Kissing babies is so old-fashioned: Donald Trump says he'll bring $7 million helicopter on campaign trip to the Iowa State Fair - and give free rides to children!

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Step right up, children of Ottumwa, Cedar Rapids and Sioux City! No tickets needed – just put on your 'Make America Great Again!'™ cap and make your way to the front of the line for a ride on Donald Trump's flying fortress.

It's the silly season in America's midwest, and for eleven days beginning on August 13 Iowans will converge on the state fairgrounds for livestock shows, country music, fried Oreos, games, carnival rides – and pitches from presidential candidates.

This year's main attraction, if Trump has his way, will be his $7 million Sikorsky S-76 helicopter – a one-of-a-kind campaign tool available only for children who want to see what cornfields look like from 5,000 feet above the dirt.

The billionaire told DailyMail.com on Wednesday in an exclusive interview that he's asked the Iowa State Fair for permission to set up the thrill ride at his own risk and expense.

GIVE YOUR TICKETS TO THE ELDERLY POLITICIAN: Trump wants to set up his $7 million SIkorsky S-76 helicopter as a children's carnival ride at the Iowa State Fair 

ROUGHING IT: Kiddies who make it on board the Trump Whirlybird will have the most comfortable 15 minute ride of their lives – and bottled water with The Donald's face on the label

PART 1 OF 3: The black and red chopper is one of three The Donald owns, and usually covers his short-hop trips on the East Coast of the United States

The lucky riders will hop aboard the same whirlybird that appeared in the openening credits of 'Celebrity Apprentice.'

'We're going to fly it out to Iowa and I'm going to have it there,' he said in his Manhattan office, initially referring to the annual event as 'The World's Fair.'

'I look forward to that. I went there once years ago,' he said. 'It was so great. So many people.'

And so many Republican primary voters. With children.

'I'm going to try giving kids lifts in the helicopter,' he said near the end of a half-hour interview that ranged in topics from high finance to Hillary Clinton's 'low class.'

'You know, young kids. Yeah!' Trump said, sounding like a kid who's just built his first pinewood derby car. 

'If I can do it – if I'm allowed to do it!'

The 52-foot executive chopper seats 12 people comfortably, including the pilot. It's unclear whether Trump would remain on board with young Iowans or remain on the ground to hand leaflets and stickers to their parents.

But he's making plans to be there and show off one of the helicopters in his air livery.

POLITICKING WITH COTTON CANDY: The early caucus state of Iowa's famed annual state fair turns into a political showcase every fourth year as candidates in party primaries vie for the kind of attention a helicopter can easily deliver

STARTING EARLY: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz spoke at last year's Iowa State Fair, months before anyone knew he was running for president

BEFORE THE 'OOPS': Rick Perry, then the governor of Texas, sampled a vegetarian 'hot dog' at the 2011 Iowa State Fair, just months before his capmaign would flame out in a legendary debate brain-lapse

'I have three helicopters,' Trump boasted on Wednesday. 'Did you know that?'

'I have one at Turnberry, one at Doral, and one in New York City.'

The Turnberry chopper took him Thursday to his golf course in Scotland, which is hosting the Women's British Open golf tourney this weekend.

It's the New York chopper that would make the two-hop, 1,000-mile trip to Iowa. Trump would take his Boeing 757 jet and meet up with his crew in the Hawkeye State.

'I think you have to do two stops,' he said. 'You know, it's like a 10-hour flight to go out.'

Aside from the obvious media value of such a spectacle – 'It'll be magnificent,' Trump mused – the unlikeliest of Republican front-runners grinned broadly when he imagined the scene near Des Moines.

'We're asking approval,' he said, nearly hopping out of his chair. 'We're really doing it!'

 

FLEET: Trump also owns pricey helicopters that live at his Turnberry resort in Scotland (top) and his Doral resort in Miami (bottom)

AMATEUR! 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney was worth just $400 million and posed underneath low-altitude carnival rides at the 2011 Iowa State Fair

'Because I would love to take some of the young kids – you know, put 10 kids into the helicopter and let 'em go up and down.' 

The chopper itself was outfitted and decorated by designer Eric Roth at a cost rumored to be $750,000 – after the purchase of the aircraft itself.

Children who manage to clamber aboard will sink into cream-colored Italian-leather seating, sip Trump-brand ice water and secure themselves with 18-karat gold plated seat belt buckles.

Roth also designed the interior of Trump's 757, using the same materials – including what pilot John Dunkin said in May was enough gold to plate the outside of a Greyhound bus.

The Iowa State Fair's press office did not respond to requests for comment about whether Trump will get permission to launch his short-term attraction in two weeks' time, but he's hopeful.

The Donald said of the whole concept: 'It's cool. Isn't it cool?'