Sponsored Links

[TheBrickster]

Did you know that Aircraft Transportation sets date back to Classic Town and maybe even earlier in LEGO history?

In 1988, LEGO released 6357 Stunt Copter and Truck as part of it's System (now Classic Town) collection. What a beautiful set with it's classic 4-stud wide black design and red and yellow pin striping. I'm sure many LEGO fans during this era vroomed and swooshed the helicopter for drive and stunt action!

It wasn't until 10 years later that LEGO would offer a similar set of the Police variety in 1998 called 6328 Helicopter Transport. This aircraft transport was not nearly as nice as its predecessor, but it did offer some police action as one could chase down criminals with the black & white copter. Green windshields also provided a unique look.

Jack Stone (run and hide!) would utilize the aircraft tranport concept with it's set 4607 Copter Transport in 2001. With a "bummble bee" color palette, the Jack Stone copter was quickly grounded along with the theme a short while later.

Adding a different twist to the helicopter transport, the not too popular Island Xtreme Stunts theme would take advantage of the truck, trailer, and vehicle combination to offer its 6739 Truck & Stunt Trikes set one year later (2002). This set is worth including in the Aircraft Transport collection as Island Xtreme Stunts also offered a small airplane in 6735 Air Chase that one could haul with the 6739 Truck. Although the set design was not very good and the trailer piece resembled something out of the Jack Stone variety, the set did introduce LEGO's new orange color.

Aircraft Transportation would be reinvigorated once again in 2009 with a set by the same name as 6328, this time 7686 Helicopter Transport. Just like the Island Xtreme Stunts set 6739, this new transport would once again contain lots of orange; but unfortunately, a common color for 2009 and 2010 LEGO City sets. It's still a nicely designed set and orange was certainly a nice choice of colors. 7686 Helicopter Transport was only available for approximately six months, and no longer available through most stores that sell LEGO.

Given the brief history of Aircraft Transportation sets, the combination of Big Rig and Helicopter/Aircraft certainly offers a higher degree of action and adventure in our LEGO Towns and Cities.

How well do you like Aircraft Transport sets in your Tabletowns and Floorvilles?
Do you find yourself swooshing and vrooming the helicopters over your Modular buildings and roadplates?
Have you built landing areas for the aircraft, or stick to the truck trailers for a safe landing zone?
How about utilizing the aircraft transport sets to escape the onslaught of Zombie Minifigure or Dino attacks?

Rip roaring, high flying action and adventure in your towns, share your thoughts...

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a great and very intersting topic, TheBrickster!

I bought the 7686 Helicopter Transport last year. It's imo a very well designed and classic looking heli transporter I really like.
An older heli transporter I do not own - but since these days City sets get better and better I partly plan, parly already did sell or disturb older Town sets since they do not go with nowadays City sets (esp. because of the different size of the vehicles).

In my final layout I plan to have a small (about one meter long) highway on which I plan to set this heli transporter, the Lego Truck (2010) and the Octan Truck (2010).

I even plan to built a small heli port - but only very simple with one of those official airport-roadplates and some lights on it.


Klaus-Dieter

[Jeff Huntington]

I hadn't realized there were that many. I am fortunate enough to have 6357 which I bought more for the semi than for the helicopter being transported. I've often wondered why LEGO created so many, especially since most pilots would simply fly their helicopter where they wanted to go and would not need to have them trucked from place to place, but then that's my overly logical adult mind working.

They're not Classic Town per se, since they're part of the Launch Command subgroup, but you might also want to include 6336-Launch Response Unit and 6346-Shuttle Launching Crew. Both of these involve transport trucks carrying a helicopter (the former) and a space shuttle (the latter).

[lightningtiger]

Interesting topic 'The Brickster' - I too own a 7686, but I find it odd in Oz we don't really have such things, helicopters land and take-off as they do from airports/heliports.
Though the concept of road based heliport makes the imagination run wild.....I have to dig out of mothballs a heavy MOD'ed design from early last year of a police helicopter transport in the same vein as 7686.
I wonder what sub-theme in city is next....please make it service stations or fire stations they were my favorite as a kid and right now as an aging AFOL !
Keep on bricking !

This post has been edited by lightningtiger: 16 July 2010 - 10:24 PM

[ZeeK]

Being the lucky person to have three of the five mentioned sets (no police/4+) i have to say I like them due to their playability: you pay for 1 set and you receive actually three items - the tractor, the trailer and the 'copter (or 2 bikes, or additional bike in 7686). This is really nice if you're a kid of the focused age...

When one of my fellow Russian AFOLs (NCD) posted his great review of 7686 at our local forum, I've taken a quick lookthrough what kinds of vehicles exist. It looks like this 3-in-1 concept is not taken from the real world, but it's actually a typical boys' toy! Though i've found examples of similar vehiles transporting helis. Most of 'em are military tractors.

So, IMO, these sets are actually the way LEGO gives us several ingridients - we receive highway tractor-trailer couple and some nice additions of helicopters/bikes. Ihave mde MOC traler for 7686 tractor. It has many small wheels to recreate the trailers we actually see on strees. And I've come across similar concept at Ralph_S's Flickr set:

I think this is what these tractors are really up to!

Many thanks for starting this topic!

[TheBrickster]

Interesting feedback fellas.

ZeeK, on 16 July 2010 - 05:30 PM, said:

Though i've found examples of similar vehiles transporting helis. Most of 'em are military tractors.

As I was writing this brief article, I was thinking of an old metal diecast toy I remember as a kid. It was a military truck & trailer with a helicopter that I wanted for a long time (in one of those glass cases with various metal war soldiers). Never got it, but to this day, I remember staring at in in the case. A military model, similar to the Indy sets, would make a really nice LEGO set.

Ralph S's model is a real beauty. Reminds me of the old Steam Shovel with Carrier:

[greenmtvince]

As a helicopter pilot I actually love this topic and had the 6357 Stunt Copter and Truck as a kid.

In reference to real world -most helicopters are flown to wherever they need to go from the day they roll off the factory assembly line.

In the US however, more than once I've seen a Bell 206, or similar single engine helicopter modified for crop dusting rolling down the road on the back of a flatbed with it's support equipment. Helicopters being very expensive to operate, and I can't imagine crop dusting being a highly profitable venture, transporting the aircraft long distances rather than flying it saves a tremendous amount of money.

[TheBrickster]

greenmtvince, on 16 July 2010 - 09:42 PM, said:

As a helicopter pilot I actually love this topic and had the 6357 Stunt Copter and Truck as a kid.

Awesome! Do you find yourself collecting the other LEGO helicopters and/or aircraft sets?

I don't know much about aircraft myself, but I've always been a fan since the early Seaplane days.

[greenmtvince]

TheBrickster, on 17 July 2010 - 07:37 PM, said:

Awesome! Do you find yourself collecting the other LEGO helicopters and/or aircraft sets?

I don't know much about aircraft myself, but I've always been a fan since the early Seaplane days.

I had the 6687 Turbo Prop I, 1974 Flyercracker USA, 6375 Trans Air Carrier, and 6657 Fire Patrol Copter at my 6396 International Jetport that was protected by a 6440 Jetport Fire Squad. Never got the airport monorail though...

And more recently my family and fiance will buy me the creator aircraft for birthdays, christmas, fun, etc.

Despite the collection of aircraft, my love has always been the trains. The other pilots always think there's something wrong with a pilot that dreams of being an locomotive engineer.

[Davey]

Great thread Brickster! I too have the 'Stunt Copter N' Truck' set and it was one of my favorite kits as a child. They really don't make 'em like they used to. The new Helicopter Transport set is nice, but I'm just not a fan of the six-wide vehicles. That being said...the white trailer base is great for train building.

-Davey

[zyrex]

All this talk reminds me of 5590 Whirl and Wheel Supertruck, my definite favourite - though it's not System/Classic Town/Town. But it's a great set none the less with the same basic idea.

[TheBrickster]

zyrex, on 18 July 2010 - 03:57 AM, said:

All this talk reminds me of 5590 Whirl and Wheel Supertruck

Oh, how could I have forget Model Team. Although it's not System, it's a beautiful set and further demonstrates LEGO's interest in these helicopter transport sets. Thanks for sharing.

EDIT: this would make a nice color scheme for a minifig-scale MOC.

[Rapseflaps]

6357 is a great model from the classic town days, but even cooler I thought as a kid was this. The bikes are cool, the truck looks great, there's a neat car and an awesome space shuttle (complete with satellite). Class...

[BrickStorm]

greenmtvince, on 18 July 2010 - 06:54 AM, said:

I had the 6687 Turbo Prop I, 1974 Flyercracker USA, 6375 Trans Air Carrier, and 6657 Fire Patrol Copter at my 6396 International Jetport that was protected by a 6440 Jetport Fire Squad. Never got the airport monorail though...

And more recently my family and fiance will buy me the creator aircraft for birthdays, christmas, fun, etc.

Despite the collection of aircraft, my love has always been the trains. The other pilots always think there's something wrong with a pilot that dreams of being an locomotive engineer.

A fellow pilot here (fixed wing). Trust me, you're not alone with loving lego trains!

OT: 6357 Stunt copter and truck was probably the first lego set I ever received as a kid. It cost (according to the price tag on the box) $31.98 from kmart (don't we just love inflation and increasing brick counts in sets?) I absolutely love this set, but I never had the urge to buy any of the other heli+semi sets until I picked up 7686, which I think is the best-looking version of the type to date. Orange seems to fit the set well, it gives the semi it an air of "construction vehicle-esque" (which around here most large/abnormal transport vehicles are painted as)

There can be quite a few reasons an aircraft is carried on the back of a low-loader, one of which can be the fact the aircraft is just no-longer airworthy and just not flyable. There have been a couple of news stories lately where a bunch of recently-retired Caribou army cargo planes have had to be towed by truck to local air museums in the dead of night because they had to close the roads to fit such a large object on it. I believe in addition one of our air forces' F-111's was actually driven halfway across the country (Northern Queensland to Melbourne) because it was out of flying hours left on the airframe (though that was done sans wings).

[gambort]

I liked 6357 so much I made my own updated version with Mike Psiaki.

Tim

This post has been edited by gambort: 22 July 2010 - 06:56 AM