523 years after his original drawing, DaVinci's parachute design is proven to actually work. There was an earlier attempt, but apparently the wooden frame specified by DaVinci likely would have seriously maimed the jumper. Perhaps not entirely coincidentally, the 2008 jump was made from a helicopter - another one of DaVinci's concepts.
posted on Apr 28, 2008 - View this thread

An arborist in a helicopter Arborist Todd Irvine gets a ride in a news chopper, photographing and annotating Toronto’s tree canopy – still largely in place and vibrantly colourful due to winter’s late arrival.
posted on Nov 16, 2007 - View this thread

1995 world Rally Champion Colin McRae has died in a helicopter crash with his 5 year old son.
posted on Sep 15, 2007 - View this thread

Two news helicopters met in a deadly midair collision today while covering a police chase on live television (video, tragic but not graphic).
posted on Jul 27, 2007 - View this thread

Charging moose brings down helicopter.
posted on Mar 5, 2007 - View this thread

A somber video with music purporting to show the downing of a US helicopter surfaces on the New York Times and YouTube. Some background here.
posted on Feb 19, 2007 - View this thread

Heli-Africa - Wildlife photographer Michael Poliza's photo journal from a just completed 2 month helicopter tour from Hamburg to Cape Town. These are a few samples to potentially whet the appetite.
posted on Dec 2, 2006 - View this thread

One-button helicopter game for FFF.
posted on Nov 17, 2006 - View this thread

Metal Storm Limited specializes in weapon systems featuring rapid fire electronically fired bullets, up to 1 million a minute. The weapons platform can be used to make the worlds strongest handgun as well as be used to equip unmanned drones with firepower. The most frightening of which is perhaps the "dragonfly" micro copter. Their site has a number of videos showcasing some of the various weapons applications. Metal Storm has been around for a while, without getting a product to market, but with a recent influx of funding it doesn't look like they are going to go out of business any time soon.
posted on Jul 10, 2006 - View this thread

"The Hayward Fault is locked and loaded. It is ready to fire at any time." The U.S. Geological Survey has a Google Earth-based "virtual helicopter tour" and other annotated views of The Hayward Fault. There's a 70% probability of a major earthquake hitting the San Francisco Bay Area before 2030, and Hayward is the most likely fault [PDF] for an earthquake (or is it?). Bad things will happen. Fortunately we're completely unprepared. [more inside]
posted on Mar 10, 2006 - View this thread

Imagine what it might feel like to get hit in the head by a rotating helicopter blade. Johnny Lowe found out two days ago -- and has survived to earn the nickname "Chopper".
posted on Dec 28, 2005 - View this thread

Gen H-4 The world smallest co-axial helicopter (Japanese site) with video here [wmv]. {via}
posted on Oct 25, 2005 - View this thread

To the summit of Everest by helicopter.  Is nothing sacred? (direct link to WMV video)
posted on Jun 2, 2005 - View this thread

Because spaceflight, in and of itself, is just way to easy. On 08 August 2001, NASA launched Genesis. It was a spacecraft that would spend 1125 days in space, including 884 days collecting 0.4 milligrams of solar particles. At that point, it would launch a 500 lbs return vehicle that would travel 600 mph back to earth. When it enters the atmosphere, at approximately 11:55am EST on Wednesday of this week, it will be going close to twenty-five thousand mph. Oddly enough, this is the easy part of the mission.

Because then, two minutes later, NASA is going to catch it. In mid-air. With a helicopter. Really.
posted on Sep 7, 2004 - View this thread

Custom paint job on Afghan Hind attack chopper. Impressive, but why? (Via Gizmodo)
posted on Jul 3, 2004 - View this thread

Police seize Vietnamese farmer's unlicensed, homebuilt helicopter This NYT/AP report convinced me that globalization truly dooms that American middle class pitted against such dedication. Yankee tinkering once provided a foundation for the North American industrial revolution. But now:' The farmer said he won't give up, vowing to sell his house or 25 acres of land if that's what it takes to get the license. "If I cannot do it, my children or my grandchildren will do it,'' he said. '
posted on Feb 16, 2004 - View this thread

Remember the Coastal Records Project? When I first heard about this, I applauded, then wasted a couple of hours looking at the nice pics. But I couldn't help wondering when they'd run into some compound of a celebrity who'd put up a stink (okay, I was hoping it would be Ah-nold, and there'd be a scene reminiscent of his movies, stinger missile launched from his patio at the helicopter...) alas, it's only Barbara. Still, does this only make me wonder if our celebrities are helping push through laws to establish themselves in a higher class than us peons? Please note that the irony of rich people suing each other isn't lost on me, and I'm not trying to put forward that it could be any one of us touring in a helicopter doing this. But I mean, the guy's taking picture's of the whole coast, not just some star-map, coastline version. Until this lawsuit, I'd wager, only the most dedicated stalker would've known this was her place. But now...
posted on Jun 1, 2003 - View this thread

California Coastal Records Project. Rich guy with a helicopter and a digital camera posting high-resolution pictures on the internet of every mile of the California coastline, 500 feet at a time. (Related Washington Post article.)
posted on Nov 4, 2002 - View this thread

The war on drugs claims forest as casualty. A forest fire that burned out of control for almost two weeks and devastated over 50,000 acres near San Diego was caused by a helicopter looking for pot farms, a California Department of Forestry investigation has concluded. [link via disinfo]
posted on Aug 17, 2002 - View this thread

Fly The Copter You think it's easy flying a radio-controlled helicopter into somebody's head. My hi-score is 418. See if you can beat it.
posted on May 2, 2002 - View this thread

Here's something you don't see every day.. The north Texas radio station KVIL 103.7FM has a traffic copter which has flown nearly every weekday without fail for years. It's a regular sight in the sky for Dallas commuters. This morning, it became traffic. Engine failure led to an emergency landing on a city street. Avoiding power lines and oncoming traffic, the pilot lost the tail rotor assembly but otherwise landed his copter intact. A near catastrophe was averted by a very capable, steely-eyed missile man of a pilot. The three reporters in the copter with the pilot suffered only minor injuries. A very lucky day. It coulda been a lot worse.
posted on Apr 11, 2002 - View this thread

Whizzy, spinny, Enterprise/UFO looking like thing. SimiCon, a Norwegian company focused on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles is developing a circular craft that uses both rotors and a low profile jet in order to provide the high performance of a fixed wing craft along with the VTOL capabilites of a helicopter. Looks pretty cool.
posted on Feb 4, 2002 - View this thread

Geez this sounds familiar. Helicopters manned by Americans involved in shootout with Columbian guerillas. Just advising you understand. . .
posted on Feb 22, 2001 - View this thread

Life imitates television! Helicopter escapes -- just like a Quinn-Martin Production! Where is Barnaby Jones when you need him?
posted on Jun 5, 2000 - View this thread

It's a chopper, baby.
posted on Mar 24, 2000 - View this thread