As long as you ignore all the rumors about NASA-developed helicopters that use alien technology, the fastest helicopter in the world is the Eurocopter X3. It uses two propellers to generate forward thrust and can hit 472 km/h (293 mph) in level flight back in 2013.
However, most commercial helicopters fly slower than this RC model appropriately called the Banshee. The video we found of it is from 2013 and shows it hitting 277 km/h, but it has gone a lot faster.
This extremely streamlined machine takes RC technology to the extreme and is the world record holder for the fastest electrically driven helicopter. Just consider the fact that automobiles usually need somewhere around 300 horsepower to be able to reach this kind of speed.
The Speed Banshee is a modified version of a standard model. In addition to a special chassis made with carbon fiber, it uses a 160 ampere UHV YGE controller an aerodynamic landing gear and some rather unique aerodynamics.
Helicopters move forwards by tilting the main rotor forwards. All that air is pushed over the fuselage as well, so the RC model has been made as streamlined as possible. The correction is extremely flat on both side, making the Banshee look like a black fish.
You could argue that it serves no real purpose, which is true. The helicopter can't be used to spy on your neighbors and to control it is probably as complex as teaching a cat to sing opera. But you can always leave it to the Germans to invent something cool like this.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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