🚁 AW101 (Italy): step-by-step build

A big three-engine Italian-British helicopter with a long cabin and wide sponsons.

The AgustaWestland AW101 is a big helicopter made by Italian and British companies working together. It has three engines and a long cabin for rescues at sea and in the mountains. This is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a real flying machine: grey beams make the body, green sponsons, a white boom and a red fin borrow the colours of the Italian flag, and the rotor spins freely on its mast.

• Level 2 of 5 (easy)
• About 35 minutes
• 21 steps, 62 parts
• Powered by: Push
• Series: Aircraft from 21 Countries

What you will learn

• Pins: Grippy or Smooth: Pins join beams together — some hold tight, some let things swing.
• Triangles Are Strong: A triangle cannot be squished — a square can.
• Axles: An axle is a cross-shaped rod — anything on it turns together.
• Axles & Wheels: A wheel on an axle turns dragging into rolling.

Parts you need

• 2 × Beam 13
• 8 × Blue long pin
• 23 × Black pin (grippy)
• 7 × L-beam 3×5
• 4 × Beam 3
• 3 × Beam 15
• 5 × Beam 5
• 1 × Beam 11
• 1 × Long pin-axle block
• 1 × Axle 4
• 2 × Bush
• 1 × Axle 6
• 3 × Train wheel
• 1 × Axle 3

Steps

1. Lay the cabin floor: take a dark grey 13-hole beam, then push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 13-hole beam onto them.
2. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg up: a cabin corner post) onto them.
3. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg up: a cabin corner post) onto them.
4. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 2 black pins in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg up: a cabin corner post) onto them.
5. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 2 black pins in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: the nose-wheel leg) onto them.
6. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
7. Add the corner posts and the landing-gear legs: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a dark grey 3×5 L-beam (short leg down: a landing-gear leg) onto them.
8. Build the tail boom and the cabin walls: push 1 blue long pin in and press a clear 3-hole beam (the back seat window) onto it, then push 1 black pin in and press a white 15-hole beam (the long tail boom) onto it.
9. Build the tail boom and the cabin walls: push 2 black pins in and press a clear 5-hole beam (the cockpit window) onto them.
10. Build the tail boom and the cabin walls: push 2 black pins in and press a light grey 5-hole beam onto them.
11. Build the tail boom and the cabin walls: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a red 3×5 L-beam (short leg up: the tail fin) onto them.
12. Put on the roof: push 1 black pin and 1 blue long pin in and press a light grey 11-hole beam onto them.
13. Put on the roof: push 2 black pins in and press a light grey 3-hole beam onto them.
14. Put on the roof: push 1 black pin in and press a light grey 5-hole beam onto them.
15. Fit the rotor mast and the rotor: push 2 black pins into the top beam and press the long pin-axle block onto them.
16. Fit the rotor mast and the rotor: stand an axle in the block, drop on the two black rotor beams crossways and cap it with a bush (the rotor spins freely on the mast).
17. Add the tailplanes: push 1 black pin in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
18. Add the tailplanes: push 2 black pins in and press a white 3-hole beam onto them.
19. Add the stub wings: slide a green 5-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out, then slide a green 5-hole beam onto the blue pins that stick out.
20. Put on the wheels: push a 6-long axle through both legs and put a wheel on each end.
21. Put on the wheels: push a 3-long axle through the leg, with a wheel on one side and a bush on the other.

Play time

Flick the rotor to spin it, then hover the helicopter around the room in your hand!

Real-world inspiration

AgustaWestland (Leonardo) AW101, the Italian-British three-engine medium-lift helicopter.

Credited demonstrations and component sources

• AgustaWestland AW101 — Wikipedia: Public reference for the real aircraft's shape and colours; this is a Technic-parts model inspired by it, not a flying or tested replica.