How to Make a Homemade Glider

A homemade glider is small and simple to make. It is a small aircraft without a motor. The homemade glider trades altitude for velocity. It switches from higher to lower altitudes making its velocity differ. The air is important for the glider to fly otherwise it would go directly to the ground. Without the right amount of wind balancing the homemade glider it will turn sideways and fall to the ground. Therefore, when making the homemade glider be sure that each end is balanced.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• 2 Straws
• Play-doh
• Ruler
• Tape
• Lightweight cardboard
• Scissors

1. Fold an 8 by 10 piece of paper. Lay the paper flat horizontally and make up to five folds about 2cm wide. Then tape the paper to where it will not unfold. This will be the wing of the glider.

2. Get two stiff straws. Tape the straws vertically to the wing. The wing will be taped 3/4 of the way from the top of the straw (the top of the glider) leaving 1/4 of the straw out from the wing. The bottom straw (bottom of glider) will be taped on the straw 1/4 of the way leaving 3/4 of the straw for the end part of the glider.

3. Cut a piece of cardboard. The cardboard needs to be light. Try using one from a cereal or oatmeal box. The size will need to be 2cm wide and 13cm long. Fold it in half and tape it to 1/4 of the back end of the straw. The point of the cardboard should be facing up.

4. Use play-doh. Take any color of play-doh and roll a two small balls. Place them on the right and left part of the wings of the glider. This will keep the glider balanced.

5. Launch the glider. If it flies sideways then readjust the size of the play-doh and try again.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure everything is lined up straight by using a ruler.

Resources

• information about playdoh