Store Bought Toys

which fly great

I'm only going to recommend examples of toys that I have purchased (for my kids, honest) and that fly very well. Sadly, the name Cox no longer appears on anything I can recommend.

In descending order of "hey, that's not bad":

• The Sonic Blast. An all foam ducted fan electric free flight jet. It comes with a charger (that uses 6 D cells). Flight duration is based on how many seconds you leave it charging. It trims easily and it flies very well. Tower Hobbies has them for less than $20.

• Zing Wings. Small foam catapult gliders. They are simple flying wings which fold in the middle. You shoot them up to altitude using the supplied launcher (rubber band on a stick), they snap open at the top and they glide very well. They are just a few bucks at some of the hobby stores around here.

• Spinmaster's Air Hog. A funny foam plane that uses a compressed air motor. The fuselage is a transparent bottle which you pump up with the included "docking station". The plane is good for about 30 seconds if you do your job right. The original plane suffered from a funny death spiral when the motor ran out (the underside of the wing was not symmetrical and it would enter a wide spin instead of gliding). The newer ones have a wing that has clear tape on the bottom (to make it stronger) and it comes with only one set of wings instead of two.