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Awesome Flying

Flying Like Thor on a Motorized Zipline

Flying Like Thor on a Motorized Zipline

Gravity makes it easy to glide down a zipline, but traveling uphill requires additional energy. The guys from Hacksmith Industries built a motorized ziplining rig that allows riders to fly up to 81 km/h up the line. To make it look like Thor’s mighty Mjolnir, they hid the mechanism inside a machined hammer shell and connected a harness to its handle.

Boomerang Ball Drone

Boomerang Ball Drone

This spherical plaything flies and hovers when you toss it. If you throw it just right, it’ll also come back to you like a boomerang. It uses a pair of counter-rotating fan blades to work its magic, and they’re contained inside of a cage to protect them from damage. The one in Roo’s Reviews’ video is no longer available, but there are many other versions on Amazon.

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Making a Flying Bicycle

Making a Flying Bicycle

This crazy flying bicycle was created by Chinese maker Aircraft Model Art. He started by purchasing the lightest bicycle he could find, then made a custom foam wing and attached a pair of powerful motors. It took several redesigns to come up with a version that could stay airborne. We suggest turning on English captions.

Superman Drone FPV

Superman Drone FPV

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superdrone! Expert drone pilot Chris FPV did something fun and strapped a Superman action figure to the front of his high-speed quadcopter. He then captured third-person footage of the superhero’s flight using a GoPro Hero 11 action camera. Here’s another flight from the mini Man of Steel.

Flight Recorder Packing Bag

Flight Recorder Packing Bag
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Out of space in your suitcase? This lightweight carry-on is perfect for toiletries, gadgets, power cords, and other small gear. Airportag made it look like a flight data recorder, so you might get some strange looks going through the TSA checkpoint. The bag measures 12.4″ x 7.2″ x 3.1″ and is made from waterproof polyester with a waterproof zipper.

Air-Powered Vertical Ornithopter

Air-Powered Vertical Ornithopter

Inspired by how hummingbirds hover in flight, Works by Design wanted to see if he could build a flying machine that lifts off vertically and stays aloft by flapping its wings. It uses compressed gas for propulsion and a custom-built air motor to move its wings. It’s not an efficient method of flight, but it was cool to observe the engineering process.

Making Edible R/C Airplanes

Making Edible R/C Airplanes

Most remote-controlled airplanes are made from lightweight materials like styrofoam or carbon fiber. Not one to be constrained by norms, maker Peter Sripol and his pals wanted to see if they could build aircraft made almost entirely from food — the ingredient list: puffed rice, barley, tortillas, and caramelized sugar.

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Flying an R/C Plane with Offset Wings

Flying an R/C Plane with Offset Wings

We always assumed that an airplane needs its wings to be at the same height on both sides of its fuselage to remain airborne. Model airplane enthusiast Eternal Progression shows us how it’s possible to build a relatively simple R/C plane that flies with cardboard wings that are offset at different levels. He also made a flying R/C boat with fold-out wings.

Making an R/C Flying Alien Ship

Making an R/C Flying Alien Ship

The guys from FliteTest created a small aircraft called the Orbit. They have since been commissioned to build a much larger version of the round-winged aircraft. In this video, you’ll see how they took the design and scaled it up using foam and curved plywood ribs to reinforce its unconventional wing.

Paramotoring Over Slovenia

Paramotoring Over Slovenia

We had to look on a map to see precisely where Slovenia is, but after watching this video, it looks like a place we’d love to travel. Click play, sit back, and enjoy a peaceful flight on a motorized paraglider as its pilot takes sunset trips over a grassy field, a winding river, foggy forests, and an idyllic lake. And if that didn’t convince you to visit, watch this.

Jean-Baptiste Chandelier: No Way!

Jean-Baptiste Chandelier: No Way!

Jean-Baptiste Chandelier and a very skilled camera crew take us on a wild ride through the mountains, as the paragliding pro flies over moving cars, chases down motorcycle riders, bicyclists, and skateboarders, and gives the cops a run for their money. The accompanying track is Ca Plane Pour Moi by Plastic Bertrand.

Flying a Single-Passenger Drone

Flying a Single-Passenger Drone

Nik from Supercar Blondie scored an exclusive flight in the Hexa Lift, a lightweight, single-passenger drone from Lift Aircraft. Designed for recreational use and backed by robust safety systems and a remote monitoring crew, the 18-rotor electric aircraft can be piloted by an amateur with less than an hour of training.

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BMX Tricks in the Sky

BMX Tricks in the Sky

BMX rider Kriss Kyle proves he has balls of steel by performing a series of tricks while 2100 feet in the air. The Red Bull-sponsored stunt features a custom-fabricated mini bike park that hangs from the bottom of a hot air balloon. We can’t believe he did the part where he balances on the outer rail. Catch the behind-the-scenes film here.

Flying an R/C Plane with One Wing

Flying an R/C Plane with One Wing

Flying an airplane with a wing on just one side of its fuselage seems like an impossible idea. Yasushi Nishimura shows us it can be done by dropping a one-winged R/C glider off a cliff on a windy day. It maintains altitude like a roller coaster, but by the third take, the pilot figured out how to keep it aloft.

Making a Rocket-Powered Foam RC Airplane

Making a Rocket-Powered Foam RC Airplane

After building a couple of rocket-powered planes, James Whomsley from ProjectAir wanted to see how fast he could make a lightweight foam plane fly. After testing its speed with the off-the-shelf electric motor and upgrading its battery, he reworked its vertical stabilizer, and strapped on a rocket engine that could be triggered mid-flight.

Zipline Delivery Drones

Zipline Delivery Drones

Most DoorDash and GrubHub deliveries are made using gas-guzzling cars sitting in traffic. Zipline hopes to change that with drones that hover 400 feet up, then lower a small delivery unit to quietly and safely drop off small packages. Mark Rober explains the tech and how Zipline has been saving lives with their existing drones.

Landing an Airplane on Top of a Skyscraper

Landing an Airplane on Top of a Skyscraper

We’ve seen an airplane land on a ridiculously short runway before, but never like this. Red Bull Poland stunt pilot Lukasz Czepiela landed his lightweight, single-engine plane on a 93-foot-long helipad atop the Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, a 56-story-tall hotel in Dubai. Then he took back off.

Flying a Giant Kite Indoors

Flying a Giant Kite Indoors

Since wind is a requirement for flying kites, it’s typically an outdoor activity. However, experienced kite flyers like Spence “Watty” Watson know how to get them off the ground indoors. At the 2023 SPI Kite Fest, Spence showed off with a 25-foot-long 8-stack kite that he flew over spectators heads. Video by Tommy J. Saenz.

World’s Longest Wingsuit Proximity Flight

World’s Longest Wingsuit Proximity Flight

Skydivers Fred Fugen, Vincent “Veush” Cotte, and Aurélien “Bras Noir” Chatard set a world record for the longest terrain-flying wingsuit line, zooming over Mont Blanc, France in formation for 7.5 km (4.66 mi.) They captured POV footage of the incredible flight using a GoPro MAX action camera. You can also watch the flight in VR.

Building a Flying Helicarrier

Building a Flying Helicarrier

Now that they’re done building their foam board Iron Giant, the guys from FliteTest are headed back to the skies. Their plan: build a working version of the Iron Vulture from TaleSpin, a massive airship that doubles as a flying aircraft hanger. In this video, they work on getting its 14-rotor airframe to fly.

How Flying Lost Its Luster

How Flying Lost Its Luster

There was a time in the not-too-distant past when taking a flight on a commercial airliner was something to look forward to, with luxurious meals, comfortable seats, and a high level of service. This video from Phil Edwards looks back at the glamourous days of flying and why it went downhill for most passengers.

Landing a Jumbo Jet in Antarctica

Landing a Jumbo Jet in Antarctica

We’ve seen the airport at Antarctica’s Troll Research Station. Now Extreme Aviation Iceland gives us a first-person view from the cockpit as an Icelandair Boeing 767 comes in for a landing and faces the frigid conditions at one of the world’s Southernmost air strips. Stick around to the end to see them take back off.

Parallel Jet Landings at SFO

Parallel Jet Landings at SFO

San Francisco Internation Aiport’s runways 28L and 28R run in parallel, just 750 feet apart. As a result, jumbo jets often land next to each other. NickFlightX captured footage of a number of flights landing in this formation. They’re not always in sync, but some of them come in perfectly side-by-side.

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