Most of us will enjoy a good lego set. It is one of the rare collectible items that you get to build yourself, modify if desired and put up somewhere to enjoy. A friend of mine recently got a huge Apollo 11 set, and although I was skeptical in the beginning, it surprisingly makes for a very eye catching display piece in his aviation themed room.
This gave me the idea to do a research and find some of the coolest aviation themed Lego sets. In this article, we’ll look at 6 of the coolest new and older sets that stand out in the Lego airplane landscape!
Best designed Lego airplane sets for aviation fans
Lego Technic Fire Plane
Why it stands out: Well designed Technic sets give a very raw, almost concept-study feel to a piece. Especially when the design doesn’t use many large moulded pieces like this one. Anyone who has ever had the chance to see or fly on a sea plane will appreciate this model, that to me looks like a mix between a Cessna Caravan and a DHC-2 Beaver.
What’s cool about this model is that it is not a simple static model. It does come with moving pistons, a joystick-controlled elevator and ailerons and a spinning propeller. With all the accessibility into the depths of the model, I can imagine this model being pushed even further with custom led lights and stickers…
The pieces can also be used to build a fighter. I am not too sure of what they were going for, but it is always nice to have another model to build!
Size: 173″ (44cm) wingspan, 13″ (35cm) length
Difficulty: 9-16, comes with 548 pieces
Reference: Set 42040
Launch year: 2015
Price: $$$ (Check price on Amazon)
Lego Sopwith Camel
Why it’s a must have: One thing people tend to dislike about lego airplanes are the large moulded parts. For some yeqrs now, the business/passenger jet sets often come with a large, smooth nose section and sometimes tail cone and wings, which takes away from the brick building spirit. The Lego Creator Sopwith Camel set plays by the rules: the beautiful green biplane is made of mostly run of the mill bricks , even the propeller is designed in simple pieces.
A little about the plane:
Difficulty: 14+, comes with 833 pieces – this is a large set!
Size: 19″ (50cm) wingspan, 15″ (40 cm) long
Reference: Set 10226
Launch year:
Price: $$$ (Check price on Amazon)
Lego Creator Sea Plane
Why this one works: Coincidentally, here is a second seaplane in today’s best of. Large models are great, but the is something about smartly built ultra-small models. Given the limited amount of pieces, its does take quite some more imagination, knowledge about lego and experience to pull of such a tight model.
What I also like about this one, is that it can be very easily displayed pretty much anywhere. I can imagine it hanging on the rear view mirror of plane spotter’s car, swinging from side to side as he is speeding around the airport after they changed the runway on him!
Size: 3″ (9cm) wingspan, 3″ (10cm) length
Difficulty: 6-12, comes with 53 pieces
Reference: Set 31028
Launch year: 2015
Price: $ (Check price on Amazon)
Lego Creator Blue Power jet building kit
This kit stands out by its creativity and its effort to stick to inventive building techniques. This model of what seems very similar a F-35 Lightning II has some difficult angles and a very well made, seamless wing geometry and nicely rounded back.
The kit deserves bonus points for the very decent helicopter model and speed boat. The only thing that is off about the fighter are the off road wheels which look quite odd on a state of the art fighter, which normally have slicks with longitudinal grooves. These can probably be quite easily swapped though.
Size: 6″ (16cm) wingspan, 15″ (39cm) length
Difficulty: 9-, comes with 608 pieces
Reference: Set 31039
Launch year: 2015
Price: $$ (Check price on Amazon)
Lego “Black Hawk” propeller plane
Why they nailed it: This is today more of a classic Technic model, being released back in 1996. I chose to include this one because if its distinct effort to use basic pieces and create a good looking airplane model. It doesn’t look like any existing plane, but it has a very believable balance to it, and a distintive techy feel, and the simple, almost concept aircraft looking black and yellow color scheme.
Even the box was nicely made, with a blueprint in the background! I do enjoy the old Technic font as well, and the “classic” yellow wheels it does bring me back to childhood – back when I couldn’t afford to get these sets.
Size: 173″ (38cm) wingspan, 13″ (29cm) length
Difficulty: 10-16, comes with 469 pieces
Reference: Set 8425-1
Launch year: 1996
Price: $$ (Available second hand on Brickling for around 40-80 $)
Lego Technic Space Shuttle – the holy grail of aircraft
Why this is a winning design: I remember drooling over this one when I was little for quite some time, with the fibre optic cables, electric actuators, the animated doors and the sleek, scale look. The space shuttle was also the fastest airplane and glider in the world, reaching 60 mph in 5 seconds, and mach 1 in 45 seconds, all while taking fuel from the giant brown fuel tank. There are few more thrilling things than a shuttle launch in my opinion, and I wish I could have seen one in real life.
Here is why I prefer it to the new classic Lego 10231 Suttle Expedition set (which you can see below). Nothing against it, I believe it does have its place in the lineup. But if I was to compare the two, which in my opinion are the 2 best space shuttle sets, there is something more intriguing about the 1996 version. The newer set is realistic, but not precise enough in some places, with the nose of the orbiter pointing too high compared to the real thing.
The 1996 version does look proportional, but it being a Technic set, it works better overall in cutting some corners.
The set is available second hand on sites like Ebay or Brick link, and doesn’t come cheap… between 300-600 $.
Size: large!
Difficulty: 10-16, comes with 1368 pieces
Reference: Set 8480
Launch year: 1996
Price: $$$ (Available second hand on Brickling for around 100-150 $)
2011 alternative: Lego Shuttle Expedition 20231 (check price on Amazon)
Honorable mention – a small set for man
I have to include this last one because it does fire your imagination, with Apollo 11 looking imposing and very simple at first glance. And after all, it represents the high point of one of the most incredible technological sagas in the 20th century – a man stepping on another celestial body for the first time.
I hope you enjoyed this article! Let me know what set(s) you think should be part of any top aviation Lego set list!
Til next time!
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