Battling 200 RC Airplanes With a Giant Flying Ceiling Fan

[@NicholasRehm]

Hey everyone! A few things: 1. Thank you for 100k!!! This project was for all of you--now I can get back to the unfolding quadcopter project :) 2. The "toilet-bowling" in the air was the result of me actively trying to pitch it over with my implemented control method. But even the 10mph wind meant that every time I did manage to pitch it into the wind to stop the drifting, it would roll right back over ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 3. I actually flew this thing 3 times at the event! I'll be posting the full 3rd flight over on my Patreon page in the next few days along with a discussion on the above wind issues, which arise from the extremely low disk loading of these types of spinning drone designs. It's basically why slow planes have big propellers, and fast planes have turbojets: exit thrust speed & blade "bite" - Nick

[@AT_AV_EDITZ]

W vid

[@JolanXBL]

I think I just say your propeller on today's Daily Dose! "Stealing From a Thief" at 2m 28s

[@mayinjabob9380]

hey, nice work btw how hard would it be try attemp a bicopter flyingwing with dremflight, taking to mind the cg complexities of the two platforms.

[@Leo_the_duck]

you should make an even bigger one

[@RPG_Guy-fx8ns]

These Peahat copters are the reason Kokiri stay in the forest.

[@hiperfin]

The internet truly has internet-ed. I saw a video from Flight Fest the other day on Tik Tok of someone taking cover while everyone yelled "who's flying the ceiling fan?" and I'm so glad that I was able to see not only your POV, but the built process. Amazing work!

[@NicholasRehm]

That's awesome

[@tuberroot1112]

Look at his earlier videos, Nick actually had the proto hung up as a ceiling fan.

[@homohumanoperson4565]

Yeah Im so glad I found this video after I saw the ceiling fan on that video lol

[@iainball2023]

Same ! 😂

[@cryptokids3760]

Same here, but KZbin shorts

[@michaelrechtin]

Aluminum tape vs the world! Such a cool build!

[@NicholasRehm]

I owe you a new roll still lol Thanks man🙂

[@siegelink9549]

@@NicholasRehm Amazing Build.

[@whatsthematter8767]

Muahah! So glad our Scout got in the thumbnail! Until next time Nick! PS: Sorry for smacking your head off PPS: Also sorry for absolutely DEMOLISHING you xD

[@NicholasRehm]

I owe you one for making this entire video awesome😂😂😅

[@whatsthematter8767]

@@NicholasRehm It was certainly an experience! Though, most of the credit should go to my friend Hank, as he did most of the amazing flying and was really helpful while building it.

[@NotAnotherTim]

Great flying both of you!

[@jacksonm.3291]

Nice shots! That was some fancy flying. Did you fly fpv?

[@trif55]

impressive! what plane was it you were flying? we only saw details of it's tail! lol

[@david.e.h.]

"Helicopter supply store", my favorite line of the week!

[@nickryan3417]

Yeah, I was drinking a drink when I heard that line too!

[@jacobthibodeau6685]

2:52 hahah i love how the limitations of the size was based completely off the size of what you can fit it in to get there

[@NicholasRehm]

Funny part was it almost didn’t fit because I mis-measured

[@eddarby469]

This is often a design limitation, such as for bridge girders.

[@rctestflight]

So good! I love how the thumbnail makes it look like a manned aircraft

[@NicholasRehm]

Flat Stanley counts as a real person!

[@mario_hehe1234]

Flat lives matter!!!

[@joshhayl7459]

​@@NicholasRehm 🟦…Why do you need the lie??....Regardless of WHAT you Call it, It's still 'Clickbait',..as where it says "This is me", is NOT YOU, but rather an IMAGE of you,... ...(BIG Diff!).

[@AlBoulley]

Yeah I dislike misrepresentation and usually tell KZbin to stop recommending such channels.

[@humanbean3]

@@KJFMZ lol, i on the other hand knew there was a 99.9% chance that was not a real person balancing on a flying ceiling fan. intrigued, i clicked the video and had a big smile while watching. so glad i found it!

[@austinwilliams9592]

Now build the worlds largest quad copter out of 4 of them.

[@NicholasRehm]

Now we're talking

[@handlemonium]

So a quad-rotor version of the V-22 Osprey?

[@MrSatchelpack]

That's like prop inception.

[@pauls5745]

team effort, 4 independent quads as rotor tip power, takes 2 or 4 people to fly, would be very comical learning how to cooperate to fly it.

[@thedyingmeme6]

​@@handlemonium yes yes yes yes yes yes i LOVE the Osprey

[@Premier-Media-Group]

The fact that this type of power mapping for motor control is available to most any hobbyist is absolutely amazing.

[@GeomancerHT]

This is funnier than robot battles, I hope to see more advanced and long lasting planes in the future, with better defenses and attack mechanisms too.

[@erzanugroho5453]

Uhhhh.... F15 will do just right

[@isaiahrohrs2683]

Seeing you at Flite Fest was a blast, and I'm glad you got to destroy it in combat! Thanks for putting out all this hard work for everyone's enjoyment and learning. Still got a few kinks to work out on the Holy Hand Grenade plane, so hopefully, I'll see you next year for combat again!

[@NicholasRehm]

Oh sick, yea best of luck with that project! Thanks for hanging out this year

[@ONEFUNFONE]

Goes to flite test with a giant ceiling fan 😂 still a cool build can't wait to see what you do next year!

[@Domemilkyrayyy]

I can build a literal flying saucer no props involved! Mini one in this case for that fight , that will be unbeatable.

[@cartoon_cat..]

​@@Domemilkyrayyy show

[@pauls5745]

Love to see something like this! so crazy, everyone having a great time and there's always a couple flying abominations.

[@Kestral_BrawlStars]

Bro made the worlds largest levitating ceiling fan 💀💀💀

[@Redsauceconsumer]

Man I’m alive

[@Fishylocker]

Man I'm alive

[@handlemonium]

Man it hovers

[@emmyann17]

Dude, I am not tech-smart enough to understand all the engineering, but I CAN appreciate how much effort went into this. This is sooooo cool. Always so proud of you, baby bro!

[@emmyann17]

Also, "IDIOT ALERT" was hilarious. Love your vibe with these vids.

[@runed0s86]

bro can't even understand how airplane fly (7th grade physics class)

[@tardigrademicro]

@runed0s86 All of the complexities that go into creating actual flying machines, especially unique concepts like this, take years to master. It's normal to not understand exactly what he's talking about or referencing.

[@paytonconroy7953]

TBH that was one of the best sponser messages ever it actually felt real and made me want to use it

[@IARRCSim]

18:05 the meditative pose of a life size Nicholas is the funniest part of it. He looks perfectly calm as he rides a pile of foam and gets hit by other drones.

[@eamonia]

_Those_ shots, of _those_ events, were some of the coolest things I've ever seen on KZbin. Amazing...

[@megatronyeets]

I like how the sponsor segment felt like it was actually part of the video

[@uninsignificant]

Probably the least annoying sponsor add on KZbin.

[@runed0s86]

It's still an ad. I use sponsorblock.

[@StrategicGamesEtc]

Yeah, It brings "work the ad into the video" to a whole new level when the product being advertised is something not just tangentially related to the video, but actually part of the video itself

[@gg_sam7847]

Oh man that's so cool I can't wait to skip it Jkjk

[@mathewblanc9936]

“Giant pinwheel of doom”, just what I was thinking. Insane project! Congrats on 100k, you definitely deserve all those subs and more!

[@NicholasRehm]

Many thanks!!

[@eddarby469]

I expected you to put a lightweight cage around it to protect the important components. Then, with the right exterior decorations you could make it appear to be a death star.

[@jesseb3307]

That was amazing! Flying ceiling fan. So cool , keep it up, I wish to be skirmishing the skies with you!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!

[@SierraGolfNiner]

That transition at 2:34 ::chefs kiss:: had to skip back to watch that a couple more times. Smooth as buttah.

[@NicholasRehm]

I appreciate you noticing 😅 makes it worth the 3 hours of editing haha

[@Jwmbike14]

Ive got a helpful tip. Foam board is used constantly in composites for homebuilt (manned carrying) aircraft. We use it a lot to shape cowlings, fairings, etc. One of the most difficult tasks is a good bond between foam, that is also sandable and shapable at a similar consistency. The trick? 2:1 Gorilla glue to lightweight spackle. It foams like pour foam, has a B stage at about 30 min that is easy to tear/cut off, and when its fully cured it sands really easily. Pot life is quick, only about 5-10 min. It yields about 4:1 volume, maybe even higher. Highly recommend for future projects. Edit: I should specify we use a lot of pink insulation foam - not Rc foam board, but it will work similarly. The key take away is that it's sandable.

[@putteification]

Sounds good! Do you happen to know any video that shows this in practise?

[@Jwmbike14]

@@putteification No. It's not very well known. I learned from the king of composites in GA and aerospace. I've used it on my own plane, as well as our reno racer. It's not terribly difficult. Give it a shot

[@aivkara]

Awesome! Do you have a link to your technique? I need save this info in my library for an upcoming project

[@Jwmbike14]

@@aivkara I don't. But if you follow my instructions, it's super simple. Give it a shot if spare sheets of foam

[@michaelvanbenschoten2165]

Wow! I'm a sculptor and I've never heard of that trick. That's going to come in handy.

[@Ug_Gene]

OMG! I found you after seeing this on Instagram. I had no idea how BIG that thing is from the video. This is Awesome! I want to make one and the flying lawnmower that I saw years ago.

[@jonesmatthew7511]

Peter to the rescue! Great job and support from the community!

[@NicholasRehm]

The very fact that that man could say “I’ve had this problem before” was incredible haha

[@eriylpixeloff3134]

His RC kinda looks like a final boss to me. Something like floating heli fortress.

[@ilkoderez601]

This is one of the best RC channels ever! Thank you for the video. The camera views from the 'copter were amazing!

[@NicholasRehm]

Many thanks! 360 cam views generously provided by Noah over at @FliteTest

[@StephanBuchin]

That definitely was the boss of the show.

[@adamhale6672]

Your projects are unlike any other, Nick. I am always so stoked when you release a video. I appreciate your ingenuity and creativity.

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!!

[@djrafaelhulme]

When I was a kid there were these black plastic bags that you can buy and fill with air that would float after it warmed in the sun. We thought that was PRETTY cool.

[@beimanuel942]

solar balloons are cool

[@Webshadow]

Remember these fondly, my dad called them "Luftwurst" (Airsausage)

[@johntowner1893]

What I think is a cool little thing - when the plane takes out your cutout, some of its streamers get cut short by your propellers, and you see the pink streamers falling away

[@FateGathersStudios]

Nice design an good flight. I've always loved the people over at flite test, and this was just great to watch.

[@mikehensley78]

the battle at the end was EPIC!!!! totally worth it.

[@robertstark3326]

As usual, you have out done yourself. What a great project and video. The way you addressed the problems was just beautiful. Can't wait to see what you come up with next.

[@chriskrawczyk2589]

Great footage, it was a pleasure talking to you at the Flite Fest 2024

[@NicholasRehm]

Hey I appreciate you stopping by to chat!

[@cmleong]

Wow it was like a scene from Star Trek when the humongous empire cruiser was taken down by heroic tiny flyers! Thanks for bringing childhood memories back.😆

[@illygah]

This is one of my favorites. You give Ben Krasnow a run for his money.

[@girrrrrrr2]

How dare you! but you are correct... Next stop Tech Ingredients

[@wordragon]

The get it done attitude and help to do that is so honest and inspiring! Attending next year for sure.

[@ultimatedude5610]

So you're the dude who was flying the ceiling fan in that reel lol.

[@miinyoo]

That was possibly the most adorable nerdy thing I've seen all year. Had no idea there was a national RC Flight Club. Really cool!

[@boing7679]

thats actually insane, how does this only have 10k views

[@megaflux7144]

great video. i cried and everything.. but. how could resist making it rocket powered?! it would have been a flaming spiral of hell!

[@NicholasRehm]

Streamers, rockets, deployable airplanes from the tips were all considered! But only so much time to pull it off

[@nicocesar]

7:13 that face is very calm. Outstanding confidence in you own creation. Good job.. If I were you, I would be dress like a hockey goalie

[@NicholasRehm]

hahaha the very first spool up had a bit more distance and some safety glasses involved

[@TomaTomohawk24]

next video: "I constructed a 1/300 scale Arsenal bird and enacted aerial supremacy upon flite fest!"

[@TriplePlay17]

Definitely on to something, the entire video reminded me of the build videos on "BattleBots" and the air to air battle is an awesome idea. AirBorn BattleBots!

[@NicholasRehm]

Maybe next time we’ll put two of these up beyblade battlebots style

[@litterbug4023]

Epic fun at the BEST SUMMER CAMP EVER! Thank you for another epic build!

[@NicholasRehm]

@@litterbug4023 I can’t thank you enough for all your help making this happen!

[@geekmidget]

Awesome! It's really encouraging seeing people doing all kinds of crazy and fun projects which invove solving hard technical problems 😄

[@ZarlanTheGreen]

Ever since I saw the spinning drone, I've wanted to see you add some kind of solution, for a thing that stays smoothly in the same direction, like e.g. a camera that stays directed in the forwards direction, despite the drone spinning. Now you've made one. The spinning drone got me checking this channel, and whilst I've found some of the other stuff interesting, I'm still _mainly_ interested in seeing further development of the spinning drone.

[@NicholasRehm]

I think there's still plenty more to be explored!

[@AbulaSyllabus]

Oh dude I love the side-shot of the hub with everything in hahaha amazing idea cool!

[@eternalprogression]

Man! That was just awesome, congrats on 100k that is a HUGE milestone!!!!🎉 It was so awesome seeing you there!! (my cameo at 12:13 😂) wish I could have stayed longer to see it fly! Also, just noticed that the wings are offset by a few inches. That was 100% the reason for all the toilet bowling…that definitely hasn’t been disproven by anyone…😂

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks for stopping by to say hi my dude! Great to see you again

[@martinlynn3699]

Way fun. I love seeing (hearing) engineers get excited. I wish i understood eveything they were talking sbout.

[@Heneling]

Cant wait to see this channel grow even more! your software has been incredibly useful for my projects, I cant thank you enough!

[@Austin_Hart]

Lol, I actually clapped on the landing! Good job man.

[@TucsonDude]

I'm an engineer and I'm humbled.

[@ernestoterrazas3480]

I just want to congratulate you, for this great project, you are a real engineer keep working like that the world needs people like you.

[@Anthromod]

What do you think of the idea of instead of having an indicator in top, you set up the control inputs to be a global frame of reference rather than local? So basically connect the reference to a compass and then the controller moves it North-South, East-West, or some angles most suitable for the combat area. Is that just a less natural way of control if you're used to normal RC aircraft?

[@books96book0]

I feel like there would be massive issues with getting a compass to work in the presence of the constantly fluctuating magnetic fields created by the power wires.

[@michaelfoxfoxster469]

That was Epic as can be. Next year you can build the Death Star 2 with upper and lower blades, with knives on the leading edges and wingtips to just chew and cut up all the compietition!

[@epicdaniel508]

That's bonkers! Never seen something like this before

[@edpoell2876]

Gorgeous build under the time line constraints, glad you got some fun in at Flight Fest! Epic filmwork buddy.

[@NicholasRehm]

I appreciate that! Cheers

[@paulkepshire5056]

10:02 No need to roast your soldering job when, by the look of it, you have already done that yourself. 😏

[@NicholasRehm]

oh this is a good one

[@paulkepshire5056]

@@NicholasRehm Indeed. Unlike your soldering.

[@davidjester5085]

It was great getting to hang out a little bit with you at Flite Fest. Thank you for giving us an awesome show!

[@NicholasRehm]

Appreciate you stopping by to chat!!

[@stuartwood7252]

I've been so looking forward to this one. And it didn't disappoint. It did kinda give me flashbacks, when Skylab was going to hit somewhere in Australia. Awesome job mate. Stu. Melbourne

[@NicholasRehm]

Cheers!

[@3VFtetsu]

9:57 that part with soldering got me rolling

[@Fanatator]

It's all fun and games until somebody screams "fox 2"

[@My_initials_are_O.G.cuz_I_am]

@ECLIPSE36521 That's the callout for firing a heat-seeking A2A missile.

[@kaden-sd6vb]

That'd just make the games more fun

[@MiguelP-yw4rd]

Remember 🫤 use a tachometer to get the most rpm's from different pitch of propellers , it will turn faster w/ more torque and power , also make base longer to stabilize contraption.

[@MostlyPennyCat]

What did you use for those cables you had to shield? In the future if you have a very long cable run, perhaps you could use UTP networking cable, as the twisted pairs ensure a very high signal to noise ratio. If weights an issue, just strip the insulation and just use a single twisted paid (there's 4 pairs in the cable), colour coded too!

[@spacedbro]

To say that I absolutely love your channel and projects is such a massive understatement.

[@NicholasRehm]

I appreciate that!!

[@Jay-in4fg]

Peter the legend👍😎

[@drfirechief8958]

Just found your site. The build was awesome. From simple high school balsa wood and styrofoam to high tech stabilization electronics. I thought it was great. You have a new sub.

[@jeancarloabreu]

so much noise for 2 minutes of action...

[@NicholasRehm]

Is that what your wife tells you too?

[@flaming_zombie]

@@NicholasRehm yikes

[@pr1sm55]

LMAO you got destroyed.. 😂

[@trikooo]

​@@NicholasRehmJESUS CALM DOWN

[@Shayamalam]

@@NicholasRehm 🤣😭

[@FormulaZR]

This was a super cool build. I'd love to see V2 with some model rockets glued to the tips for either a super fast initial climb or emergency recovery.

[@Mike-mf3ed]

So you basically made a drone boss battle. Awesome!

[@olsonspeed]

Ridiculous and awesome, a unique engineering challenge. It will be very hard to top this monster.

[@NicholasRehm]

But we will try!

[@fintronics]

Incredible!.. I've flown combat at the NEAT fair several times but nothing like this! Amazing.

[@SirPano85]

So here you are! I finally found you after many shorts about your destructive creation! 😁

[@nanastos18060]

DUDE… this an an EPIC project!! The amount of time effort and hard work, not to mention recording editing… WOW!! Hands-down just downright freaking amazing! Love your work can’t wait to see what comes next!

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks a ton!!

[@TheCommonGardenTater1]

Stunningly FUN. Well done Nicholas.

[@NicholasRehm]

Thanks!

[@witext]

Your spinning drone was easily my favorite project so im so glad to see you revisit it Perhaps some sort of magnetometer could do the trick, making sure to keep the platform pointing a certain direction when not giving input

[@MattsOrdinaryLife]

1st video I've seen of yours and this was great! Great way to engage younger people to get in to the hobby.

[@rstomahawkty]

I saw this on twitter before it popped up on my youtube, but I bookmarked it because seeing a ceiling fan fly was going to be epic. Thankfully, google on my phone was spying on my twitter and recommended the video!

[@johnnycaps1]

Watching this made me very nervous for you. I can't imagine how worried you were. Great job. Great explanations. Congratulations on getting this "thing" up in the air.

[@flyingkiwi14]

Great project, really enjoy watching your process. Super impressive you got it done in 3 months

[@Sabotage_Labs]

Well done, Sir! Flite Test....they are doing great things for RC and...families! Love it! Looks like you had a great time with a great build. So happy for you!

[@NicholasRehm]

It was a great time and the Flite Test team was a blast to hang out with

[@tuberroot1112]

Great to see this inventive design flying again. Years ago you posted a teaser which promised another video to show how you could keep a camera pointed in a fixed direction but we never saw it. Thanks for the update.

[@NicholasRehm]

No problem!

[@dbaider9467]

You put huge smiles on peoples faces all around the world...

[@alejoal07]

Amazing project! I've never seen your videos before but you earned a subscriber here. What I would have done different to minimize mechanical points of failure and simplify control would have been to use a GPS module and make control relative to a set, modifiable pilot point (Headless mode). If you push up, the copter moves away from the pilot point, push down, the copter comes closer, left goes left around the pilot point and right, goes right around the pilot point. No need to keep track of an arrow. Keep going! Looking forward to your next projects, congratulations!

[@wolfonwall696]

I had way too much fun watching your video! Unreal build dude!

[@al6346]

Man this is anawesome thing that you've built. Thought it wouldn't last the first flight since being untested. This coming from a 60 yo kiwi male whose not had any rc exposure so extremely respect doing it in that short time line and finally congratulations and thank you for the entertainment. Great video bty.

[@richardmartin3127]

Was no walk of shame dude... your a genius. Cheers from New Zealand

[@handlaidtracksand3dprinted922]

Amazing engineering, work and flights!! Love 3D printing solutions to fun problems!!

[@averagedadhobbies]

Awesome job man, heli and video! Thank you!

[@ront.9414]

Loved your video. Looking forward to seeing your entry for next years Flite Test.

[@KDizzles]

Absolutely outstanding! Thank you and well done Nicholas!

[@dentonfender6492]

The flying Casablanca ceiling fan! Cool project!

[@K.F-R]

Looks like a lot of fun. Great project. Amazing video. Thanks for sharing.

[@RandyAllen702]

That was awesome! Great job!

[@notdavid8175]

seeing this on TikTok and then randomly being recommended this video on YT is the universe universing. This was awesome!

[@vianorlibre9595]

A pure instant of joy and child spirit with a master maker ability Thank you.

[@timrussell1559]

Amazingly engineered and executed....literally!

[@judnichols8041]

Way too awesome for words