are you better than a 5 year old?

[crabfu]

RUcKqZIAKV0

[Gr4yb3ard]

WoW!

3min 47sec.

Impressive.

***yb3ard
(Nope, about 1/10th as good if you overlook my crash)
"...we got a righteous bird here folks, but it takes years of experience to fly it.......:-0"

[SurfCity]

This kid is incredible. Here's his site. Watch the vids. http://www.justinchi.com/

[Buzzkill]

I can beat him in arm wrestling :thumbup:

[Jim T]

I beat my grandson at Nintendo WI bowling last weekend.............does that count? :happyd

Jim

[Gr4yb3ard]

Jim, no,No,NO....

Bowling does not count, not in real life, not on the 'net, not even on the Wi, Teach them to tattoo, code java, be a retail greeter, a database administrator, or any other base skill, but not bowling!

And what are you doing teaching your grandkids to bowl, when there are heli's just laying around?

For Pete's sake, there's a perfectly good nuclear reactor right around the corner from you! Make use of it laddie!!!

What.... were... you... thinking???...

<massive> ;-)

***yb3ard
" ...aarg, thinkin' me stirred up enough for one watch on me deck. Lads, I'll be below, keep a weather eye for sign of cannon fire..."

[SurfCity]

Actually, watching this kindergartner was encouraging to this noob. It tells me the brain-eye-hand connections are primal and will become intuitive; he's obviously not thinking his moves ("the-heli-is-facing-me,-therefore") but reacting. A sports skill. Like Alan Szabo's stick movements (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3nNiUStTE0). Like my friend who plays piano. Sits down with brand-new sheet music and out comes Mozart. Years of practice, but now it's like breathing. Kids can learn to speak/read two (or more) languages as easily as one. Their brains are plastic. Once calcified like ours, that second language is difficult. So with the heli, I'm a kid. Still a plastic brain. Nothing to unlearn. I did notice Justin spent two years with the sim. Looks like my next investment. Imagine that. Learning from a five-year-old.

[wlfk]

Wasn't he the kid that crashed a 600 and hit a cameraman a while back? Or was that someone else.

Nice to see him flying a heli appropriate for his age and reflexes.

K

[crabfu]

Wasn't he the kid that crashed a 600 and hit a cameraman a while back? Or was that someone else.

Nice to see him flying a heli appropriate for his age and reflexes.

K

yes and yes

-Crabfu

[mjr_larkin]

yes and yes

-Crabfu
link please

i've always wondered if there have been heli casualties caught on tape.

[jad]

are you better than a 5 year old

NO!!

[rotorhead58d]

Wasn't he the kid that crashed a 600 and hit a cameraman a while back? Or was that someone else.

Nice to see him flying a heli appropriate for his age and reflexes.

K

excuse me???? just what are you trying to say here?:mad:

[wlfk]

Kids think faster - the length of their optic nerves is shorter and likewise the distance from brain to thumbs.

Women have slightly sharper reflexes on average too. It has to do with having smaller brains.

And I'm sure being hit by a 200 would hurt, but less so. I don't think a 5-year-old should be flying a 600; supervised or not. Even if he is undeniably gifted.

K

[Mikej]

Justin Chi is an amazing flier - he seems to be able to do anything that anyone else can do at an amazingly young age - read up on his web-site www.justinchi.com on how he learnt etc..

By all accounts he has a very responsible approach to the whole thing and sees safety as very important. IMHO prodigies should be encouraged and nurtured - it is the responsibility of adults around to ensure that they are given the ability to grow and press back boundaries - the adults also need to give guidance on safety and other issues and create a safe environment in which to develop the skills - by all accounts his father is doing that.

People will always want to see experts (no matter what age) showing off their skills, people also have an interest in seeing talented kids show off their skills, if / when accidents happen it is always terrible, but let's hope that it does not stop the prodigies from being burtured and their skills being shown

[crabfu]

Here is a thread about the accident from a while back....
http://www.helifreak.com/showthread.php?t=45876&page=10

There is no doubt that the kid has natural talent, but at the same time rc helis are not toys.... with all the care, skill, and prep, rc helis are still not the safest thing to be doing for anyone at any age lol. There is no doubt that the kid has the skills, especially for the age. But the bottom line is that his heli crashed into someone at an event.... and since none of us were there or in his/his father's shoes, we don't know if it was something that a grown up in similar skill level could have avoided / saved. But a 4-5 year old doing 3D with a heli bigger than himself... frankly it just doesn't sound like a good idea regardless of his talent.

So in all, I agree that 200 is much more his size... I am saying this not to take anything away from his gift, as I started this post to show his video :) But it is just safer in the event of a bad mistake, or unavoidable mishap... Bigger helis, even 400's, scare the crap outa me still, I've read enough about bad accidents to give them a lot of respect.... so 200 is more of my size as well :)

Anyway, I just thought the video was great, regardless of age :) I'm not sure if I am smarter than a fifth grader...... but I definitely am not better than this 5 year old.

-Crabfu

[wlfk]

I think even before the accident someone pointed out that the issue wasn't that he was particularly likely to kill or injure anyone, but that it would be unfair on him to expect him deal with it if he did.

K

[Gr4yb3ard]

Yeah,

The kids have it all over us. The "plastic" brain comment was appropriate. When you're young you catch on quicker. I'm learning spanish right now, at 55, jeez, wish I'd done it sooner, had heli's way back, and picked up a guitar....

There are an overwhelming amount of documented cases of child prodigies in music, math, and chess. Flying heli's is a lot like that, it's just faster and more expensive when you make a mistake.

Hope he has a bright career in the business. There was a Farside cartoon around a few years back with a kid playing video games, and the parents looking on dreaming of his salary in the future. It was a joke. But I've met pro bass fishermen, and professional PC gamers, they make good money, and get lots of free equipment. What a world!

Regarding hurting people, that's my pet peave. I hope that none of us end up on the news. Be careful. I was (careful) as an early newbie, but I'm still sporting a 2-inch scar on my bicept from a stupid mistake.

I did auto racing, motorcycle racing, competition shooting, rock climbing, ect. ect. ect. and never made a dumb move. It took me about two months to do it with a heli. Lesson learned.

Oops, off-topic, rotorhead's gonna be p*ss#d at me! ;-)

***yb3ard
"...the kid's good!... Yeah, well there's two major problems, first he's really good, and second, he knows it..."

[mjr_larkin]

Yeah, do what the rest of 5 year old talents do, play video games! At least in the that world you don't have to be responsible for your actions. I really never understood what message is being sent with a really young kid flying a 4ft heli on video. Is it "Heli flying, so easy even a kid can do it!". Nope, it's not that. Is it "Only a child of this brain can take heli to a new level". No, he hasn't taken it to a new level. So what are we left with? Kinda a spektacle that garners attention (and thus sponsorship) by virtue of it's oddity. The kid is being thrust into a spot light and I would say it's not of his own ambition to be there. The Dad noticed his skills in the simulator and wants him to demonstrate his abilities in the real world but I just don't think it's appropriate to do for show and around a crowd and it doesn't add any credibility to heli flying and spreading the idea that these are NOT TOYS.

p.s. I know this could happen to any pilot

[surgicalCFe]

I think that the main point here is that no parent should put a child of that age in control of a machine that could kill someone, and make no mistake, the 200 could definitely kill someone.

Can I fly as good as this child? No way, may never be able to, only time will tell. I am however, capable of making better judgment calls than any 5 year old child can. I have two children, one is 4 and the other 7, I would never, regardless of demonstrated skill on a simulator, allow them to take control of a real rc heli that could seriously injure someone.

Very nice flying though.