i believe i can flyyyyyy

If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli’s films, you’ve probably noticed that director Hayao Miyazaki has a love for planes and all other manner of flying machines, which make numerous appearances in many of his movies. We’ve seen a Miyazaki creation come to life before with the construction of the glider called Möwe, as seen in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, but here’s one now for you Laputa: Castle in the Sky lovers – a real working Flaptter!

According to his personal webpage, Kazuhiko Kakuta has had a love of flight and flying machines from a young age. For years, he has constructed various remote-controlled flyers as a hobby, which resemble birds, pterosaurs, and even the Flaptter plane featured in Hayao Miyazaki’s Castle in the Sky.

This project is apparently years in the making. In one of his earlier videos, posted back in 2011, he shows us various angles of his impressive craftsmanship, including a peek at the mechanics inside, before setting out for a test flight. Its wings flap at an impressive speed, and it does even manage to stay airborne for some time before inevitably crashing.

▼Wings reminiscent of a dragonfly

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His most recent video of his Flaptter model, posted November 1, 2014, even includes a little Dola to pilot its flight. This time around the Flaptter does much better, flying just as well as most any remote-controlled plane would. We’ll let you see its impressive flight for yourselves:

▼He’s even done his own mini-version of the Möwe!

Maybe we can get him to work together with the team who brought us the Möwe (the head of which also coincidentally happens to be named Kazuhiko), and get a life-sized Flaptter next!

Source: YouTube, Ornithopter and Ultra small airplanes
Images: YouTube (Kazuhiko Kakuta)