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Faithfully replicating the iconic 160th SOAR "Killer Egg" — high-precision scale detail, tactical weapon mounts, opening cabin doors, and painted operators riding the side benches with their legs over the edge.
Ready to fly out of the case, with a GPS flight system that holds position and brings it home on one switch. The round nose everyone wants and almost nobody builds — not the pointed MD500E.
Most "scale" RC helicopters look convincing from three metres away and fall apart the moment you pick one up. This one is measured off the real aircraft at 1:16 and detailed to hold up in a photographed diorama — crew loaded, doors open, at arm's length.
Working scale cabin doors reveal a modelled cockpit: seats, instrument panel and cyclic sticks, all moulded — not a printed sticker anywhere. Open the doors on the shelf and the aircraft still reads correctly.
The real 500D carries a five-blade head, so this one does too — a variable-pitch scale head rather than the two- or three-blade compromise most models in this size settle for. It's the single detail scale purists check first.
Working lights in the correct positions, which is what sells the illusion at dusk — and what turns a hover into something that looks like an actual aircraft operating at night.
Fuselage, landing skids, antenna array and troop benches were all developed from scratch for the round-nose profile — 485 mm long, 190.6 mm tall, 430 mm rotor. Nothing is borrowed from an MD500E shell.
The military version carries 6 operators, seated along the benches with their legs over the edge — the pose that made the Little Bird famous. The civil version carries a pilot and one passenger, because that is what a charter 500D actually flies. The figure count is part of the scale, not a package tier.
Service titles and blade tip colours are already on the aircraft when you open the case. No decal sheet, no alignment, no silvering, no ruined afternoon.
Scale mounting points on the fuselage sides, the way the armed aircraft carries its stores. It's the detail that turns a round-nosed transport into the thing the nickname is actually about.
The bubble is genuinely transparent, not tinted plastic hiding an empty shell. Everything behind it was built to be looked at — which is the whole reason a round-nose model beats a pointy one on a shelf.
The cabin and benches take any 1:18 to 1:25 figure, so you can build a specific scene — a fast-rope insertion, a medevac, a two-up sightseeing flight — rather than flying an empty shell.
A 250-class collective-pitch helicopter normally demands an experienced pilot. This one carries a full GPS flight controller, so the aircraft handles the parts that destroy other people's models.
GPS, compass, optical flow and a laser rangefinder hold position and altitude together. Let go of the sticks and it stays where you left it — which is what makes a low, slow scale pass possible instead of terrifying.
One-key return-to-home, plus automatic return on low battery or lost signal, one-key landing, and a geofence you set yourself. Three separate ways it recovers itself if the flight stops going to plan.
Three metal-gear servos and a dedicated brushless tail motor keep it tracking where you point it rather than weathervaning. A breezy evening is still flyable — roughly doubling the days you get to use it.
The controller screen shows battery, altitude, distance and satellite lock live. You bring it home because the numbers said so — not because it went quiet 60 metres out.
Straight answer: GPS makes this far more forgiving than a bare scale heli, but it is a variable-pitch helicopter, not a toy quadcopter. First flights in GPS mode, open space, no figures loaded. 18+.
The airframe takes the camera in either position, and you can move it between them. They give you two completely different kinds of flying.
Mounted in the centre of the pilot's seat position, looking out through the clear canopy. This is the scale option — the view a pilot would actually have over that round nose, with the panel in frame. Best for immersion and for footage that looks like the real thing.
Mounted low on the belly for a wider, more downward field of view. Easier to keep your bearings while you're still learning the aircraft, and the better choice for filming ground features, following a subject, or shooting terrain.
No phone clamp, no goggles, no app to pair. Switch on and the feed is in your hands — 5.8 GHz, 200 m+ live. That's the difference between using FPV every flight and using it twice.
Every airframe leaves the factory with both mounting positions and the video port already fitted. Buy without FPV and change your mind next year, and you're adding a camera — not cutting into a finished fuselage.
An empty Little Bird is just a helicopter. Operators on the benches with their legs over the edge is the image — the one you've seen a hundred times and the reason you're on this page.
Every first-batch pre-order includes them free: six painted operators with the grey/black aircraft, or a painted pilot and passenger with the orange. Finished, ready to load, nothing to do.
Once the pre-order window closes, the figure set becomes a separately priced accessory. There is no second chance at this on a later batch.
Free crew ends August 15, 2026Identical airframe, identical electronics, identical flight system. What changes is the paint scheme and how many painted crew figures are in the box.
A matte grey-black airframe carrying U.S. ARMY titles in white, with yellow-tipped main blades. Six painted operators ride the side benches with their legs hanging over the edge — olive fatigues against a dark fuselage, the exact silhouette a real MH-6 makes on an insertion.
Bright orange with yellow and dark brown striping down the flank and across the tail, finished with red-tipped main blades. It's the unmistakable look of a working sightseeing 500D — the scheme a whole generation recognises from 1980s Hawaii television.
About the figures: they arrive fully painted and ready to load — no assembly, no brushwork, nothing to buy. Want a fuller cabin — especially on the Orange version? The cabin and benches take any 1:18 to 1:25 figure, and we stock additional painted pilot and operator figures separately. This free bonus ends when the pre-order window closes; afterwards the figure set becomes a paid accessory.
Every version is a complete aircraft — airframe, radio, battery, charger and blades are in the box no matter what you choose.
Grey/black if you want the special-operations bird with six operators on the benches. Orange if you want the civil sightseeing scheme with a pilot and passenger. Same aircraft underneath; only the paint and the figures change.
Not if you already own FPV gear. Every airframe ships with the camera bay and 5.8 GHz video port already fitted, so you can mount your own camera and use your own monitor or goggles. Buy the FPV version if you'd rather it was done for you — it adds the camera plus a controller with the screen built in.
One pack flies 15–18 minutes and then charges for an hour. If you drive anywhere to fly, take two. Three if it's a club day or you're filming. Extra packs are cheaper bundled here than shipped on their own later.
Everything above is what it does. This is what it is.
Flight time of 15–18 minutes is measured without figures loaded; a full six-figure load adds weight and will shorten it.
With realistic expectations, yes. In GPS mode the flight controller holds position and altitude for you, and return-to-home recovers the aircraft if you get disoriented — that removes most of the ways beginners destroy a scale heli.
What it doesn't remove: this is a 485 mm aircraft with five spinning blades and real momentum. Fly it in an open field, not a back yard. Learn hovering and gentle circles before you try scale passes. If you have never flown anything, spend a few hours on a cheap simulator or trainer first — it will save you the cost of a fuselage.
The shell is hot-runner moulded composite with deliberate flex, and blades are nylon/carbon rather than brittle plastic, so light knocks usually cost you nothing. Harder impacts typically take blades, the canopy or the skids first — the parts designed to give.
Replacement parts are supported through our Replacement Parts Center. If you damage something, email service@stirlingkit.com with a photo and your order number and we will identify the part for you.
No. Every version ships ready to fly: aircraft, transmitter, battery and charger are all included. The "with FPV" versions also include the camera and the monitor-equipped radio, so there is nothing to source separately.
The only thing worth adding is a second battery — see the configuration table above.
15 to 18 minutes per pack, measured with an empty cabin. Load six figures and the extra weight will cut into that. Recharging takes about an hour on the included balance charger, which is why most owners order two or three packs.
The pre-order window runs until August 15, 2026, and the first production batch ships before mid-August 2026. Orders are fulfilled in the sequence they were placed, so an earlier order means an earlier slot in the first batch.
If the schedule moves for any reason, we email every pre-order customer directly rather than waiting for you to ask. Production status is also posted on our Production Updates page.
Honest notes before you commit.
This is a pre-order. You are reserving a unit from the first production batch, not buying from stock on a shelf.
Stated flight time, control range and video range are measured in open conditions with no obstructions. Buildings, trees, interference and wind will reduce all three.
Check your national aviation authority before your first flight. In the US that means the FAA's recreational flyer rules, including registration and the TRUST safety test — this aircraft is well over the 250 g threshold.
Not a toy. Recommended for ages 18+. Lithium batteries are shipped in accordance with carrier regulations, which may affect available shipping methods to some destinations.
Put it on the shelf with the doors open and the team aboard and it stops being a model. That bubble reads like glass, the panel reads like a panel, and six operators sit along the benches the way they've sat in every photograph you've ever seen of one of these.
Then you take it outside. It comes off the ground, the nose tips forward, and six pairs of legs swing out over the skids.
That's the moment. That's what you're actually buying.
Not sure which configuration suits how you fly? Email service@stirlingkit.com before you order — we would rather spend five minutes on the right variant than process a return.
