It was created by the UK-based designers Sash Reading, Heather and Ivan Morison. They’ve dubbed it Three Cubes Collide and it was made from 1,700 3D-printed pieces, which were engineered and fabricated by Queen & Crawford. The kite uses a lightweight and durable fabric called Cuben Fiber to help keep it airborne.

I don’t know about you, but I think this thing is kind of awesome to see in flight. The modular design is supposedly scalable, so regardless of the size you print, due to its lightweight materials and carbon fiber rods, it should float.

What’s next, 3D-printed airships?

[via designboom]

A dude named Yves Rossy has made his jet pack dreams come true, but it’s not like most of the jet packs we see. The Jet Man has a quartet of nozzles fastened to a wing strapped to his back. He flies around hands in front Superman style. You can see how bad-ass his suit is in the video below.

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The dude jumped from a hot air balloon at 7,874 feet recently in Switzerland over Lake Geneva. After firing up his jet engines, he proceeded to do a couple loops marking the first time he has done aerobatics. After he runs out of fuel he pulls a parachute and floats down. If the folks at the TV studios ever get wise and bring Fall Guy back, they should use this thing in an episode.

[via KOMOnews]

The Martin Aircraft Company jetpacks have about 200 HP coming out of their dual propellers. They can go up to 1.5 miles in the air and reach speeds of 60 mph. They will aim to make about 500 packs a year.

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These jetpacks were invented by Glenn Martin, who unveiled his prototype last year in July. This whole contraption weighs less than 254 lbs, so in the UK, you won’t need a pilot’s license to travel in it. It is capable of traveling 30 miles with a full tank of fuel.

The jetpacks will be made in New Zealand, and the company says that these packs would be perfect for emergency services, as well private users and the military. (And killing yourself – ed.)

[via Good]

Created by a group of students for Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts + Technology (SIAT), the weBlimp is a remote-controlled flying machine that’s driven through crowd collaboration. A camera and audio sensors installed in one room react to the crowd’s movements and convey those to the blimp’s flight controls in another room.

According to its creators, the weBlimp’s control mechanism “conceptually miniaturizes participants and places them inside the gondola of a remote controlled blimp.” As you can see by the video below, it’s really a pretty ridiculous way to control the thing, and produces what I wouldn’t call the most controlled flight you’ve ever seen. But it still looks like fun.

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At least they didn’t fill their airship with hydrogen, cover it with highly flammable paint then hit it with some static electricity.

[via GreenDiary via NOTCOT]

This crazy thing could actually be the biggest fly you’ll see this year. Turns out this mammoth-sized bug was created by the guys over at Plunge Productions for a recent show on UK channel T4 called Red Bull Rivals.

The massive fly is actually a Red Bull Flugtag vehicle, which means that’s it’s designed to be plunged off of a cliff in a futile attempt to fly through the air.

As a matter of fact, the fly was eventually plunged into the drink for the recent Red Bull Flugtag in Marseille, France. Here’s an annoying little video clip from the show called “Fly School Musical” for your viewing pleasure…

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While the white guy rapping in the video clip isn’t nearly as cool as the fly itself, at least you get to see the giant bug fly off the ramp in a brief cameo at the end.

It’s official – flies cannot swim.

Okay here’s the real deal (via Missouri State University):

That’s a fire ant on the left, looking just fine and fiery, ready to bite your little toe off. And here’s what could happen after the phorid fly’s Brain Buster attack: (via USDA-SABCL)

Ouch. Rob Plowes of the University of Texas summarizes the epic battle thusly: “…as the maggot eats a fire ant’s brain the ant begins to rove around mindlessly. After about two weeks, the ant’s head falls off, allowing the fly to emerge, seeking another fire ant to begin the cycle again.” The plan won’t eradicate the ants totally, just control the annoying ant’s population. And that’s good, because 20th Century Fox just got a hold of representatives from the warring insects and signed them on for a trilogy.

With up to 215 horsepower, the JetLev jetpack flings you up to 28 feet in the air at up to 40MPH by pumping water through its jets.

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I think I’m gonna stick to my innertube for now.

Stanford researchers have designed these incredible little robots are about the size of a quarter for use in atmospheric research on Earth (and one day) on Mars. I just want them for conducting research in my office building.

[via Brendan's Official Blog via Neatorama]

Instead of just beeping when it’s time to get up, the Rocket Launcher Alarm Clock offers up a vocal countdown every morning, then fires a rocket into the air if you don’t turn it off before the timer runs out. If you don’t get to it before lift-off, you’ll have to run across the room, pick up the rocket, and place it back on the clock base to stop the alarm. And just in case you were worried about it, the rocket has a squishy foam tip, so you don’t need to worry about it poking your eye out when it lands on your head.

Ready to blast off into space? If you live in the UK, find one at DrinkStuff for £14.67 or in the States, head over to Perpetual Kid and plunk down your $25 bucks.

A pair of soft, brightly colored rotors help to propel the Roboppi (ROBO-P) flyer upwards and produce stable flight.

As it flies through the air, colored LEDs inside the spinning body of the Roboppi blink rapidly, producing a whirlwind of color. Roboppi can fly around for up to 6 minutes at a time on a 25 minute charge.

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Of course the pint-size flyer is no match for your cat…

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Until recently, the Roboppi was only available in Japan, but thanks to the guys over at the Japan Trend Shop, you can get one flown in pretty much anywhere on the globe for $41 USD + shipping.

The Draganflyer X6 is an unmanned, miniature helicopter which can carry wireless video or still digital cameras up, up in the air. Interchangeable modules let you swap between high-def video, still images, low light and thermal imaging cameras.

The craft uses a sophisticated 6-rotor design to maintain smooth, balanced flight, and has an embedded GPS system so you can keep track of the exact location of your copter.

11 on-board sensors and custom application code automatically stabilize the flyer, and if it loses the remote signal, it can automatically land itself and transmit its position via the GPS module.

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Check out this video clip in which the operator does everything he can to try and crash the X6, and it just won’t give in.

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Draganflyer’s remote control is no slouch either. It features a schmancy OLED display which relays back video, images, and real-time statistics on the helicopter’s flight data and GPS coordinates.

Designed for use in video production, military, emergency management and educational uses, the X6 is certainly no toy. Although I’d love to have one to play with (hint hint, Draganfly guys). And with a starting price tag of $14,995, you’ll be mighty glad it can land itself safely.

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You can check out all the pertinent stats, and many more videos of the X6 in action over on the Draganfly website.

Measuring in at just 4.65 inches long, the minuscule MX-1 chopper takes the crown for the Worlds Smallest remote-controlled helicopter (besting its closest competition, which measures in at about 6-inches long).

It’s actually so small that it stows inside of its own recharger/remote control when not in flight – and the remote fits in your pocket. The body of the copter is built from durable EPP foam, which should keep it safe and sound even if you do bump it into your ceiling. There’s even a little flashing blue LED on the helicopter so you can fly it with the lights switched off.

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Ready to hit the skies? The tiny MX-1 is available now over at ThinkGeek, and priced at $49.99 USD.

But the real cool factor is a special autopilot mode which lets the Bladestar atuomatically avoid ceilings and other obstacles. Heck, you can even steer it by waving your hands in front of it. If you’d rather have more precise control over your flyer, just use the included digital IR remote control.

Thanks to the multi-channel remote system, you can even fly two Bladestars at the same time and take down your friend in Dogfight mode. It’s all made from a durable crash-resistant materials, and safe to fly indoors.

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The spinning blade design sort of reminds me of those annoying Manhacks from Half-Life 2. Unfortunately, these ones don’t have deadly metal saw blades mounted on them. Oh well.

Still, they do look pretty cool even if they won’t decapitate your enemies. You can get your hands on the Flytech Bladestar over on Amazon for just under $50 bucks.

[Flytech Bladestar]

Created by German industrial designers Ding3000 for Fred, the delete key flyswatter will keep your typing hands clear of that sticky goo from smashing flies with your bare mitts. And of course, it’s much better for you than inhaling DDT.

The swatter comes in both charcoal grey and ivory to match your computer keyboard color, and can be found over on Amazon for $8 bucks a pop.

Now if only they produced an Insert key version too, I could finally release a plague of flies on the guys in the accounting department down the hall.

Pressing a button on the remote can fire an invisible IR beam at your opponent’s helicopter, making it start to spin out of control. A second shot makes your enemy lose some power, and one more deadly shot kills power altogether, sending their copter plummeting to the ground.

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You can grab a pair of the dueling mini helicopters from ThinkGeek for $49.99.

The fan plugs into your USB port, and has a soft “propeller” that’s designed to not slice your digits off if you happen to get in its way. The little aircraft isn’t built to be aerodynamically sound since it would fly off of your desk otherwise. (Although that would be really cool, IMHO.)

The airplane fan should be landing soon from Kikkerland. I’ll post back when I have more details on when and how much.

PEGA’s $12.99 Wii Airplane Controller Stand suction cups onto any flat surface, giving you something that approximates a flight wheel on a plain. Just stick your Nunchuk on the one side, and your Wii-mote on the other, and you’ll be taking off and landing like a pro… just as soon as some more flying games comes out.

If only this early prototype flying game had actually made it into Wii Sports…

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[via Go Nintendo]

Dinner In The Sky uses a mobile crane to lift its entire 22-seat open-air dining room over city streets all over Europe. Before they can leave the earth, diners are strapped into their seats with a four-point harness as if they were about to get onto a ride at Great America.

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The whole setup is available for rent starting from about 7900 € (a little more than $10,000 USD) for a day in the operator’s homeland of Belgium. They’ll even bring the dining room to other countries for a bit more money. Those prices don’t include electricity or catering either, so this is clearly an experience reserved for the filthy rich.

My only recommendation… be sure to hit the bathroom BEFORE you take off.

The CAUL (Car Action Unit’s Line, whatever that means) Helibot can fly for about 5 minutes on a full battery charge, and can be remotely operated up to 90 feet away using the included 2.4GHz controller.

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The Helibot is available for pre-order now from NCSX Imports for $65.

The TAM Rocket Belt is a complete rocket pack system which is custom fitted to the exact specifications of the pilot. It can lift a person of up to 300lbs., and has flown to heights over 100 feet in the air. It even includes the equipment necessary to make your own rocket fuel (using highly pressurized peroxide, so it’s not combustible.) They even throw in 10 training flights to make sure you don’t kill yourself before you take it home.

The only downside is that it only holds enough fuel to propel you into the air for about 10 to 15 seconds, so you won’t be going very far.

[via Geekologie]