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Outbyte PC Repair FREERepair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →A full-scale DeLorean-shaped craft built around an expanded-polystyrene (EPS) foam body has flown. It is a multicopter flying model and practical-effects prop—not a passenger-carrying DeLorean or a road car converted for flight. Brian Brocken’s project log records its first-flight post on September 19, 2025; Hackaday reported the flight on September 22.
What actually flew?
Brian Brocken describes the project as a 1:1-scale flying model of the DeLorean DMC-12 as it appears in the Back to the Future films. The design uses a multicopter frame to lift a lightweight DeLorean-shaped body, with motors and propellers concealed beneath it. The result recreates the appearance of the fictional flying car; the available reports do not describe a vehicle built to carry a driver or passengers.
The project’s first-flight entry is dated September 19, 2025, on Brocken’s project log. Hackaday published its report three days later, on September 22, 2025: Full Scale Styrofoam DeLorean Finally Takes Flight.
What is the DeLorean prop made of?
EPS foam body
The body is made from expanded polystyrene foam, shaped from large blocks into panels. A 2023 Hackaday fabrication report gives 13.9 kg as the weight of the finished model at that stage of the build: Foam DeLorean Is a Full-Scale Flying Model. That figure is not established as the mass of the later, flight-ready craft.
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- BACK TO THE FUTURE COLLECTION
Reworked multicopter frame
The first prototype used aluminum profiles and 3D-printed parts. Brocken later replaced that structure with carbon-fiber tubes. The tube joints are resin-and-fiber corners formed in 3D-printed molds, and diagonal steel wires were added to reduce frame torsion. Hackaday describes the revised frame as lighter and stiffer than the aluminum version.
How does the prop reproduce the movie’s flight mode?
The build retains motorized gull-wing doors and adds wheels that tilt to evoke the DeLorean’s flight-mode look. According to the project notes, the wheels can also steer and drive the model on the ground. They had to move outward to keep them from interfering with propeller airflow.
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- Collectible miniature car in scale 1/24, in metal
- Model presented in a pretty box diorama with the image of the film
- BACK TO THE FUTURE COLLECTION
Lift comes from the multicopter arrangement, rather than from the wheels or a conventional car drivetrain. The concealed propellers make the aircraft components less obvious beneath the body, while the wheel and door mechanisms supply visual details associated with the movie car.
How did the builder address yaw control?
After installing the foam body, Brocken reported having little yaw control. He added thrust-vector-control flaps that redirect airflow beneath the propellers. The project notes identify a SpeedyBee F405 Wing flight controller and an Arduino Nano: the Nano reads four channels and mixes their output to operate the flaps in response to yaw commands rather than roll commands. Brocken says the change improved yaw authority; the available reports do not provide independent measurements of that improvement.
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What the flight reports do—and do not—establish
The dated project log and Hackaday coverage establish that the full-scale foam DeLorean model flew. They do not provide a complete set of aircraft specifications. In particular, the cited pages do not establish its final flight-ready mass, exact dimensions, battery capacity, flight time, maximum speed, or regulatory status. The 13.9 kg figure belongs to the earlier model stage and cannot fill in those gaps.
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