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It may not be the ideal material. But has there ever been a LEGO model airplane with the ability to glide, under power maybe, or some other kind of successful lifting airship? Helicopter, blimp, kite, even rocket? Sliding down a string doesn't count. Has anyone produced any kind of limiting analysis for this problem?

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Does it need to be LEGO-parts only? If so, good luck with that. – Joubarc♦ Oct 28 '11 at 9:21
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All the time... oh, you mean sustained flight, not just projectile... – Cameron MacFarland Oct 28 '11 at 9:42
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This (rcheliresource.com/video-lego-rc-helicopter) is a Lego replica, scaled up. Looks pretty cool. – pcantin Oct 28 '11 at 10:19
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What about hopping? I'm sure a hopping Technic model is doable, and that does generate some lift (ok, not much). – Joubarc♦ Oct 28 '11 at 11:11
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I've often wondered whether you could get a 100% Lego helicopter to fly (or at least hover). I suspect that it'd be too heavy if it needed to include the batteries (even rechargable ones), but if you powered it by a wire connected to a battery on the ground it might work...? – Frankie Roberto Dec 21 '12 at 11:38
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up vote 13 down vote

LEGO seems to be way to heavy and not aerodynamic enough to build a plane so the best bet would be to build a zeppelin.

theres's a video on youtube that shows such a zeppelin where the nacelle is build with LEGO (not sure if if it's pure LEGO, take a look at it at about 1:55 in the video).

EDIT:
just found another, much more simple example using only 5 helium-balloons and a 9V-motor: youtube-video

EDIT2:
after some more searching i found this video. A LEGO-model of a Bell-Boeing V-22 that looks like it lifts of and flys by the power of his own engine but is suspended by wire.

conclusion: flying lego is possible when you add some none-lego-parts - building a zeppelin seems to be realy easy using some helium-balloons while building an aircraft without suspension is not possible (or at least: not if you plan to use LEGO-motors as they simply don't have enough power).

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Looks cool, but I'd just be too darn afraid of losing my LEGO bricks. "It's not coming back down!!!" – PeterDC Oct 28 '11 at 15:24
just take an airsoft-gun with you and shoot the ballons if it goes to high ;) - everything comes down sooner or later. – oezi Oct 29 '11 at 8:39
That vid with the Bell-Boeing V22 is faked. The last shot at the end shows the setup, which I also think was faked. Sorry. – Cameron MacFarland Oct 30 '11 at 3:45
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...wich is what i wrote: "looks like [it] flys [...] but is suspended by wire" – oezi Oct 30 '11 at 11:05
up vote 2 down vote

Some family built a LEGO quad-copter. Unsurprisingly, it uses non-LEGO parts. Also, the design might seem a bit weird and worst of all, it's glued (uuurrrgh).

But it does work and appears to be very stable, enough to provide a nice remote camera view.

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up vote 2 down vote

Not a pure Lego solution, as it uses helium balloons for lift, but it is (mostly) made from Lego and also uses a Mindstorms NTX for control.

Article on engaget

Direct link to YouTube vidio

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