The airplane pictured here depends for
its buoyancy on the same principles that govern all successful
airplanes. The planes prevent it from falling quickly, the
wheel drives it.
First get the long stick or spine. It
should be one-quarter inch square and must be light and
straight grained. There is nothing better for the purpose than
a piece of white or cork pine. Each plane is twelve inches
long and six inches wide. To make them you will need four
pieces of rattan each twenty inches long. You can get it at
factories where baby carriages and reed chairs are
manufactured or you can obtain some
from an old piece of furniture. To make on plane you use two
pieces bent to a U shape and fastened together at the ends by
wrapping with thread, as shown in Fig. 6. Nail the
planes to the twenty-seven-inch stick with small brads. The
planes are covered with light cloth. It may be stitched on or
glued. Pull it tight enough to make the planes curve slightly
upward at the ends.
To the rear end of the spine we now
attach a strip of tin bent and fixed on, as shown in C,
Fig. 2. Next cut a strip of tin to the shape and size
of Fig. 3. Slit it as shown in D and E in
Fig. 4, bending over to make fast to the wire key as in
Fig. 5. The rubber band A in Fig. 2 is fastened
to the wire B in Fig. 2. This cut shows the
whole arrangement very clearly. As might be expected, the end
that has the fixtures on will be considerably heavier than the
other, so to balance up we put a spool or knob on the fore
end. The best way to do this is to put a common spool on, and
if it proves too light, wrap wire around it until the airplane
will balance nicely when suspended from the ceiling with a
thread tied to the center.
To use it, you twist the wheel around
until you have it as tight as the rubber band will stand and
then toss it into the air, releasing the tension at the same
time. It will ascend to a good height and then glide
gracefully to the ground.