A giant dragon has been swooping over Glasgow’s skyline this morning.
The flying model is Syrax, the dragon from Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, and is in Glasgow to promote season three of the HBO Original series, as well as to celebrate the opening of the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Dennis Gutowsky, the operator and pilot, said: "We built this beautiful flying dragon.
"Her name is Syrax, and this thing has 23 moving parts, which all work together.
"We have moving rudders, we have moving propellers, a moving tail, and also moving wings.
"It’s very cool to fly a dragon.
"It’s very special because actually I fly RC planes, and that’s totally different.
"You have to train a lot to fly like like this."
The 3D model was originally created and flew during the season three launch of House of the Dragon in London and was created using 3D scans from the show’s production.
Weighing in at 13 kilograms, the flying dragon took three months to build and required almost 3,000 hours of work from a 14-person team.
Its 23 moving parts create realistic movement across an eight-metre wingspan as well as both the head and tail, and flight is achieved with intricate impellers built into the legs.
The model is constructed from vacuum-formed Depron foam around a carbon fibre and aluminium skeleton, then finished by hand with airbrushed paintwork.
The main inventor at Airstage took the idea for the model from Da Vinci’s original flying machine.
Matthias Muthsam, a technician and pilot with Airstage, said: "We started with a 3D model, which we got sent from HBO.
"Then we produced [the dragon] out of them the cut model, and from the cut model, then we plan our next steps.
"That’s mostly carbon fibre and foam, and we have two motors with vectors, so we can reduce the thrust.
"And yes, it’s all vacuum formed.
"It’s amazing to be part of the team to build such impressive creatures, and it’s nice to be a part of it."
Gutowsky said the project is about more than just technical achievement.
He said: "My favourite part is actually to inspire other young people.
"Everyone can be an engineer and do such a big project, and all other people watching a dragon and feel like, 'wow, that’s beautiful'."
