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Awesome Helicopters

Turning a Dremel Tool into a Helicopter

Turning a Dremel Tool into a Helicopter

Using a Dremel rotary tool to power an R/C helicopter seems like a really stupid idea. But Peter Sripol is the guy who built an airplane out of an angle grinder, and a gas-powered NERF blaster, so if anyone can pull it off, it’s him. But there’s much more to engineering a helicopter than just slapping a rotor onto the Dremel.

Top Gun: Maverick Helicopter vs. X-Wing Fighter Diorama

Top Gun: Maverick Helicopter vs. X-Wing Fighter Diorama

After seeing Top Gun: Maverick, model maker Boylei Hobby Time wanted to make a diorama inspired by one of the movie’s big action sequences. While he found a 1:144-scale model of the soviet gunship helicopter, he couldn’t find one of an F-18 fighter jet a the same time, so he decided to swap in an X-Wing from Star Wars.

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Building a Lada Helicopter

Building a Lada Helicopter

The guys from Garage 54 have done all kinds of stupid things to Lada cars. For this experiment, they wanted to see if they could turn one of the old Russian jalopies into an improvised helicopter by connecting its drivetrain to a propeller on its roof. Place your bets now on whether this thing will ever get off the ground.

Making a Tiny Helicopter from Popsicle Sticks

Making a Tiny Helicopter from Popsicle Sticks

Modelmaker 3JWings made this miniature replica of MD 530F helicopter using popsicle sticks. He cut and layered the sticks together, then sanded them smoothly to form the chopper’s body. After cutting and attaching details like its skids and rotors, he applied a yellow and black paint job to bring it to life.

The Helicopter Mobile Home

The Helicopter Mobile Home

In 1977, this unusual helicopter appeared on the cover of Popular Mechanics. To lure in high-end customers, Winnebago worked with a small aviation company to create the Heli-Home, a complete mobile home that could take to the skies. Calum has the full story behind this fascinating flying machine and the man behind its creation.

Rocket-powered Helicopter Rotor

Rocket-powered Helicopter Rotor

Helicopter rotors are usually propelled by a spinning motor, but Project Air wanted to see if it would be feasible to use a rocket engine to make the blade spin instead. Rather than build a complete helicopter, he built a free-flying monocopter that could fly with a single rocket.

Slow-mo Helicopter Blade POV

Slow-mo Helicopter Blade POV

We already know that the view from a helicopter’s spinning rotor can be incredibly dizzying. That’s why we’re happy that Chuck Aaron Aerobatics recorded this blade spin POV at 240 fps, then slowed it to 30 fps, giving us a more digestible look at what a helicopter blade sees as it takes to the skies.

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Helicopter Build Time-Lapse

Helicopter Build Time-Lapse

Kaman Air Vehicles makes the K-MAX Aerial Truck, a dual-blade helicopter designed for lifting cargo, disaster response, and search-and-rescue operations. In this time-lapse clip, you’ll see how they build one of the choppers, and then how its blades spin without hitting each other. The helicopter can be flown with a pilot or unmanned.

Installing a Power Line Ball

Installing a Power Line Ball

Ever wonder what those balls are on aerial power lines? They’re used to prevent small aircraft from running into wires. What’s more interesting is how those balls get installed. Watch as this brave lineman sits on the edge of a helicopter platform, holding the ball between his legs as he heads into the sky and places the ball.

How to Fly a Helicopter

How to Fly a Helicopter

This short video from Pilot Yellow provides an incredibly concise and easy to understand explanation of the basics of helicopter flight, using a small Guimbal Cabri G2 chopper to demonstrate. While it doesn’t go into the complexities of weather or flight safety, it’s a great primer on what all of those controls do.

Crowd vs. Helicopter Simulation

Crowd vs. Helicopter Simulation

(Gore) The idea of dropping a crowd of people into a helicopter blade from above is some pretty warped stuff. But as we’ve seen before, CG animator atomic marvel isn’t squeamish about turning anatomical avatars into digital mincemeat. The guy standing over the middle of the rotor gets to take the longest ride.

Helicopter Lifts a Jet Plane

Helicopter Lifts a Jet Plane

Built for the Russian Air Force by Rostvertol, the Mil Mi-26 is an enormous helicopter designed for heavy lifting. With a maximum takeoff weight of more than 123,000 pounds, pilots show off the copter’s skills by lifting a Tupolev 134 jet. There’s an awesome photo of another Mi-26 doing the same on Twitter.

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DIY Rubber Band Helicopter

DIY Rubber Band Helicopter

It’s pretty easy to find toy airplanes that are powered by a rubber band. On the other hand coming up with something that replicates the dual rotor movements of a helicopter is more of a challenge. Maker Peter Sripol managed to create one. Download the 3D printed part designs on Thingiverse and watch the build video here.

Super Nintendo World Flyover

Super Nintendo World Flyover

Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan is slated to open in early 2021. From the looks of this flyover of the park, it’s going to look amazing when it’s all done, transporting Nintendo fans into the heart of their favorite games. We spy Peach’s and Bowser’s castles, a Mario Kart ride, and a Toad House among other details.

Flying Flywheels

Flying Flywheels

When we were kids, we had one of those wind-up toys that launched a flying propellor into the air. Aerospace engineer Tom Stanton wanted to see what he could do if he ramped up the energy by spinning up a larger (and more dangerous) version of the propellor flywheel using a motor.

GoPro VR: B.C. Helicopter Flight

GoPro VR: B.C. Helicopter Flight

Take a soothing 360º flight through the snowy and scenic mountains of British Columbia, Canada. Helicopter pilot Bradley Friesen and videographer Devin Olsen captured more than 50 minutes of their flight using a GoPro MAX action camera. It’s even more immersive if you’ve got a VR headset to watch it on.

Upside-down over NYC

Upside-down over NYC

We always though helicopters weren’t designed to fly upside-down, but Red Bull Air Force pilot Aaron Fitzgerald proved that wrong as he performed a variety of insane helicopter flips, barrel rolls, and nosedives over the Big Apple.

Giant LEGO Helicopter

Giant LEGO Helicopter

LEGO fan and maker Adam Woodworth has supersized yet another model. This time he took the basic LEGO helicopter from the International Jetport kit and made a gigantic version that actually can fly. He had to use foam instead of plastic bricks to pull off such magic.

M:I Fallout Helicopter Stunt BTS

M:I Fallout Helicopter Stunt BTS

Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but one thing you can’t say is that he isn’t dedicated to his craft. Not only did Cruise learn to fly a helicopter for Mission Impossible: Fallout, he performed solo flying stunts, while acting his part, and operating on-board cameras.

Giant R/C Helicopter 2

Giant R/C Helicopter 2

This isn’t the first time we’ve encountered a huge R/C helicopter, but watching these mechanical marvels fly around never gets old, so here’s another for your enjoyment. Pilot Francis Paduwat shows off his 1/4-scale, 90″ long EC-120 from Vario Helicopter.

Workhorse SureFly

Workhorse SureFly
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Designed to carry two passengers up to a height of 4000 feet at speeds up to 70 mph, this gas/electric hybrid quadcopter is small enough to fit in your driveway, thanks to its folding blade arms. It’s made primarily from carbon fiber, and weighs just 1,100 pounds.

I Come in Peace, Wherever This Is

I Come in Peace, Wherever This Is

We’ve seen a firefighter’s helicopter visit a civilian because it needed water. On the other hand, this military helicopter that was caught in a snowstorm needed something far simpler – directions. Now that’s a story for the truck stop.

World’s Biggest RC Helicopter

World’s Biggest RC Helicopter

This scale model of an EC-135 ADAC Notarzt Christoph 33 helicopter is so ridiculously huge that it might as well be the real thing. It weighs in at about 108 pounds, has an 11.5 foot rotor diameter, and gets its lift from a turbine engine. Skip to 3:45 to watch it take off.

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