Category: Index Page

History and New Directions of Walkalong Gliders

I consider myself very fortunate to live in a time when walkalong flight is spreading throughout the world and morphing into different forms. It's been exciting to sniff out the creation stories of how it began and branched. When students learn how to surf a glider on a wave of air they can also discover the fascinating stories of real people as they experienced that spark of invention. Just as importantly, they can see the foundations upon which discoveries are built, how people who make great discoveries tend to be interested in lots of different things, how they communicate with experts, how serendipitous accidents happen, and how years can pass before an idea reaches fruition. This is good stuff!

Joseph E. Grant invented walkalong gliding in 1950. And now we can learn from his daughters and son about this fascinating man.

At the age of 13, Tyler MacCready invented walkalong gliding again in the late 1970s and manufactured gliders.

Michael Thompson invented very thin, very slow-flying foam walkalong gliders.

David Aronstein invented planes with tails that fly as walkalong gliders.

John Collins, AKA The Paper Airplane Guy, invented the tumbling wing branch of walkalong gliding.

Thomas Buchwald, a Technik teacher in Germany, has innovated bionic gliders, materials and processes.

Phil Rossoni invented a paper walkalong glider and has shown how they work and how to fly.

Back in the 1980s Gordon Pollock made and sold the Wonder Wing with a brilliant canard.

Noel Eberhardt developed an effective folding jig that makes it much easier to make walkalongs with groups

Kouyou Nagamatsu invented and wrote a book about thin-sliced foam for whimiscal gliders in 1996.

Dr. Heinrich Eder makes breathtakingly efficient gliders and passes his knowledge to young people

Alfred Klinck, also from Germany, is an extrordinary designer, builder and teacher--passing the torch to young people.

Ben Shedd created the Academy Award winning Flight of the Gossamer Condor effort and documented the first walkalong gliders that Tyler MacCready flew.

Ken Evans  used fog to visualize glider air flow.

Peter Sripol took walkalong gliders in new directions.

Nick Schrader has done some really good work with visualizing what’s happening in the air around gliders–including walkalong gliders–using fog, and then fog and lasers!

A memorable gathering of walkalong glider innovators in St. Louis in 2010, including many people on this page.

Here is an early video as I was beginning to discover the history of walkalong flight.

Great Innovators from Around the World

Here are some other great innovators from around the world. Perhaps we will have an international gathering sometime and I will be able to interview them.

Germany

Here's some more great work from Germany (and some joking at the very end)

Thomas Buchwald, a teacher in Germany showed me a new way to make a tumblewing, the quickest and simplest I have seen.

Here is Thomas Buchwald again with a smooth flying foam glider with a V tail.

Taiwan

From Taiwan making beautiful flying butterflies from foam

Daryl Yeh from Taiwan has a wonderful YouTube channel with many beautiful videos of people flying "indoor kites"--lightweight, slow-flying, powered by hand. Here he plays a joke. It's a walkalong glider...no, wait? It's an indoor kite! Funny yes, ingenious too. Perhaps this is a way for walkalong glider people to experience indoor kite flying.

This primary school teacher named Chen Wenhwa is doing interesting things with foam gliders that look like birds and insects. Here are more videos.

From Taiwan, here's the inverse of what Phil Rossoni has done with flying real butterflies, flying his butterfly-shaped foam gliders.

England

Here is an English cellist named Thaddeo Andre who made a walkalong plane from phonebook paper, raw carbon fiber and superglue.

United States

Nyle Steiner is blurring the boundary between walkalong gliders and levitation with static electricity. Note that static electricity projects go better in cool, dry air. Here you can read more about Nyle and static electricity.

Columbia

Alfredo Ramirez of Columbia sent this video of his impressive flight in the Red Bull extreme paper airplane event. Using Thaddeo Andre's design as a starting point, it has good size (= greater efficiency). And I like the dihedral, which might give better stability than my design.

All projects

Air Surfing (AKA Walkalong Gliding) with very thin foam. Levitate even with only your hands. Looks like magic, but what’s the science?

Best DIY Boomerang in the Wide World?

Wind-up Dragonfly Helicopters fly higher than the tallest trees. There is a simple version and a high-performance version.

Make a Hot Air Balloon from a plastic bag.

The Ponyo Type Putt Putt Boat has a real candle powered steam engine made from a soda can and straws.

The Overhead Water Rocket Launcher uses pressurized air and water to launch 2-liter bottle rockets.

Call it a Vortex, whirlpool, tornado, hurricane, dust devil, water spout... whatever you call it, it happens a lot in nature.

Robot Hands work like our real hands... with strings attached.

Aside from the shear fun of it, making the Robot Voice 10 Cent Talk Box reveals how we turn raw sound from our vocal folds into speech.

It's not high-tech, but whistling on an Acorn Cap involves some cool science.

Quick and Easy Projects

The Movie Wheel and inventions like it ushered in the age of movies, then video. You can make pictures come alive.

Call it a Vortex, whirlpool, tornado, hurricane, dust devil, water spout... whatever you call it, it happens a lot in nature.

Cartesian Divers date back to the days of Galileo Galilee. It was so mysterious some people called it the "Devil's Diver."

What does the Snake Charmer's Duck Call have in common with saxophones and bagpipes?

What makes the Propeller Stick spin mysteriously when you rub it. This is an easy version of an old folk toy that's also a great science toy.

Turn violets into a pH indicator and explore weak acids and bases at home.

They are as old as the hills, but there is something cool about TOPS. This one is easy to make and it writes patterns in its track.

Alternately pull the strings and the Climbing Creature shimmies up. Yet another old folk toy that will never go out of date.

The Oscillating Woodpecker is another timeless folk toy, now easy enough for kids to make.


I don't know what you will catch with it, but this Moose Call demonstrates how acoustic string instruments amplify sound.

This Spinning Balloon hovers mysteriously in the air, but it's not filled with helium.

Got some old boom box, computer or any speakers? The Recycled Speakers Phone is an easy to make intercom.

You don't need a submarine to make a Periscope.

Easy Projects by Guest Contributors

Katrina shows us how to make one of those Grassy Head people.

Katrina shows us how to make a center of gravity Balancing Toy.

What shape rolls best? Katrina shows us how to make a Tumble Person.

Father and Daughter relate the classic Spinning Button project to Newton's Laws of Motion.

When heated to glowing and defracted to a spectrum, elements have a unique "fingerprint". Build your own Rainbow Spectro-Scope to find it out.

9 year old scientist Shane shows us how to make a simple Rubber Band Ball.

Intermediate Projects

Call it a Vortex, whirlpool, tornado, hurricane, dust devil, water spout... whatever you call it, it happens a lot in nature.


This Air Rocket goes higher than the tallest trees.


Here is a simpler water rocket launcher design that's easier to build and gives kids a tactile understanding of "pressure".

Wind-up Dragonfly helicopters fly higher than the tallest trees. Here is a simple version.

Advanced Projects

Advanced science toys  require the maturity of teenagers and adults to build. I built them with my classes of middle school students. There are usually a couple of hours of work time involved.


Air Surfing (AKA Walkalong Gliding) with very thin foam. Levitate even with only your hands. Looks like magic, but what’s the science?


The Ponyo Type Putt Putt Boat has a real candle powered steam engine made from a soda can and straws.


Wind-up Dragonfly Helicopters fly higher than the tallest trees. Here is a high-performance version.


The Overhead Water Rocket Launcher uses pressurized air and water to launch 2-liter bottle rockets.


Make a Hot Air Balloon from a plastic bag.


Robot Hands work like our real hands... with strings attached.

Is this simple electronic project a Lie Detector or not? Click for the truth.


Aside from the shear fun of it, making the Robot Voice 10 Cent Talk Box reveals how we turn raw sound from our vocal folds into speech.

It's not high-tech, but whistling on an Acorn Cap involves some cool science.

Make rubber band powered Balsa Airplanes from scratch, even the props. They fly great.

This is Not a Popgun and I'm not going to show you how to make it...unless you overwhelm my security by clicking.

I'd like to know how these projects go for you. I'm happy to answer questions about them. Feedback from you is an important way for me to know what works and what needs clarification.

Welcome to SciencetoyMaker

Welcome to SciencetoyMaker!

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New Stories

František in the Czech Republic

I received this picture and video from František, a young man in the Czech Republic. František cut his own foam, experimented with the Baby Bug and Thompson Jagwing gliders; and he created this elegant, charming biplane from 2 Jagwings. His glider also has a tail, and his video shows very well the challenge. If the updraft of air hits the glider more in the back or the front, then the glider dives or stalls. I have asked František to experiment with holding the board at a less steep angle and see if it is any easier to fly. David Aronstein has created many walkalong glider designs with tails, and in his interview did a great job of explaining the challenges and how to mitigate them. Thomas Buchwald , Mike Thompson and Heinrich Eder have all created cool walkalong glider designs with tails.

Quick and Easy Projects

The Quick and Easy science toys are suitable for young kids, with a little help here and there. I used to make them with large groups of elementary age students. They generally take about half an hour to complete.

The Movie Wheel and inventions like it ushered in the age of movies, then video. You can make pictures come alive.

Call it a Vortex, whirlpool, tornado, hurricane, dust devil, water spout... whatever you call it, it happens a lot in nature.

Cartesian Divers date back to the days of Galileo Galilee. It was so mysterious some people called it the "Devil's Diver."

What does the Snake Charmer's Duck Call have in common with saxophones and bagpipes?

What makes the Propeller Stick spin mysteriously when you rub it. This is an easy version of an old folk toy that's also a great science toy.

Turn violets into a pH indicator and explore weak acids and bases at home.

They are as old as the hills, but there is something cool about TOPS. This one is easy to make and it writes patterns in its track.

Alternately pull the strings and the Climbing Creature shimmies up. Yet another old folk toy that will never go out of date.

The Oscillating Woodpecker is another timeless folk toy, now easy enough for kids to make.


I don't know what you will catch with it, but this Moose Call demonstrates how acoustic string instruments amplify sound.

This Spinning Balloon hovers mysteriously in the air, but it's not filled with helium.


Got some old boom box, computer or any speakers? The Recycled Speakers Phone is an easy to make intercom.

You don't need a submarine to make a Periscope.

Easy Projects by Guest Contributors

Katrina shows us how to make one of those Grassy Head people.

Katrina shows us how to make a center of gravity Balancing Toy.

What shape rolls best? Katrina shows us how to make a Tumble Person.

Father and Daughter relate the classic Spinning Button project to Newton's Laws of Motion.

When heated to glowing and defracted to a spectrum, elements have a unique "fingerprint". Build your own Rainbow Spectro-Scope to find it out.

9 year old scientist Shane shows us how to make a simple Rubber Band Ball.

I'd like to know how these projects go for you. I'm happy to answer questions about them. Feedback from you is an important way for me to know what works and what needs clarification.