Given modern materials, tools and techniques, you would think it would be a sure thing to scale up the standard rubber-band-powered airplane we all flew as kids and have something with a truly awesome wingspan. As this video from the Think Flight channel shows, it’s not easy at all. And finding a rubber band large enough is the least of the problems.
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Batteries? We don’t need no stinkin’ batteries.
The rubber band must be made of sustainable materials!
Great to see someone having sheer joy with aviation, I had a smile on my face the whole time. I’m sure many of us have memories of spending endless hours with those balsawood airplanes, trying to get the elevator or rudder just right for sustained flight. In my case it usually broke before I got it right, or the rubber band snapped. Oh well, I knew what next week’s allowance was going to be spent on.
Love the final distance show of him running along side his airplane. Pretty much captures the essence of the joy of having something you built fly. Never did that with my RV-4 though.
Built in the true spirit of an experimental. I’ll be he learned a lot.
Now there is the kind of Direct Rubber Operating Novel Engine aircraft I can support !
I loved the video. Seems like a great guy, capable engineer and a fun project.
As one of the gazillions of kids who flew the originals, I found this fascinating and the engineering involved was remarkable and successful in the end. That final flight on 100% power was breathtaking. Good for him.
Neat video! I’m sure almost every one of us flew rubber band planes as a child. Not so much so for the kids of today tho, sadly.
Great last period. Sadly indeed, I also say, agreeing with You, Mr. Bob Carlson.
As everyone else has written, I can’t count the number of hours spent flying and learning from the 25 cent rubber band powered balsa airplanes. I used to take the rubber band off of the aircraft and hand release from shoulder height at best glide speed simply to watch it descend to the driveway and land. I wonder how much visceral knowledge of aerodynamics we learned from those long ago times? You can’t get the same experience from a TV screen.
There is something about flight…