pa and I recommend the heliball if you need a creative gift idea that is just a little out of the ordinary for a kid who is quite extraordinary himself.
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