I remember back in April 2008 seeing the first flight test video’s for the 700 nitro and getting very excited and knowing I had to have one, since then despite numerous awesome heli’s being released nothing has given me that same excitement….until recently :)

A few months back I woke one morning and did the first and most important thing I do every day, no not go to the bath room or brush my teeth but to check Facebook, whilst scrolling through the wonderful world of Face Ache and reading status updates from my close “friends” who completely ignore me when I bump into them in the local Tesco’s… Their they was, the man himself Tareq Alsaadi had posted some pictures of the new machine from SAB Heli Devision – The GOBLIN.
I’ve spoken to a few people that say they wasn’t keen on it at first glance but it has grown on them, for me that wasn’t the case, it was pure lust at first sight, so much so I didn’t even give the Misses a good morning kiss :)

That feeling was back and I knew I had to get my hands on one.

Being from the very first batch I was expecting some teething issues as is with every new heli design released, but this one isn’t bad at all, the paint work is pretty good and has only got better as more and more batches are produced, the machining of the metal parts is nothing but stunning and the tip of the blade to boom gap is 144mm which I’m told is exceptable and has been fine for many very hard flights so needs no modification and has been rectified on newer kits anyway, the only part that needed changing was the tail pulley for the newer version (H0016) which is not a big job to change and supplied FOC to all Goblin owners.

So far any work that’s needed to be done (i.e pulley) has proven effortless and the swear box remains empty, it really is a very well thought out kit and even the little things like how easy it is to change the packs between flights makes all the difference for me.

I’ve had many hard flights on the Goblin now with no maintenance needed, its also amazing how well the heli flies when tamed down and a lower head speed used, people seem to assume that this is just an all out crazy 3D machine, its not the case, it perform’s just as well as a slower pace sport heli as it does a complete animal of a machine :)

Whether you personally like the look of the Goblin (I love it), for me the shear performance and noise of the thing make it a complete winner in my eye’s, it really is in a completely different league to anything I’ve flown or seen flying previously, it’s no wonder it always draws a crowd where ever it goes.
It really is the most excitement you will have with your trousers on and even that’s a close call :)

Now with this particular Goblin belonging to Fast Lad Performance it means the time will come when I have to give it back :(, but after being able to play with it for quite a few weeks and gaining some knowledge of the machine itself not to mention being able to have quite a few flights with it the big question comes now “will I be buying one of my own”……….. well put it this way, CAN A DUCK SWIM :)

Below are some photo’s and also a short video of me flying the Goblin, this was about my 10th flight with, I tried to show how well the Goblin perform’s at a slower pace with some faster 3D also thrown in, obviously I don’t fly this one how I would fly my own as I don’t want to crash it so nothing too crazy.

Thanks

Matt

P.s. Be sure to check out the full build and flight review of this actual Goblin in this month’s Model Helicopter World :)

Me and the Beast.

The Goblin is now available in Red – oooooohhhh yes :)