# Kmart Flying Ghost Continuous Flight Hack Described



## Fright Zone

Note: Let me put my re-linked video in Oct 2013 here so it cuts to the chase and since I don't link to other pictures and my other vids. I re-linked it elsewhere in this thread where a link showed up to keep it making sense.






This was started in 2007 as a separate clean thread about a topic that came up in one of my other threads about the Kmart flying ghost that some people seem to have.

I found the continuous flight hack instructions from 2005. The poster's ID was "stripe" (on another forum I think) to give credit where credit is due.

Here's his hack instructions: "The Tekky Toys flying ghost stops after one pass and then starts again if it hears a loud noise. I wanted it to keep going so I took it apart by pulling the skirt all the way up and over the ghost and pulling up the padding to get at all 8 screws. Disconnect the microphone (silver disc) and wrap the two microphone wires together. Reassemble (check to make sure the arm levers are connected to the waving arms). Now, much to the pleasure of my neighbors, my ghost keeps groaning and flying, groaning and flying, groaning and flying,[...]"

I tried it in 2007. It's a really simple hack. It works perfectly. It works whether the switch is turned on to sound or no sound.

Note: The long cord probably needs to be as taught (sp) as possible which isn't always easy. I used two posts I made kind of like a badminton net.


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## Holyhabanero

As a newbie here I appreciate you resurrecting this thread and sharing your photos. Thanks! BTW, how much does this ghost cost?


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## Fright Zone

I got the original one three years ago from Kmart for $15.99 plus tax. As goofy as it is it has it's charm. It was a big hit with the ToT's and family a like. Especially since a fluorescent black light bolt makes it glow without needing any RIT or bleach as shown in the video.

I got another one post-Halloween 50% off. Then the last two they had a couple weeks after Halloween a couple years ago. Those were a mere $1.59. That's right 90% off! I hope to get all four flying. Two in the yard. One inside a mausoleum. And one in the window.

Spirit Halloween Superstores sold different versions of it last year much smaller ones. It had a menacing face that just didn't fit the type of prop it is. I like the Kmart friendly cartoony face. Other haunters despise the cuteness factor and completely hack the look of the ghost

Spirit also had a bat, a vampire and a witch I think in the past.

The manufacturer is tekky toys


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## Fright Zone

Thinking outloud I wonder why Tekky Toy designed it to work intermitantly with a microphone picking up loud sounds to activate the movement instead of continuous flight in the first place? Perhaps the little motor worn out or burnt out in tests? Or maybe a retail buyer thought it would be annoying so they asked for a design they could sell that wouldn't be continous? The mic wiring can always be soldered back onto the mic if you do the hack. Unless continuous use does wear out the motor then it won't work at all. I'll find out on Halloween ; )


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## cindyt7

Wow Thanks I've already done some "stuff" to mine to put it in my cript (cript is not yet built though) this will really help!


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## cindyt7

Well I did mine too. Sure hope it doesn't burn out before Halloween. I try every year to get a few extra off the clearance rack, but they are always gone.


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## Fright Zone

Gald it worked. I also wonder how much continuous flying the little guy can take. Keep us updated after Halloween to see if he lasted thru the season and how long you had him running constantly. I won't completely fire mine up 'til Halloween. Its hard to hang him anywhere he's so heavy and the bungee is so long. I have four ghosts to play with. I got lucky at my Kmart the past couple years. The last two were 90% off. I only hacked one of them so far. It looks like the wires could be easily soldered back on the mic if need be.


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## Troy

I did this to mine last year (was the reaper one), he flew without a problem and went through many batteries.


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## Fright Zone

Thats good to know. Thanx!


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## Dr Morbius

The fact that it's power hungry is probably the reason for having it be sound activated.

(This post brought to you from the fine folks at "The Captain Obvious Team Headquarters")


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## Fright Zone

That would make sense. I'll see how many batteries it goes thru. It uses (3) AA. The head is pretty heavy because of the long plastic casing and that's why I wondered if the weight could stress out and burn out the small motor. But the battery drain makes sense to me now. 

You would think more people who bought them would complain about the ghost stopping constantly (when the mic is properly hooked up) than complaining about dead batteries from constant flying. I guess the engineers had to make a decision one way or the other. And they opted for sound activation. Which I found stops the ghost very often because it doesn't always hear a loud enough sound to keep it moving. Two years ago my Mom kept tapping the bungee cord to get him to move which works too. So I told her about the hack LOL


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## Troy

If you run it constant every night be ready to replace batteries each day, I invested in the rechargable one's to cut down the expense, yes they are very power hungary little critters. Prolly cheaper to make a axworthy and run that. Time won't let me do that this year but next year it's on my first to d list post halloween.


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## Fright Zone

Thanks for the heads up. That's good to know from first-hand experience how long the batteries will actualy last in continuous flight. Takes the guesswork out of it. Good to know the motor doesn't burn out. I found that the 15 minute Energizer recharger units actually do recharge their batteries in 15 minutes. I called the company and they said the catch is the charger's lifespan won't last as long as a non-15 minute charger but it still lasts a long time.


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## LukeSkiewalker

Hey everyone. After following the instructions for this hack I seem to have run into a snag. At first this hack seemed to be working, but after a few passes it stops. I ran this a few times and there seems to be a definite pattern. The Pattern is forward, back, forward, back, then forward only a few inches and stopping without starting again. If I turn it off, wait a minute and then turn back on it repeats the same pattern. Anyone have any ideas what might be causing this? This is the first time I have run it (didn't bother messing with it before I hacked it) and I am using fresh batteries. Any help would be great.


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## Fright Zone

I can make a breif comment (it's late 2:45AM here). but i took my hacked ghost out of the storage box a couple days ago. Fresh batteries and it didn't work at all. No sound no movement no nothing just like the non-hacked problem I had last year. I have a battery tester and the batteries are good. I do know that Alkaline Plus batteries made for heavy duty electronics can be used for old toys or ones that have been stored a while to give them an initial boost. but I haven't had time to try that. I have 3 other ghost here I can hack when I get time though. I think the inherent problem is it's a cheap cool product that can work. Just not always. But when I first hacked it and posted taht info here it worked non-stop just fine. Go figure.


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## Fright Zone

Update: I hacked another one of my Kmart flying ghosts and tested it today. It worked great and ran just fine non-stop for the 2 hours that I tested my yard haunt display including against the wind. I had to roll my thumb across the new batteries I put in once in order for the ghost to work.


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## Bone Dancer

Have you tried putting them on a longer cord, say 100+ ft. I can't see that being a problem but you never know sometimes. I have two from last year that I didn't get to for this year.


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## Fright Zone

Fwiw I shot a quick a video describing the hack and shot a test for a small yard haunt in which the ghost flies continuously until I turn him off. I'll put it up later for anyone who wants to see. He seemed to work just fine. I'll cross my fingers on Halloween


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## Fright Zone

Here you go. My hack demo video  



 (updated link Oct 2013)


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## Sickie Ickie

Nice vid demo. Must have taken some time to make. How long you been working on that demo?


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## Fright Zone

Thanx  

It took longer to edit & trim the clips down then to shoot it. Otherwise it was shot in real time on Monday in the basement then in the yard. Me holding the camcorder and trying to talk at the same time  I'm no public speaker so I had to say a couple things twice. Which is a pain to edit. Otherwise it's conversational as if someone was standing there an I was explaining it is how I did it.

The in-use "action" footage was all done for my yard haunt test. Then I split the master video up yesterday for this Kmart ghost, the grim reaper and the graveyard fog videos I put up. I taped the scarecrow prop in daylight but I showed enough of that last year.

But all my Haunt video demos were done solo in real time. The only help was after Trick-or-Treat last year when my Dad held up flood lights while I held the camcorder and did the prop and fog chiller descriptions. 

Fun stuff. But I think I'm through for a while after I tape Trick-or-Treat and some more Cedar Point's Halloweekends.


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## hauntedyard

I have the similar ghost and the first year he flew with a broken arm right out of the box. Next year I epoxied the gear and snapped it when I adjusted the arm. This year he didn't want to do return trips after getting to the end of the rope. I had thought it would look cool if it continued to fly. I don't think mine will fly without the sound...the unit is on or off...I might put a switch to shut off the speaker.
Thanks for the info

Tim


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## Fright Zone

I'm happy to report my continuous hack Kmart ghost flew perfectly on Halloween even in high winds. The little guy almost brought a tear to my eye the way he performed for two hours straight. And the batteries lasted no problem. I used Panasonic Alkaline Plus.


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## hauntedyard

Thanks for the update...my little one will go under the knife (Screwdriver) and get modified for next year
Thanks again

Tim


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## Bone Dancer

Same here, thanks FZ


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## Troy

I'm also happy to report that my little guy not only made through halloween night but about 14 nights of use, thank god for rechargables!


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## Fright Zone

Thanx for reporting that rechargeable batteries worked. 

Now how many people drove their friends, relatives or neighbors up the wall with the constant moaning sound if you had it on? 

I turned my sound on & off. I had recorded his voice and included it as a track on my iPod for use during ToT. In the event the real one wouldn't work I'd at least have some of the sound for the haunt. Well he worked. Then that track came on. Both sounds were filling the air. Which prompted my Mom to ask my Aunt, who was hosting ToT for the first time, if she was going to be hearing that ghost in her sleep. She politely rolled her eyes as if to say "Yes" :googly:


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## itsjustme0770

Apologies for bumping a thread that is over a year old, but I am curious as to whether or not he ghost will fly up an angle. For instance, if the bungie is not level, will it not only fly down, but up as well?

Thanks!


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## Troy

The ghosties do not like angles, you can get away with a slight grade but not much of one.


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## Halloweenie1

I purchased the Kmart ghost this year. I followed the directions, but the ghost only makes one round and then stops. I am not sure what happened? Did anyone else have this problem and figure it out? :rolleyekin:


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## volensaeros

i have tried this hack, and it stops after one cycle so i changed the batteries batteries and have the same outcome. is there a timer i have to bypass somewhere?


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## Fright Zone

I did this so long ago. I re-read this thread (and dusted cobwebs off of it lol) I guess one of mine worked then didn't another one did (got it 90%(1) off at Kmart a few years ago. The hack is as described and shown. The cord is sooo long it has to be as taught (sp) as possible. Easier said then done. I relinked my video I'll just repost it here so we don't have to go back to the first page and since I don't have the photobucket gallery anymore. But really that'd be all I'd have to add to help. I hadn't use it since 2009 because of time and moving somewhere else.


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## volensaeros

I have 2 ghosts apart and they both stop after a certain period of time. any thoughts?


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## volensaeros

it must have to do with something on this pcb, but since i am not well versed in circuitry I have no clue!

Help!!!


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## Fright Zone

Not certain. I think one big problem is those heads are so heavy and it's hard to get the long cord anywhere near taut. That may in fact impede the performance wether hacked or not. I would doubt it has anything to do with that board.


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## volensaeros

It has nothing to do with the line. There is something on this board that times it out.


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## volensaeros

can anyone help me i'm running out of time :googly:


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## Otaku

Does the ghost restart on its own or do you need to reset it (power off/on)? Do you notice any overheating of the motor? It may be a thermal shutoff.


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## volensaeros

Does not restart. I have to touch the white wires (from the activator speaker) together again. I don't feel any heat.


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## Otaku

Good on the heat issue. What happens if you just leave the wires connected, does it time out anyway? Looking at the PCB, any one of the cap/resistor pairs could be a timer.


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## Fright Zone

I think its just becasue it's a $19.99 prop tell you the truth. You could solder the wires back to the speaker etc I imagine (?) (I did the video and without watching it can't remember how it comes apart exactly) and see if it works the out-of-the-box regular way. Better than nothing. In which case when it stops flying you tap the cord and it starts moving again. A pain but at least it moves. Not sure of your set-up. If it really needs to fly constantly on it's own. fwiw I got one for 99-cents 90% off at Kmart a long time ago!


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## volensaeros

Yes it just times out if left connected.


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