Product idea: automated scale-model Blue Angels and Thunderbirds air show planes

by philg

Here’s a product idea sparked by a summer of taking the kids to air shows: a box of six battery-powered airplanes that, given a soccer field of space, will recreate a Blue Angels or Thunderbirds air show. It seems as though the sensors and software of a DJI drone are already pretty close to being able to handle automated formation flight. Radio-controlled planes are capable of aerobatic maneuvers that are out of reach of even the fanciest full-sized planes. With another few years of costs coming down, would it be practical to put six jet-shaped planes in a box and sell it at Target for less than $200?

How awesome would it be for kids? Before or after a sacred suburban soccer game, the fully-charged set would (a) play the National Anthem (kneeling encouraged, but still optional), and (b) take off for a 15-minute formation aerobatics demonstration.

9 thoughts on “Product idea: automated scale-model Blue Angels and Thunderbirds air show planes”

  1. Decent, but I think if kids these days are anything like kids of yesteryear (me) then they’d be even more excited if the toys were programmed for aerial combat. In other words, add destruction and fire and you’d have yourself a winner.

  2. I agree with Wally. Some little toy Sidewinders mounted on the planes that can be fired at will at ground targets would really make this idea “fly.” Nothing lethal, mind you, but something with a little more excitement than nerf darts.

  4. No, we tried making this product in 2013 but the sensors weren’t there & still aren’t there. There are a lot of people still working on it, specifically for the kid toy market. You can get sub toy performance for $2000 per plane but the toy makers need it to cost a buck & with a lot more accuracy than the Skydio algorithms.

  6. $200 seems a stretch for what this application would need (positioning- so at least GPS, and communication- so at least WiFi).

    I found FPV quadcopters a few years ago and got hooked- micro camera in the nose to see, and googles to show you the display. Started with larger ones, but quickly found that small (65mm across) quadcopters are most of the fun with a lot less cost and hassle. They’re controllable enough that I can fly from the top floor of the townhouse, down to the basement, and back up without hitting anything (usually). The small ones are in the $100ish price class.

  7. Fireworks. Kids love sparklers.

    For display, bottle rockets get high and are fast. Spinners and roman candles give a ground show.

    There’s also model rockets, without pyrotechnics, that can easily reach a quarter mile in altitude.

    The diode’s red glare cannot compare to the spark of real rocket.

  8. Obviously, you haven’t appreciated the Fortnight craze—because what kids really want is to be able to show off with some kind of hard earned expertise, especially if parents don’t like it. With that in mind, what you want in a toy aircraft is old fashioned (1940’s) string control–the plane just flies in a circle around the operator, but with bigger engines, some elasticity in the strings so that higher speeds can be briefly achieved with skillful operation, and some AI in the plane to keep it aerodynamical. The big pay off is to occasionally make it go supersonic (like a bullwhip). Kids will love and parents will hate the noise. Kids will love and parent will complain that it is dangerous.

  9. Zzazz,

    what kind of motor?

    Plain old kites will captivate kids for hours. There’s a Texas company that makes good ones. A well constructed delta wing can rise 400 feet with patience and enough string.

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