Awesome Helicopters

It may not be made of as many bricks as his other famous creations, but Ryan “BrickMan” McNaught’s 100,000 brick, 13-foot-long replica of the Erickson S-64 “Elvis” air crane is still a sight to behold.

Take water gun wars to the next level with this remote-controlled copter. It packs a refillable electronic water blaster. No scorestreak needed. Video of a similar chopper here.

(NSFW: Language) A different kind of fishing from a helicopter, as the guys in this helicopter retrieve a lost P-51 Mustang R/C model airplane using their Robinson R-22 chopper. (Thanks Marc-André)

In addition to looking badass on his shoulder, Esben Nielsen’s eight-rotored beast captured some great bird’s-eye footage with its custom camera rig while soaring over Bornholm, Denmark this past Summer.

Because of its tilt-rotors, the VTOL V-22 Osprey couldn’t safely fire weapons anywhere besides its rear. The solution? A belly-mounted mini-gun that fires 3000 rounds-per-minute. See it at 4:17.

Ars Electronica Futurelab installed multicolored lights on 49 quadcopters then programmed them to form 3D models, resulting in a unique light show. The awesome track is Y by Monophobe.

By perfectly synchronizing the shutter speed on a camera with the blade rotation on a helicopter, this video provides us with a surreal flight that seems like it’s destined for somewhere in The Matrix.

76-year-old Gennai Yanagisawa created the GEN H-4 helicopter, which weighs just 165 pounds, and can lift a single pilot to a speed of 56mph on a 30 minute flight. Inspector Gadget, anyone?

This video kicks off Smarter Every Day’s series of lessons about the helicopter physics, but it quickly turns into a lesson in R/C flying skills which seemingly defy physics and reason.

The University of Pennsylvania GRASP Labs’ fleet of quadrotors takes to the skies once more and performs the James Bond opening theme all by themselves. Is this the band of the future?

Show the world you don’t give a damn by winning one of three flying, obscenity-filled R/C helicopters, courtesy of our friends over at Gadgets and Gear. Click the link to enter the contest.

Don’t be surprised if you hear about a sudden rash of bank robberies by robotic locust swarms. Our old friends at the GRASP Lab now have a fleet of programmable Nano Quadrotors at their disposal.

It’s incredible enough that this daring pilot lands his Chinook CH-47 copter right in the middle of the sea without crashing, but you must stick around all the way to the end to see why he did it.

Vimeo user warthox is able to put on quite a show with his Quad MultiWiiCopter and its new MT2208 motors. The buzzing sounds like a pissed-off horde of robot bees… and we love it.

Move over, Orville and Wilbur: Thomas Senkel of E-volo recently made the world’s first manned multicopter flight with their AR.Drone-like flyer. The gently hovering flight lasted 1:30. (Thanks Stro!)

The RED Epic is a drool-worthy 5K camera fit for Hollywood’s finest filmmakers. But that doesn’t mean it can’t get cooler – like when you strap it to an eight-bladed R/C chopper and send it skyward.

Ever wonder what would happen if you dropped 20,000 bouncy balls from a helicopter. Yeah, us neither. But where there’s a will, there’s a way, and the science geeks of Utah State University did it.

This gyrocopter will reach speeds of up to 253mph, using 15 blades to propel its occupants through the air. There’s two wing-mounted turboprops to boost its regular rotor. Jump to 6:00 for the juicy bits.

This amazing flying quadrocopter from GRASP Labs is incredibly adept at navigating obstacles, and can even recover instantaneously from being thrown violently into the air. Please make this into a toy.

Designer Leong Huang Zi envisions a future in which his duo-fan propeller aircraft is saving lives. While this concept military chopper will probably never see the light of day, we still think it’s cool.

Your tiny one-blade helicopter is cute. This one has six-blades and can eat your puny copter for breakfast. From the sound of this thing, you’d better keep your fingers outta the way.

The Mercedes-Benz EC145 Helicopter is inspired by their R-Class car series and can carry 8 rich and stylish people. Features include wooden floors, TV, fridge and a goodly amount of storage in the tail.

Brando’s USB IR helicopter will stay juiced as long as you’re near a USB port, letting you buzz nearby cubicles all day; it also includes a controller and LED lighting for night flying.