The Batcopter was Batman's personal aerial transport that debuted in the 1966 spinoff movie based on the TV show.
History[]
Batman (1966 film)[]
Batman and Robin used the Batcopter on their rescue mission to save Commodore Schmidlapp, which turned out to be a trap. The Batcopter was later used to track the Batmobile stolen by the Penguin, and it got damaged by one of the Riddler's Polaris underwater missiles.
Batman (1960s series)[]
Sometime later after its repair, Batman and Robin travelled to the Gotham City reservoir in the Batcopter with its portable Bat-Lab to dissolve the Joker's Joker Jelly formula. It was then used to foil Riddler's attempt to destroy Gotham City Police HQ.
It was later used to travel to Mr. Freeze's iceberg hideout.
The Batcopter was used to travel to Gotham City Beach during Joker's surfing contest, and to pursue Joker in his flying saucer.
Batman: Return of the Caped Crusaders[]
The Batcopter was used for Batman and Robin's sky scouting search for Joker, Penguin, Riddler, and Catwoman.
Behind the Scenes[]
The first appearance of the Batcopter was in the 1966 film Batman. Unlike the Batmobile, the Batcycle, and the Batboat, it was not intended for use in the 1960s Batman television series, which did not have the budget to create such elaborate vehicles. While the other vehicles were bought by 20th Century Fox, the Batcopter was only leased for the movie. It cost Fox $750 a day for five days from April 7 to April 11, 1966.
The Batcopter was a functional helicopter provided by National Helicopter Service. It was based on the Bell 47, which was designed by Bell Helicopter Textron in 1941. The Batcopter was a G3B-1 model, which had previously been used in Lassie Come Home and ABC News. To make the model look more like a superhero vehicle, it was fitted with canvas-covered tubular frames and was painted red. The head of a bat was painted in the front while the Batman symbol was painted on the side. The most dangerous design change was the wings, which reduced power by nearly fifty percent.
For the scenes at sea, the Batcopter was taped at Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes, California. Most of the shots were relatively far away as the pilot was Harry Haus, not Adam West, the actor playing Batman. Hubie Kerns donned the Batman outfit to perform the stunts, namely climbing the bat ladder attached to the helicopter while kicking an exploding shark.
When the Batcopter was returned to National, the wings and tubes were removed. It was repainted to look like all the other helicopters and was used for various purposes over the years, such as covering the 1968 Super Bowl. Eventually National replaced its Bell 47's and sold them. The helicopter which had previously served as the Batcopter was bought by the President of NockAir Helicopter, Inc., Eugene Nock. He repainted it and replaced the tubes so that it could once again be called the Batcopter. The wings, however, were not replaced as they caused so much power reduction. The Batcopter has been retrofitted with new equipment and electronics so that it can now attain altitudes up to 18000 feet, speeds up to 105 miles per hour, and flight times up to 2 hours and 45 minutes.
Appearances[]
Batman (1960s series)[]
Season 1[]
- 32. The Riddler's False Notion (Mentioned)
Season 2[]
- 73. The Penguin Declines
- 80. A Riddling Controversy
- 94. The Duo Defy
Season 3[]
Films[]
Gallery[]
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