15 INCREDIBLE Mini Helicopters

helicopters they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes from massive military cargo helicopters to tiny personal transport helicopters today we're going to be taking a look at 15 incredible mini helicopters number 15 rotorway scorpion 2. b.j schramm was an engineer and designer who in the 1960s set out to create a series of helicopters that an average person could afford selling for less than ten thousand dollars so he went ahead and created his javelin model for rotorway a funky looking retro futuristic single-cedar model powered by a humble 40 horsepower motorcycle engine but this javelin would pave the way for a better model the rotorway scorpion and again with the scorpion 2 in 1974 the scorpion 2 was another two-seater but this time was packing a two-cycle 125 horsepower engine and was the first model to use an engine designed by the company but it wasn't perfect because they quickly learned that the two-cycle engine caused too much vibration in the craft which would often lead to all sorts of internal issues like cracks and the metal parts but in its heyday the road away scorpion 2 had a service ceiling of 10 000 feet a cruising speed of about 75 miles an hour and could crank it up to a maximum of 100 miles an hour it may not be the greatest personnel helicopter but it certainly set the stage for what could be achieved in the future number 14 safari 400. if you've got about 500 hours to kill then why not go ahead and build yourself a little safari 400. this thing is a diy helicopter kit that can be sent right to your house and it's the perfect summer project for the backyard or even the garage if it's big enough the safari 400 comes with a reliable and solid power unit that's better than many basic fixed wing aircraft and because helicopters don't have a great glide ratio you need an engine that you can count on which is why the safari 400 comes with a lycoming engine with 180 horsepower giving it a top speed of 100 miles an hour and even a top cruising speed of 85 miles per hour so just imagine racing one of these down to the grocery store but in terms of a backyard aircraft this helicopter is awesome and the 400 model has about two and a half hours worth of fuel and it's got an amazing service ceiling of 10 000 feet and the cost for having the safari 400 kids sent over to you is just 140 grand it may be expensive but being able to say you put your helicopter together in the backyard is priceless number 13 a600 turbo another helicopter kit to make you the owner of the neighborhood skies is the a600 turbo and you better believe that this thing does in fact go turbo the a600 is the more advanced version of its predecessors and its exhaust and intake have been revamped and the all-new turbo system gives this bird 168 horsepower the a600 has a nice cruising speed of 95 miles an hour and the new and improved vertical stabilizer for the tail helps the pilot fly in as straight align as a small personal helicopter can go but when you push the pedal to the middle of this diy model you can reach a top speed of 115 miles an hour with a service ceiling of 11 500 feet but things get even cooler when you start to put the interior together because the kit also comes with an mgl electronic flight instrument system a dual electronic system fully automated engine controls and the most important part the leather seats the a600 turbo can run about a hundred grand which isn't such a bad deal considering it's one of the better options for kits out there number 12 eagle helicycle helicycle ventures is a trusted company operating out of new mexico producing solid and modern small helicopters and one of their more popular models the helicycle has been turning heads since 1997. nowadays they offer a kit for their sixth generation of the helicycle model that's designed to fly well and just be downright fun the kit is a single seater powered by an engine with a hundred horsepower that allows it to reach a top speed of 110 miles an hour and can go 150 miles before you start to run on empty this helicopter can accommodate a pilot of up to 220 pounds so if you're a little on the bigger side but still want to take to the skies then this may be a great option for you the kit takes about 400 to 600 hours to complete so make sure you've set aside enough time on the weekend to take a crack at it and when all is said and done the nice people from the manufacturer will send someone over to make sure that it's flight ready and the builder hasn't made any errors it's always best to be on the safe side there's also some awesome avionics and electrical systems in the kit and of course the all-important radio number 11 hummingbird 300l finally a household helicopter for the whole family vertical technologies is the only kit manufacturer with a four seat helicopter option with their hummingbird 300l which means for a little more money and a lot more assembly time the hummingbird 300l is actually pretty cool and substantial coming with two baggage areas under the two front seats so you could theoretically take this helicopter to your vacation home without having to worry about all the holiday traffic the cabin is made with composite panels to keep the chopper lightweight and is prefabricated in the factory so all you have to do is install them and paint them whatever color you want the 300l comes with a six cylinder 300 horsepower piston engine that's strong enough to lift almost a thousand pounds and fly at a max speed of 105 miles an hour with a range of 430 miles it's really the souped-up minivan of the sky this kit comes with a hefty price tag though at 227 thousand dollars number 10 air scooter coaxial personal helicopter your average helicopter design is cool but sometimes you need something a little more abstract something like the air scooter coaxial personal helicopter and while this helicopter may look like a novelty it still functions pretty well on its own brought to buyers by the nevada-based air scooter corporation the coaxial personal helicopter has a four-stroke aero twin engine that totally ditches the swashplates and tail rotor making it better suited for short hops around town with a total flight time of about two hours but the coaxial helicopter controls are where this thing really shines because it comes with handlebars that make it steer more like a motorcycle so to gain altitude all the pilot has to do is turn up the throttle like they would a motorcycle and move the handlebars from left to right and even sometimes like a joystick and it's set to provide the pilot with a little more stability and with this model there's no need for pedal controls meaning it's a little more friendly for different body types but the icing on the cake here is the floats on the bottom meaning you can ride from your backyard to the lake and then back home again at a top speed of about 64 miles per hour number nine xcl composite fx look although it's not a wise decision you can technically pilot a helicopter without a license but if you get caught then you can look forward to hefty fines and maybe even a little time but the xel is one of the very few helicopter kits that you can put together and then fly without needing a pilot's license the xel is an ultra light helicopter designed to fall under the faa regulations so it can be flown by anyone without totally skimping on safety but as long as you're in the comfort of your backyard then who's really going to stop you the ultralight xcl kit comes with a top-notch piston-powered engine that lets the pilot fly for 45 minutes at a time with a cruising speed of about 62 miles an hour it's the perfect little diy helicopter for people who want to know what it's like to fly but just not too high it even comes with floats so you can take her down to the lake and get a little rest and relaxation in there and the kit is the cheapest on the list so far at just forty one thousand bucks number eight the sakari 7b the sakara 7b is a fun little mini helicopter made specifically for sports use still in the experimental phase this 7b takes its design from the ch6 and ch7 designs from the early 1990s cut to the modern day and the sicare 7b kicks things up a notch or two with improved maneuverability overall performance and a safety rating and much lower operating costs than its predecessors plenty of helicopter manufacturers will tell you their product is the best but the zakari 7b really is one of the best choices in the world when it comes to small one-seaters the sakara 7b is full of new optimizations like the rotax 912 100 horsepower engine that has far more power and is far safer than its younger sibling the rotax 582 it's also working with a centrifugal clutch system that helps to give those on board not only a soft landing but a quiet start as well because as cool as many helicopters can be no one likes having their eardrums burst as soon as they start the engine sakari 7b is also built with an anti-vibration system in the gearbox to minimize the natural vibrations of the two bladed rotors the blades are composite materials and the rest of the sakari 7b is made entirely of high-grade aeronautical materials and of course the cabin interior has some of the best visibility around so the pilot can really take in the view as they sputter around the sky number seven edm aerotech coax 2d the edm aerotech coax 2d is a mouthful and is a great series of german-made coaxial main rotor mini helicopters designed and produced by edm aerotech and unlike many other choppers of their size this aircraft is supplied complete and ready to fly so no assembly required this helicopter is designed to comply with the european class 6 microlight class helicopter rules with its maximum takeoff weight of just under a thousand pounds and the design testing began back in 2012 and speaking of design on top of the dual coaxial main rotors the edm aerotech coax 2d is built with two seats and a side-by-side configuration in the enclosed cockpit and landing gear with ground handling wheels the fuselage of this helicopter is made from composite materials and the dual composite two-bladed main rotors have a diameter of about 22 feet this helicopter took about a decade to complete and finally made its first flight in 2012. it originally ran on a four-cylinder liquid and air-cooled four-stroke 100 horsepower engine which was replaced in 2017 by the six-cylinder liquid-cooled four-stroke 135 horsepower engine the edm aerotech coax 2d is a reliable little chopper and the preferred aerial sports vehicle of casual pilots all over europe six robinson r-22 the robinson r-22 is an oldie but a goodie having been produced since 1979. the r-22 is a lightweight two-piece single reciprocating engine helicopter with a semi-rigid two-bladed main rotor and two-bladed tail rotor the r-22's main rotor has a teetering hinge and two coning hedges and the tail rotor has just a teetering hinge the basic structure is welded chromoly steel tubing but the forward fuselage is made of fiberglass and aluminum with a plexiglas canopy and the tail cone and vertical and horizontal stabilizers are aluminum as well meaning the r22 is nice and light at just 880 pounds the cabin is fully enclosed with a typical side-by-side seating for the pilot and passenger but for those who like to live a little more dangerously the doors can be removed for flight which is perfect for taking photos of the ground below there are a handful of variations of the robinson r-22 all of which appear to be relatively similar from a more superficial perspective but the r-22 alpha is made with modified extended aft landing gear mounting points which gives it a slightly nose-down attitude on the ground and better matching of the skids to the ground in a low altitude hover when both seats are occupied there's also the r-22 beta beta 2 and the mariner with the former being built with an additional engine speed governor rotor brake and an auxiliary fuel tank for those long haul trips number 5 volocopter vc2 it's safe to say that the next entry on our list of homemade helicopters is absolutely insane but it works volocopter is a german aircraft manufacturer that designs personal air vehicles specifically their electric multi-rotor helicopters but it's their vc2 that's absolutely amazing the vc2 is a single-seat multi-rotor helicopter that made its first experimental remote controlled flight in 2013. the entire rig's made of an aluminum truss frame that includes the center mounted seat the battery battery management unit and obviously the 18 engines suspended around the frame and if it looks too good to be true well you're wrong because the volocopter vc2 had its first manned test in 2016. and sure the vc2 looks absolutely ridiculous but it works the aircraft is controlled with a joystick and can reach a maximum speed of 100 miles an hour with a service ceiling of 6500 feet but just make sure that you come in easy for the landing because the vc2 has completely forgone your traditional landing gear for three pilates balls and even if one of the 18 propellers somehow fails during the flight the vc2 can still maintain stability with the remaining rotors the folks at volocopter have said that the vc2 has made 1 000 successful flights since 2019 but while we may not see these parts sold for home assembly just yet it could easily be one of the coolest mini helicopters of all time number four dynali h3 ez flyer the dynaly h3 h3ez flyer also simply known as the sport is a great belgian helicopter made by dynale and what's so great about the sport is that it can come either ready to fly or as a kit for all the at-home engineers looking to apply their craft or who just want something to do over the weekend the sport is designed specifically for flight training utility and of course personal use roles and it's designed to comply with the european class 6 microlight helicopter rules and comes with a gross weight of 992 pounds it's got a single main rotor and tail rotor two seats in a side-by-side configuration in an enclosed cockpit with a bubble canopy skid landing gear and its great four-cylinder liquid and air-cooled four-stroke 100 horsepower rotax 912 uls one engine or the more powerful turbocharged rotax 914 power plant which brings the sports gross weight up to a beefier 1300 pounds the aircraft fuselage here is made from welded stainless steel tubing and the sport's got a two-bladed rotor with a diameter of nearly 24 feet across and a seven inch cord and fuel capacity of 40 liters the sport's been in production since 2017 and seems to be one of the more advanced looking mini helicopters on the market and in the skies today number three kirti zafir the kurtis of fear is a mini helicopter with just enough room in the cockpit for two and it was designed and produced by the italian aircraft manufacturer kirti aerospace as both a recreational and training vehicle its development was partly funded by the european commission and made its maiden flight in 2017 before being commercially launched just one year later at the german air show the era of friedrichshafen it took some hard work but the folks at kirti were able to secure a type certification for their helicopter as an ultra light aircraft weighing just under 160 pounds the sophia's airframe and rotor blades are made entirely of lightweight composite materials and takes on an overall more aerodynamic design that's tough to find anywhere else so to recover without the help of owner rotation the sofia is fitted with a ballistic parachute safety system which is stored in a non-rotating box above the main rotor and it's attached to the airframe through a fixed shaft inside of the rotor mast it's a pretty interesting addition to the aircraft one that you don't typically see on helicopters and despite being an ultra lightweight aircraft the zephyr can perform pretty consistently under adverse weather conditions or when flown at high altitudes or even higher temperatures the saphir's engine drives a two-bladed system main rotor with a profile maximizing efficiency while lowering noise pollution because something this small shouldn't be able to make so much noise number two dragonfly df1 when you're putting together your own backyard helicopter you can get as crafty as you want and there aren't really any rules or regulations to hold your back your property your rules and that's exactly what one person said when they built their dragonfly df-1 the dragonfly df1 may be intimidating considering it's a rocket powered one seat helicopter with an open cockpit but it's surprisingly pretty mellow for something of the sort that's because it's got two hydrogen peroxide motors mounted on the tip of the rotor and even though the engines of this aircraft are small this thing will still get you up to 115 miles per hour if you really crank it with each engine having the equivalent of 102 horsepower and the exhaust the dragonfly df-1 puts out is just water vapor the hydrogen peroxide powering this rocket helicopter isn't the same stuff that you'd find under the sink instead uses a commercial grade diluted formula the only real catch here is the dragonfly df1 can only fly for about 90 minutes at a time and that special fuel is four bucks a gallon so it's not the cheapest option out there but it's certainly one of the most unique number one volocopter 2x from the people who brought you the volocopter vc2 comes the far superior volcopter 2x looking like it came to visit us from the future the volocopter 2x was designed to comply with the european 6 microlight helicopter rules and to be employed as an air taxi service in crowded urban areas it features 18 fixed pitch propellers each powered by its own electric motor and as you'd expect from an air taxi this comes with a two-seat side-by-side configuration in an enclosed cockpit and uses skid landing gear the volocopter 2x is made from carbon fiber composite material and its controls operate through a mesh polymer fiber optic network fly by light system these controls are a triple redundant primary flight system that employs gyroscopes acceleration sensors magnetic field measurement sensors and manometers to keep everything running smoothly and safely the company intel is even involved with the integration of drone technology into the volvo copter 2x's design and an autonomous and remotely piloted control system is currently in the works the propellers are all powered by three-phase pm synchronous brushless dc electric motors and are mounted on a spoked composite wheel mounted right above the small cabin they use nine independent quick change lithium-ion batteries each one powering two motors at a time and can be charged in 120 minutes normally or 40 minutes on a quick charge from a municipal power supply and when the ride's over the 30 foot diameter propeller system can be dismantled for better storage or for easy ground transportation the volocopter 2x has typically an empty weight of about 600 pounds and a gross weight of 990 pounds meaning it can carry up to 350 pounds including the pilot passenger and their baggage the volocopter 2x has a service ceiling of over 6 500 feet and a hover ceiling of 5400 feet and even contains a hidden ballistic parachute the volocopter 2x was shown off during a demonstration at the u.s consumer electronics air show in 2018 but both the commercial release date and the price have yet to be announced watch our vehicles playlist for more top 15 videos about amazing vehicles sit back relax and binge watch all of our best vehicle videos

Channel: Top Fives

Views: 391,706

Keywords: Helicopters, Mini Helicopters

Id: 8w3hfMOQo34

Length: 19min 45sec (1185 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 13 2022