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Air Swimmers Remote Control Flying Shark Review
"Jaws" has nothing on what you're about to witness, namely some serious indoor fun with an innovative family product provided by the inventor himself!
Introduction
Those of you old enough to remember the 1970s surely remember the impact the Peter Benchley novel Jaws and subsequent Steven Spielberg movie had on the American psyche. NBC-TV's Saturday Night Live followed suit with a series of skits involving the "land shark," a shark that would knock on some unwary victim's door, announce itself as a "candy gram" or "pizza delivery" in a muffled voice and would then eat the victim head first upon opening the door.
Toward the end of the decade, the ABC-TV sitcom Happy Days had the dubious honor of introducing the phrase "jumping the shark" into the lexicon.
Today, in addition to the annual "Shark Week" promotion on cable's Discovery Channel, we have the Air Swimmers Remote Control Flying Shark.
Flying shark...?
Yes, indeed. Actually, this rather fun representation of what appears to be the famous great white shark, or Carcharodon carcharias, is a brilliantly engineered remote controlled blimp which "swims" through the air much like a fish swims through water, that is, by flapping its tail. Since air is a fluid, it stands to reason that something suitably buoyant would be able to swim through it.
One of my best friends in the world is Jeff Brock. He and his wife Cindy are SoCal natives like me and the two relocated to Cumming, Georgia some years back. Our relationship actually dates back to the "Jaws" era when the two of us worked as teenagers at Montgomery Ward in Torrance, California. We stay in touch via e-mail on an almost daily basis; one recent e-mail was a link to a video on Wimp.com which demonstrated both the shark and its less intimidating cousin, the Air Swimmers Remote Control Flying Clownfish.
This, thought I, was something worth reviewing. Some quick internet searching led me to the William Mark Corporation of Claremont, California, makers of Air Swimmers and the X-Zylo flying ring. It also led me to the inventor of Air Swimmers, Blake English. Blake is an RCGroups patron who already had a discussion thread underway, found here. He got back to me almost immediately with the promise of providing a review sample.
I had to ask for the shark. Jaws beats Nemo hands down in my less-than-humble-opinion; I'm reminded of the interaction between Nemo and Bruce the Shark in Finding Nemo when I see the Air Swimmers demo video.
In this instance, Nemo is at least as big as Jaws/Bruce; no need to worry about this fish becoming food!
Assembly is similar between the two versions and operation is identical.
It's also really quick. We'll have this shark swimming across the living room in no time, so cue the creepy, ominous music and let's get busy!
For the clownfish version, Bobby Darin's rendition of "Beyond The Sea" is a must.
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| Length: | 57" (1448mm) with tail |
| Height: | 36" (914mm) with fins |
| Weight: | Lighter than air when assembled; ballasted with supplied putty |
| Operating Range: | 40' (12m) |
| Construction: | Nylon balloon; lightweight plastic fins and drive system |
| Servos: | Single non-proportional proprietary tail fin servo; linear rack-and-pinion pitch control slider combined with receiver |
| Transmitter: | Two-channel infrared remote control |
| Receiver: | Combination infrared receiver/pitch slider |
| Batteries: | Single AAA-cell onboard; three AAA-cells required for the remote control |
| Operating Location: | Indoor only |
| Skill Level: | Beginner, no R/C flight skill required or necessary |
| Age Range: | 8+ |
| Manufacturer/Distributor: | The William Mark Corporation, 112 North Harvard Avenue, Suite 229, Claremont, California 91711 USA |
| Available From: | Various online and brick-and-mortar retailers |
| Price (USD): | $39.99 less helium |
Kit Contents
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The complete kit contents waiting in the box, including the American-made nylon main balloon.
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Here's everything ready to come together in one of the most fun flying toys you'll ever play with.
The compact display box which can later serve as a mooring station has almost everything you'll need to get your shark flying:
- High-strength nylon balloon main body
- Reusable ballast putty
- Two-channel IR remote control with mooring hook
- Combination receiver and pitch control
- Preassembled tail fin drive assembly
- Diecut double-sided tape strips and clear reinforcement strips
- Custom-fit rubber bands and hooks to retain the tail fin drive
- Preassembled pectoral, tail and dorsal fins
- Ribbon for mooring
You'll need the follwing:
- Undiluted helium from a florist, party store or supermarket's floral department. A prefilled helium cylinder available from party stores and box store retailers may be used, but it must be pure helium and not the helium/air mix sometimes sold
- Small phillips screwdriver
- Four AAA-cell batteries
- An assistant to hold the balloon during the assembly phases
Assembly
Inflation
Some good old-fashioned pure helium is needed here; the balloon is inflated via a regular party balloon-styled valve at the rear.
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The odds are really good that you won't miss the shark on the hobby shop shelf.
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The rear of the box is just as colorful. Best of all, you have the option of using it for a mooring station.
The young woman at the Vons supermarket in Yucca Valley, California was utterly amused by the notion of a flying shark with a photo-realistic mouth and she had the balloon inflated tight with five bucks' worth of helium in no time. Such a large balloon required her to give me a large weight at the end of a ribbon (molded in the shape of a happy face, no less) to prevent a flyaway; this weight proved to be a real keeper to assist in mooring the finished, um, fish.
It also proved to be invaluable in keeping the balloon moored during most of the assembly process, especially when I didn't have an assistant handy.
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All those wrinkles are a burst of helium away from obliteration. The balloon is available as a separate part from William Mark Corporation should the unthinkable happen.
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Even deflated and wrinkled, the face on this thing is priceless.
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Looking considerably healthier here, not to mention hungry...
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Once filled, the balloon is a bit strange looking, but it'll soon look like a proper shark.
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Not as charming as the clownfish version, but I prefer a bit of intimidation myself.
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This little gem was found at good old Walmart. Buying a commercial helium cylinder means a serious cash outlay. Our friend Noah looks as if he'd enjoy a flying shark at his birthday party.
I should point out that after a couple of days, the balloon started to lose helium. Rather than haul the entire assembled blimp back to the supermarket, I picked up a Balloon Time party balloon kit from the Walmart Supercenter in Palm Springs, California one evening after work. It came with a disposable steel cylinder filled with pure helium for less than US$20. A very brief burst from the cylinder reinflated the balloon, so unless it's totally deflated, one of these disposable tanks ought to last quite a long time. By comparison, a small commercial-grade cylinder from a gas distributor would have been well over $100 plus the helium. As of this writing, I must have done a good job of resealing the valve since there's been no noticeable loss of helium over the last several days. The balloon is made of nylon, not mylar like a toy balloon. This may have something to do with it.
Speaking of helium, please don't breathe the stuff. Yes, it makes you sound like a Munchkin and yes, I've done it countless times during my lifetime, but that light-headed feeling you get is the result of your brain being starved of oxygen.
An oxygen-starved brain is a bad thing. Bad. Again, please don't huff the helium. Thanks.
Fins
The manual, though well-written, suffered a bit from some drawings which didn't make sense to me at first. Everything later made sense once I viewed the amusing and informative online assembly video at Airswimmers.com. A narrator in a wet suit (I'll assume it's inventor Blake English) assembles an Air Swimmers shark from start to finish. The manual itself encourages one to view the instructions right at the top of page one; it's a few minutes well spent.
I'd been in touch with Blake after the first draft of this review was completed. He informed me that a revamped instruction manual was in the works, one with improved drawings and steps that will make it easier for a single person to assemble the Air Swimmer.
The dorsal fin and pectoral fins attach to marked areas of the balloon with the aid of double-sided tape patches and transparent tape patches used to reinforce the attachment atop the part. Pads are applied to the receiver/pitch control slider at this time as well. A second dorsal fin is provided with the clownfish version and it was a good thing that the sheet of double-sided tape had that fourth pad.
I never would have thought it possible to use tems like "dorsal fin," "pectoral fin," "shark" and "clownfish" in the context of an RCGroups review. This may well be an historic internet moment.
Though the pads are diecut, they're somewhat difficult to remove from the sheet and I wound up sticking one of the pads to itself. Once in place, they do a great job of holding the fins to the balloon. A notched, tooth-shaped clear reinforcement (human, not shark) fits atop the base of each fin and helps to secure them from the top. These too are difficult to remove and rather thin, so they should be handled carefully to prevent them from sticking to themselves.
During the course of our e-mail correspondence, Blake told me that the Air Swimmers are undergoing continuous improvement. The company has since switched to a stronger, thicker clear tape similar to postal-grade packing tape. These tapes are also easier to remove from the backing and strong enough to be peeled apart if folded against themselves. They've even changed the shape of some of the tapes to aid installation.
Some hobby shops have reported that using CA to glue the hooks to the balloon works well, but that would of course be a permanent installation.
That's what I call customer service and I applaud Blake and his crew for not simply sitting on their laurels.
With the fins in place, the balloon stopped looking like some bizarre football-shaped party favor with a shark's face to something resembling a three-dimensional model shark.
Four hooks used to secure the drive assembly to the rear of the balloon are installed in the same manner as the fins with the openings of the hooks facing toward the nose of the balloon. Call your assistant into the room to help hold the balloon; it has a tremendous amount of lift, there's no place to grab onto the balloon and you'll need both hands to attach the hooks as well as the hold-down tapes. I later discovered that trying to center the hooks over the balloon's center seam resulted in hooks which occasionally pulled off as the balloon lost helium. Best thing here is to attach the hooks slightly off center so that they fully stick to the skin. Those new tapes I mentioned earlier should eliminate the problem on newer models.
Tail
On now to the heart of the Air Swimmer.
The tail is a wonderfully engineered assembly which needs only to have the capped rods at the end of the tail fin attached as shown in the manual and retained with the supplied clips. A round foam spacer is fitted between the tail and the rear of the balloon and secured with rubber bands over the previously installed hooks.
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No mere balloon, this. Some simple but sophisticated electronics will set this balloon in controlled motion very soon.
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The heart - or bottom - of the Air Swimmers is this ingenious tail. It's shown here with the lead wire from the receiver in place.
Sonofagun, our fish now has a fanny.
High altitude users who are having problems with buoyancy can leave the top and bottom hooks off. The reinforcement tapes can be omitted for additional weight loss per the instructions, but in my opinion, the weight savings is negligible when compared to having to constantly reattach popped-off parts.
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The underside of the IR receiver with its sliding "remora" is shown here just before being installed beneath the balloon. The white wire isn't an antenna but is instead the power lead for the tail.
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The remote control is as simple as can be. To make the shark swim and steer, a little bit of back-and-forth with the square tail control on the right is all that's necessary. Pitch can be remotely controlled as well with the rectangular switch on the left.
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This is where that little phillips "tweaker" is necessary. The battery access door is secured with a phillips screw.
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But what's this? Hidden within this secret compartment is a mooring hook and a place to keep the ballast putty if one wishes.
Now is the time to install three AAA-cell batteries in the remote control and one in the receiver. Here's where the little phillips screwdriver is necessary; the battery covers on both units are retained by screws.
Much like a 2.4GHz radio system, the receiver is actually factory-bound to the remote control which allows multiple Air Swimmers to be in the air at once. Should it become necessary to rebind the system, it's easily done.
A quick check of the system showed it to be working properly, so on we go to the finish line.
Receiver Installation
Like the hooks and fins before it (just don't say the word "hooks" too loudly around this or any fish), the combination electronics module/ballast holder/pitch slider attaches to the bottom of the balloon via the ubiquitous double-sided tape and clear reinforcement tape. Once more, the instructions recommend a helper to hold the balloon and believe me, it's good advice during this critical step.
Skipping ahead, I misinterpreted the illustration which shows the two very large reinforcement squares on the sheet being peeled off. Those big squares are a must; the inevitable slight loss of helium will result in the receiver falling off if they're not used.
Where the assembly actually goes is dependent on where you happen to be flying. Since I live at about 2600' (792m), I aligned the rearmost mounting pad at the recommended location for high altitudes. Again, experience rapidly taught that the best way to attach it is to do so off of the seam.
The clownfish version has a slightly different set of alignment marks, but the result is the same.
That receiver is a clever thing which not only incorporates the infrared receiver but an ingenious slider assembly which looks something like a remora and which rides back and forth along its track via a rack-and-pinion setup. The remora also holds the putty used as ballast.
The tail motor wire threads back through the eyelets along the bottom of the balloon and its polarized plug inserted into its receptacle.
Completion
The final step is to place some of the enclosed ballast putty in the "mouth" of the slider to make the Air Swimmer buoyantly neutral. Fine tuning the ballast is done in very small increments; it takes a surprisingly small amount in or out to balance the Air Swimmer. Keeping it neutral can actually change from day to day with air temperature, barometric pressure and the inevitable loss of helium. The putty itself can be stored in the remote's storage compartment (which also has a mooring hook) but I elected to keep it stored in its little zip lock plastic bag.
Cue that ominous music once more, because our Air Swimmers shark is ready to terrorize your living room!
Flying
Once the remote and receiver are powered up, flying the Air Swimmer is as simple as simple can be. It's also incredibly good fun and a real hoot to see in action.
The swimming motion of the tail fin is done via the operator's back-and-forth movement of the tail fin switch. The longer the switch is held in either position, the farther the fin moves. Holding the switch in either position in turn holds the tail, causing it act as a rudder.
That same motion also allows the Air Swimmer to be maneuvered through the air; it will turn on the proverbial dime if necessary. Despite its size, it's maneuverable enough for use in all but the smallest spaces.
If it sinks while swimming, a press on the "climb" side of the pitch control switch shifts the ballast rearward and points the nose up. It will descend as well simply by pushing on the "dive" side.
My example dives, but not as well as it climbs. I attribute this to the location of the receiver based on my elevation.
Either way, the motion is incredibly realistic. The side-to-side motion of the tail fin is smooth and actually causes a bit of a rocking motion in the body itself, adding to the realism.
Or, if you prefer, the incongruity of a shark swimming across your living room.
Fun? Oh, yes.
Is This For a Beginner?
Unquestionably so. The Air Swimmer requires no previous R/C experience of any kind nor is learning R/C flight necessary. Once the balloon is inflated, the blimp is literally taped together. Even the smallest child who understands how the tail fin control switch works can fly under supervision.
Regardless of who does the flying, central air or heat should be turned off along with ceiling fans and hot, exposed lighting.
Video/Photo Gallery
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Lurking near the living room of the old house...
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...and near the fireplace of the living room in the new house. I kinda dig the popcorn ceilings. Very retro.
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Trouble is headed my way and I couldn't be happier.
Downloads
Official YouTube home page, including assembly and setup videos
Conclusion
The Air Swimmers Remote Control Flying Shark is as much fun as the videos show. It assembles quickly, is easy to fly and will be the talk of any party.
Once inflated, the balloon can be deflated for storage, but keep in mind that it'll be another five bucks to refill it. Storing it inflated is as simple as removing the ballast and letting the blimp rest against the ceiling or it can be moored either to a tab on the display box or the hook in the remote with the enclosed length of ribbon.
I give the Air Swimmer an enthusiastic two thumbs up, two pectoral fins up and a dorsal fin up for the incredible fun factor, the equally incredible cool factor and the fact that the whole family can enjoy operating it. This is a must-have for anyone interested in model flight.
My thanks go to my dear friend Jeff Brock of Cumming, Georgia for alerting me to Air Swimmers in the first place. Extra special thanks go to inventor Blake English for providing a sample of his peerless invention for review. No review is possible here on RCGroups.com without the intervention of administrator Angela Haglund and of course, you, our readers, are why we do these reviews. Enjoy your stay here on RCGroups.com and we'll talk again soon!
Pluses and minuses
This wonderful flyer is worthy of a lot of praise:
- Inexpensive to buy.
- Easy to assemble.
- Fun for the whole family and the talk of any party.
- No R/C flying skills are necessary.
- Cleverly and ingeniously engineered.
- The American-made nylon balloon retains helium far better than a toy mylar balloon.
- There is nothing so incongruous - or as much fun - as a shark flying through the air in one's home.
- Talk about the perfect Christmas or birthday gift for the flyer who has everything!
Minuses are very few and very minor:
- The double-sided tape squares and clear retainers on early production runs are difficult to handle and easily stick to themselves if not handled very carefully. This has been solved on later runs with improved tapes.
- Some of the drawings in the manual are a bit unclear, but the excellent online assembly video clears up any questions regarding what goes where and how. Again, a new manual is in the works which will further clear up this very minor issue.
Discussion
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Oct 23, 2011, 10:19 AM
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Sweden
Joined Oct 2002
561 Posts
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Now that looks like fun!
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Oct 23, 2011, 10:24 AM
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The Netherlands, Utrecht, Amersfoort
Joined Oct 2004
2,173 Posts
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I found the Shark and the Clown Fish at DealExtreme.
Both are US$ 29.99 including worldwide shipping. |
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Oct 23, 2011, 11:13 AM
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Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Joined Nov 2005
3,388 Posts
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I got my shark and clown fish from tower hobbies. clown is still back ordered, but I wasnt expecting either till november, shark is in but i havent filled it yet.
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Oct 23, 2011, 04:22 PM
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Joined Jan 2006
2,066 Posts
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I had a bunch of fun w/the shark at work..until I reinflated it a bit too much and...mylar confetti!
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Oct 23, 2011, 07:17 PM
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Elizabethtown, Kentucky
Joined Nov 2005
3,388 Posts
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that sucks!!!
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Oct 23, 2011, 10:13 PM
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Canada
Joined Nov 2000
5,186 Posts
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Right now In Stock (or so they claimed :-) and $23 including free shipping :-) at :
http://lightake.com/detail.do/sku.46508 We'll see what the postman brings. |
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Oct 24, 2011, 12:16 AM
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Southern California
Joined Feb 2006
1,940 Posts
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Quote:
 If you contact William Mark Corporation, they can likely get a replacement balloon to you. In fact, I read this post earlier and believe me, I kept it in mind as I was topping off my own with the helium tank! Just a little goose with the gas and it's tugging at the mooring line once more. 
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Latest blog entry: A great day had by all!
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Oct 24, 2011, 08:40 AM
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Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Joined Sep 2002
2,748 Posts
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I'll bet there are other variants that would be even more popular. How about a starship Enterprise? Imagine the space battles you could have in a smoky gymnasium, with low power lasers firing at targets on Romulan Birds of Prey!
tn |
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Oct 24, 2011, 10:32 AM
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Forney, TX
Joined Mar 2002
15,106 Posts
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For those who don't like waiting, these are being sold at Toys R Us
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Oct 24, 2011, 10:36 AM
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Bishop, CA
Joined Aug 2006
64 Posts
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Fine Writer!
What an entertaining and beautifully-written review! I may not buy one, but I certainly got close to the experience. Thank you.
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Oct 24, 2011, 01:26 PM
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USA, WV, Moundsville
Joined Oct 2006
2,722 Posts
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Quote:
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Oct 24, 2011, 02:39 PM
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Stockton CA.
Joined May 2007
596 Posts
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$21.92 on ebay.com
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Air-Swimmers...item415e775782 |
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Oct 24, 2011, 04:43 PM
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USA, MD, Cambridge
Joined Jan 2011
313 Posts
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Might be a little lowbrow for the RCGroup folks, but this shark was on last week's episode of Workaholics on Comedy Central
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Oct 25, 2011, 09:53 AM
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Joined Jun 2008
67 Posts
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