Russia has lost a lot of helicopters recently in combat. This particular helicopter is unlikely to suffer that fate. Does the end of this video suprise you?
I'm an RC modeler & this one took me totally by surprise! I was all set to to cry "Clickbait!" when it landed safely, only to be brought up short on the zoom-back. Big-time kudos to the builder & flier!
iforce2d did something similar with a crop duster airplane. He held a radio pretending to control a full sized aircraft. The camera work in this video is better than what iforce2d managed. The guy in the foreground in this video actually looked taller than the helicopter. Good job with the optical illusion trick. Seriously, that was really cool. I thought it was a full scale helicopter initially.
Thank you for the “stop the war” painted on the side of the ship. And your designing, building workmanship, piloting skills, and video editing skills are over the top superb.
you got me on this. initially thought it was a real Russian aircraft. amazing how realistic it looks and sound. that must have cost a bundle. hope one of your fellow RC enthusiasts doesn't come up with a RC air defense system. 😃
OMG! For the first couple of minutes I was waiting for a missile to hit it. The first I recognized it as a radio control was when the guy controlling it showed up in the video! Good job! Your chopper is beautiful, and your control is flawless!
Such an authentic looking and flying model, a credit to the modelers. Great work with the video as well Bruce. I would be too worried about it returning to kit form due to an unexpected arrival to ever fly such an expensive machine.
I used to Build RC Submarines, But i Quit doing them they would Submerge, and i would never See them Again !!! But they were all Us Navy Replicas, never built any Russian Shit !!!
Fooled me! Fantastic model! That must have taken a lot of time and money to build, as well as a thorough knowledge of helicopter engineering. I especially liked the message painted on the side at the end.
I 3d printed some 16" tall narrow diameter model rockets and then strapped e10 motors on them. Then I let my son be the launch commander and fire them off at 9 years old. They had parachutes... but we never saw them again. On hd video on a really good monitor I could almost kind of follow the one after it got so high. He said we would have to tell the families that the tiny pilots were lost on the missions. When you are young your imagination makes everything so much more than it is and the more realistic it actually is the more elaborate the imagination can take things. Scale stuff is fun! I get a kick out of the technical achievement and he gets a kick out of the marvel of it all.
What a great video to watch, it clearly shows viewers the massive amount of torque that is applied to the tail rotor assembly while the "pilot" maneuvers from HOGE to HIGE during the landing process. The tail assembly seemed to almost rip itself apart from the main fuselage. Even though it's a RC model, the builder clearly knows how to build and fly rotary wing airships. The only small clue to it's actual size and abilities is that all of the 11 inch rocket weapon pods are empty hollow tubes, whereas IRL, the ignition system would normally prevent anyone from seeing daylight through the weapon pods. The amount of cash spent on the model is likely to be more than what most people spend on a car or truck. HOGE = Hover Out of Ground Effect HIGE = Hover In Ground Effect
Very clever slow speed video. Sure brings the sound into normality. Incredible detail on that one. Very subtle ending. Bricks can be subtle as well :-) Cheers Pete'.
I fully expect to see this being passed around social media as "Ukrainian war footage" within the next week or so, lol. I thought something was weird in the beginning when the copter was shaking like the dickens on liftoff, but until the end I thought Bruce was filming a real helicopter. Nicely done!
I'm still not sure if the takeoff is a real helicopter or the scale model. It does look a bit too clean and well maintained to belong to the Russian military but the shaking is actually something that makes me more think it is real than not. I have been on a Russian helicopter and experienced that kind of shaking first hand. It was the first thing I thought about as soon as I saw the beginning of the video. The shaking on the one I flew on was quite violent as it was lifting off the ground but got a little smoother as it gained speed and altitude. We arrived at destination safely and believe it or not in the evening we flew back with the same shaky chopper with the same two Russian pilots flying it and I lived to tell the tale. I spoke to one of them and asked whether the shaking was normal. His reply was that you start to worry if it stops shaking because that would mean that the engines have stopped working. His English was somewhat broken and he was also dead tired so that might not be exactly what he said. It was a passenger helicopter doing short hops of a few miles between islands but it was actually a converted Russian military helicopter, I think a Mi-8 - one could still see the Russian stars and some numbers through the new white paint.
Damn! Video had me fooled until the last minute. Congratulations to the modeler(s) who built this very faithful copy of the Hind. It will probably be the only intact, operational example left in the world after Ukraine finishes off Russia in a few more weeks.
At one time the largest squadron of these gunships was in the U.S. We purchased them from fractured states of the old Soviet Union. They were used a aggressor forces to train our troops against nations that employed this aircraft.
Ha, you had quite a good viewcount on this one! Those large scale helis never fail to impress. The moment it took off tho - the shakes destroy the scale effect a bit. Other than that- great filming and flying. (also saw the media article about you that you posted on twitter) greets, Mario
Pretty amazing looking machine! 😃 I don't know why, but I always loved how this helicopter looks! Thanks a bunch for sharing, Bruce!!! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
The standard and the level of authenticity, particularly in International competitions, can be very high. For example, it would not be too unusual to find working seat harnesses, or the correct manufacturers names on the tyres of the models. Minor details such as this would be instrumental in scoring points in competition...... Even details such as small oil leaks etc are often modelled.........
Great job! I also fly RC fixed wings, and helis, was Fire/Medic observer on a Hughs 500D, I also have a full scale Private pilots Lic. You did a phenomenal job with your heli, I thought it was full scale. My first clue was the rate of descent was too great, then the scale r/t the ground became obvious, not to mention the pilot. And YES, STOP THE WAR!
I thought that it was a real aircraft but was wondering how it stayed together with the frame fluttering. The tail boom with the rear winglets were oscillating oddly and that piqued my attention. I was wondering how such a craft didn't come apart doing that. Like a wing on a real plane that suffers from fluttering disintegrates in flight with disastrous results.
Same here. I thought the "unexpected ending" was going to be a crash due to a structural failure. That thing was wobbling like Aunt Mable's ceiling fan. LOL
Yah, the oscillations were odd so I was expecting it to just land as the pilots would have aborted that takeout very quickly. I watched it in small mode so didn't catch some of the telltales until I went full screen. I used to build and fly model airplanes and, even with a few easy telltales that this was a model and not a real copter, very impressive work and flying skills.
As the main rotor spun up to speed you could also see the chassis responding to an out of balance situation with that rotor and I think the rear boom wobble is a resultant part of that. Beautiful craft though.
Didn't you pick the exhaust fumes - evident on the real chopper to start, but absent in the substiuted toy part way thru the vid. the guy's dangerous - he'd be the one to create fake news and pass it off as real.
Nice footage Bruce! i think we all share the message on the door, as for this one suffering the same fate.... i'd be keeping an eye on that oscillation in that Fin and tail rotor just before landing, or are my eyes deceiving me?
One of my fellow club members had the same model. He mostly flew it on air-shows, too expensive for everyday flying. He sold it for 24000 Euros, more than my next car 😀
I sure was surprised at the end, the craft is perfect, the filming was excellently done. Now you see why everything you see is not what you think it is.!!!! Great job.
I was watching this most amazing buitiful machine, looking at the details with a tears bursting at the back of my eyes , my favourite aircraft for most of my life , Realizeing that it's been purely built to kill . I didn't realize before the Ukraine invasion !! I always thought that protection was the main reason for the design . I was in tears with that realization but I was watching with great interest and admiration I've had all my life . I didn't think for a moment this was a buitiful R.C Replica !! My hats off to the builder and pilot of this amazing work of art..
I was wondering why the tubes were empty and there seemed to be a bit more flex to the airframe... after putting that much work into something of that detailed I would be afraid to fly it and watch it all turn into a pile of heartache in 3.9 seconds.
same here.. back in the day when i dared to fpv without being sued, the more expensive gear i put on my skywalker, the afraid i were to actually fly it.. with something like this i wouldnt even get out of bed on a flying day..
Empty missile tubes are normal unless it's on a mission or on patrol, so that part didn't really stick out to me. They wouldn't fly a real Russian attack helicopter to a regional New Zealand airport fully armed, unless they intended to destroy it.
As a frequent viewer on your channel I was looking extra hard for giveaway signs, the dynamics of the undercarriage and some tiny wobbles gave it away. But very convincing indeed.
Soon as it started to take off I 'Got it'. ie. Soon as I saw the vibrations and oscillations in the airframe, I realised this was probably a model cause there is no way the real thing with its size and mass could oscillate like that and not fall apart. Hence the ending was exactly as I expected. A landing beside the 'Pilot'. Amazing Model Heli !!
I'm a RC pilot myself. You couldn't trick me, I saw the screws on the wings at the beginning and it doesn't sound like the original. Nevertheless you have great building, flying and video editing skills!!! Thumbs up!
Beautiful Helo, you had me until just after takeoff. I saw it jiggle, just a bit. Then I knew it was a VERY great model. Congratulations on your build, including the spot on message!
When it took off and was raising the landing gear I could see daylight through the back and I thought that was strange. But I had no idea it was a model until the end. You really got me.
Wow, what an incredible realistic model. Suddenly, the camera pans out and you get to see that the expected missile wasn't going to hit their target, because the target was in reality a remote control model. Amazingly real or should I say, unreal.
Those tail boom vibrations made me fearful of the rotor smacking the stabilizer with you guys standing so close it could be bloody. Really great looking aircraft though, great detailing. Stay safe.
Yeah! If I didn’t know better and trying to figure it out. Only thing that really gives it away is the buffer fly, at the beginning almost passes for a bird. Excellent work🔥👍
Wow! Yes, that as an unexpected ending! It looked a little shaky on the take off. I thought, "The prop isn't balanced properly, but typical Russian aviation. They'll fly anyway." I was surprised and amazed. Great work!
Brilliant. I had thought it was a full-size machine being flown by remote control, as I couldn't see any crew, until the end, when all was revealed!! Good one.
I thought the frame wobbled a bit on takeoff and tbh I was expecting an air frame failure and crash. Outstanding modelling- totally got me! Air frame wobble more evident on landing, other than that perfect!
At the beginning as I was watching the tail flexing/shaking from the rotor’s rotation, I was thinking “that’s typical of Russian Flintstone equipment, glad I don’t have to ride in that!” Then at the end I was dumbfounded! Wow what a hobbiest! 👍👍 Funny thing is I had recently watched a clip on a real Russian chopper recently spinning up and it really did exhibit a shake on the ground!! Very kool vid, thx 🤠
✌🏻😎🏴Nice. Got some nice scale looking shots in this one too👍🏻. Some of those clips looked strange though. Had Kind of a “game-ish look” to them. Probably due to the tracking. Also if they haven’t seen the footage yet you should point out that their tail will snap off if they don’t reinforce it. It has a lot of wobble in the back end.
