Batcopter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Batcopter is the fictional personal helicopter of comic book superhero Batman.
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[edit] Wayne Aerospace
The military aviation branch designs and manufactures jet fighters and helicopters for the U.S. military. The most notable models of these are the W-4 Wraith fighter and the Kestrel attack helicopter.
[edit] Whirly-Bat[2]
The Whirly-Bat[3] was Batman's single-occupant mini-copter. It was swift and highly-maneuverable. However, the Whirly-Bat's lightweight design prohibited the additional weight of offensive weaponry.
[edit] Flying Batcave
The "Flying Batcave" was a giant helicopter with many of the real Batcave's scientific amenties. They included:
- Panoramic video surveillance
- Smoke-screen generates to provide artificial cloud-over.
However, the "Flying Batcave" required frequent refueling, thus significantly reducing patrol time.
[edit] In relation to Batman (TV series)
[edit] During lease
The first appearance of the Batcopter was in the 1966 film Batman: The Movie. Unlike the Batmobile, the Batcycle, and the Batboat, it was not intended for use in the 1960s Batman television series, which did not have the budget to create such elaborate vehicles. While the other vehicles were bought by 20th Century Fox, the Batcopter was only leased for the movie. It cost Fox $750 a day for five days from April 7 to April 11, 1966.
The Batcopter was a functional helicopter provided by National Helicopter Service. It was based on the Bell 47, which was designed by Bell Helicopter Textron in 1941. The Batcopter was a G3B-1 model, which had previously been used in Lassie Come Home and ABC News. To make the model look more like a superhero vehicle, it was fitted with canvas-covered tubular frames and was painted red. The head of a bat was painted in the front while the Batman symbol was painted on the side. The most dangerous design change was the wings, which reduced power by nearly fifty percent.
For the scenes at sea, the Batcopter was taped at Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes, California. Most of the shots were relatively far away as the pilot was Harry Haus, not Adam West, the actor playing Batman. Hubie Kerns donned the Batman outfit to perform the stunts, namely climbing the rope ladder attached to the helicopter while kicking an exploding shark.
[edit] After lease
When the Batcopter was returned to National, the wings and tubes were removed. It was repainted to look like all the other helicopters and was used for various purposes over the years, such as covering the 1968 Super Bowl. Eventually National replaced its Bell 47's and sold them. The helicopter which had previously served as the Batcopter was bought by the President of NockAir Helicopter, Inc., Eugene Nock. He repainted it and replaced the tubes so that it could once again be called the Batcopter. The wings, however, were not replaced as they caused so much power reduction. The Batcopter has been retrofitted with new equipment and electronics so that it can now attain altitudes up to 18000 feet, speeds up to 105 miles per hour, and flight times up to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
[edit] Toys
Kenner created a Batcopter toy in the 1984 as part of its Super Powers Collection.[4]. It was remade in black and gold in 1990 as part of The Dark Night Collection. Art Asylum also created a toy version of the Batcopter for C3 Sets Wave 2 of Minimates in 2005. Lego's Batman range of sets for 2007 includes a version of the Batcopter with the Scarecrow's biplane in the #7786 Batcopter: The Hunt For The Scarecrow set.
[edit] References
- ^ The Batcopter used in the BATMAN movie was just a standard Bell hellicopter. Wings were added, and then a Bat head was painted on it to give it the look of a Big Flying Bat. It is not known what became of the Batcopter.
- ^ Whirly-Bat images
- ^ The Unofficial Whirly-Bat Chronology
- ^ How cool is this? Has nose cone that shoots off and reels back on a winch. Bottom of rotor traps villains. Was molded in black and rereleased for The Dark Knight Collection. The release of this fine piece left many fans hoping for a full set of all of batman's vehicles- a wish that did not come true until the BTAS line in 1992.
[edit] External links
- The Unofficial Batcopter Biography
- Batman: Collected Issues of the Dark Knight - Batman #203
- Television - Batman: The Series - Gadgets - Batcopter
- Character Profiles - Gadgets - Batcopter
- Character Profiles - Gadgets - Flying Batcave
- Character Profiles - Gadgets - Whirly-Bat
- Character Profiles - Gadgets - Batgyro
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