ORIGINAL: bdavison

I have not been impressed with the cheap knockoffs. You have to understand that Hirobo makes some of the finest quality heli's out there. Their stuff is ROCK solid, well designed and built to last. Unfortunatly many of the knockoff's are not, and are not worth even considering. Ive never flown the Syma one, but I have flown the Esky one.

Do yourself a favor and get the Hirobo. I know its expensive, but you honestly pay for what you get. The XRB is better than the BladeCX in my opinion. Follow the well written instructions to fine tune the heli, and it will last forever. I dont even know how many flights mine has now...Im guessing well into 1000 flights. The only repairs so far, is replaced the lipo, quite a few sets of blades, and a flybar pitch link (it popped off in a crash and I couldnt find it).

The heli will fly without the canopy, but not without the tail. The CG is too far off, and it acts funny without the tail, not to mention the fact that you cant tell which way is which if the heli yaws.
You might be able to equip the heli with a wireless camera, but it would have to be a very VERY small camera, Im thinking payload maybe 40g total weight would be reasonable, and dont expect much performance from the heli if you load it down. If you get the carbonfiber blades, you might be able to get a little more payload on it.