Awesome Airplanes

The Q decided to see if he could build a larger-than-life version of a paper airplane that actually can fly. To pull off the build of his 122-inch long airplane, he ended up using polystyrene foam and glue, so it’s not exactly paper, but he scores points for airworthiness.

If you have any doubts that flying drone near aircraft was a bad idea, watch this footage from the University of Dayton Research Institute, who recently conducted a test to see just how much damage a drone could do to an airplane wing at even a relatively slow flight speed.

A look at the ginormous Antonov An-225 Mriya jumbo jet as it came in for a landing at Oakland International Airport. Apparently, the massive airplane was hired by the US Government to pick up typhoon relief supplies bound for Guam, and had to stop to refuel on its way from Kiev.

This flashy airline safety video from Turkish Airlines features the characters we know and love from The LEGO Movie series. Number one safety tip – use your seatbelt, not Kragle to remain in your seat. Also, don’t show this video to Minifigs while in flight.

Aircraft maker Airbus presents video footage of its funky looking A330-based jumbo jet as the first plane makes its way through the factory. The BelugaXL’s unusual shape is designed to provide cargo capacity for large airplane parts like wings. Watch it take flight here.

More cars than ever are relying on electricity for propulsion, but using electric motors and batteries for aircraft poses challenges. Real Engineering explores whether a pure electric flyer would be possible, and why it’s so difficult to achieve. Caution, physics equations ahead.

It costs over a billion dollars per year to run an airport. With that kind of investment, you’d think they must be making bank. And that’s exactly the case. Wendover Productions breaks down where airports get their revenues and the tactics they employ to increase them.

The cloudy white lines that aircraft sometimes leave behind in their wake are commonly known as chemical trails, or chemtrails. But they’re technically called contrails, short for condensation trails. As Reactions points out, that’s because they’re mostly made of water.

Project Wingman is an upcoming flight combat game for Windows in the vein of Ace Combat – easy to pick up and play, fast-paced and single player. The final game will have over 20 aircraft and over 40 weapons to play with. Download the demo here.

…and not just any plane. The Boeing 787-9 is a passenger airplane mostly made of carbon laminate, but it still weighs over 280,000 lb. The Tesla Model X P100D managed to tow the beast, setting a Guinness World Record in the process. Cue “yo mama” jokes.

A look at one of the most incredible LEGO models we’ve ever seen – a 36 foot-long replica of the US presidential 747 jumbo jet. Apparently, it was built from a 1 million bricks. The model has been making the rounds at LEGO expositions in Poland since 2016.

The guys from YouTube channel FliteTest love to make all kinds of crazy R/C flying machines, and their latest build is a doozie. They managed to convert a wooden chair from IKEA into an airplane that reliably flies. Lift-off at 7:13.

Jason over at JK Brickworks came up with this fun idea – a kinetic sculpture which features two airplanes flying through the air. After lots of positive feedback, he created an alternate version based on the trench run in Star Wars. Vote for The Pursuit of Flight kit on LEGO Ideas.

Real Engineering usually teaches about how things work. But here, they explain some of the bad things that can cause complex systems like airplanes to fail and plunge from the sky. Despite the gloomy premise, the truth is that flying is safer than it’s ever been.

RC Media World presents footage of a remote-controlled airplane replica, based on Howard Hughes’ 8-engine H-4 Hercules aka “Spruce Goose.” Builder Jürgen Schönle’s surprisingly quiet flyer has a 12-foot wingspan, and can take off and land on water, just like the real deal.

The short answer? Secondhand airplanes. Hundreds of secondhand airplanes. Wendover Productions gives us an overview of the huge networks of airports that FedEx, UPS and DHL operate to make overnight shipping possible and affordable.

The military aircraft simulator Digital Combat Simulator World (DCS World) is preparing to launch its “most authentic and detailed simulation” yet. Developed with the help of Boeing, this upcoming add-on introduces the versatile F/A-18C Hornet.

Insane footage of a Eurowings airplane as it comes in for a harrowing landing at the Düsseldorf Airport during a windstorm. With gusts clocked at nearly 70 mph, we can’t imagine what it must have been like to be a passenger on this flight.

Airplanes that can lift off vertically, then fly horizontally are quite fascinating, doing away with the need for long and tactically-vulnerable runways. Real Engineering takes a look at the history of Vertical Take Off and Landing (VTOL) aircraft and how they work.

Comedy duo Tripp and Tyler envision a world in which the first-world problems of air travel are everyday occurrences, even when carpooling to work in the back of an SUV. We can so relate to that neck bend thing when waiting to deplane.

A video has been making the rounds showing what it’s like to open an airplane slide from the passengers’ point of view. That’s interesting and all, but this clip of a slide being opened without an airplane attached is far more entertaining. Stabilized version here.

A few days ago, Peter Sripol shared a video of him doing short hops on his homemade electric airplane. It was a sight to behold but technically… that wasn’t flying. This is. Peter got better batteries and finally gave the people what they want. Amazing stuff.

Flight fanatic Peter Sripol has built his share of small, unmanned flying machines, but he’s now turned his attention to something a bit bigger, building himself a single-seat aircraft powered by electric motors, and airworthy enough that he was willing to be its test pilot.