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How To Build A Free Flight Aircraft
Free flight airplanes are the oldest form of model aircraft. This hobbie originates from about 2 centuries ago. If you have made your first paper airplanes, maybe it's time to think about the more exciting free flight models.
Istanbul FF-Cup 2006 Model by Naci Bitik
Photo by Ismail SARIOGLU
Free flight models are easy to make and often can be built with materials on hand. You'll most probably want to build a free flight hand launched glider (learn more about them) or rubber band powered aircraft. Except building the rubber "engine", making both types follows almost the same steps:
At first look the free flight models are very simple and you could design one yourself. However if you have no experience, I would recommend you to find ready plans from someone who have more experience than you. The free flight aircraft have rather precise proportions to allow longer and straight flight so just throwing something "as it comes" is unlikely to work well.
Most of these plans are freely available for download. You can check on the following sites:
- Free Flight Model Plans
- Hand Launched Glider Plans
- Aus Free Flight Plans (huge!)
- Free Control Line & FF Plans (all kind)
You can certainly find even more. There are few places where plans are sold for few bucks, so it's up to you which model you are going to choose. If this is your first free flight aircraft I recommend to try some of the free plans.
The model should suit your skills level. If you are a beginner, better choose a simple hand launched gliders. Rubber band powered airplanes require a bit more preciseness.
There is a bit of mechanics involved in building free flight models. You need to learn a bit about the center of gravity, vertical stabilizer, aerodynamics and so on. Some of the plans will have short instructions that will help you learn the basics.
There is no need to become an engineer and for sure you can build models even without having an idea about any of this. But knowing the fundaments helps building amazing and well flying models - and I am sure this is what you want to do. If you really want to master this hobby, check out Scale Aircraft for Free Flight
book.
It should be smooth, clean and well lighted. You will need a large table. Using the kitchen table or your work desk is fine, but you'd better remove everything from it.
Use sharp tools to cut the parts of the airplane. Ideally most free flight models are made of balsa wood, but you can as well use materials on hand. Sometimes even thick hardboard does the work, but of course such aircraft is less durable. Some plans will suggest to use plastic materials for the wings. In general it's better to follow what the designs suggest at least until you gain experience, but don't get obsessed - you can build an airlane even from foam plates.
The parts are typically joined with glue but a lot of hobbyists recommend also to strenghten the wings with clear tape.
Assembling is really not a rocket science. If the plans show the sequence - follow it, otherwise just go as you feel fits. As much as possible, try not to use heavier materials for the fuselage and wings because this will prevent the airplane to fly long.
At the end give enough time for the glue to dry and then you can launch the airplane. The hand launched gliders can be also launched by a rubber-made catapult, which usually leads to better flight.
Of course you can just buy the ready airplane - free flight models are cheap and often don't exceed $20. Another option, great for starters is to buy a kit plane - where all the parts are cut out for you and you only need to assemble. Finally, you may want to build the airplane yourself, but get some parts ready - for example the propeller.
Here are some good shortcuts below:
Istanbul FF-Cup 2006 Model by Naci Bitik
Photo by Ismail SARIOGLU
Free flight models are easy to make and often can be built with materials on hand. You'll most probably want to build a free flight hand launched glider (learn more about them) or rubber band powered aircraft. Except building the rubber "engine", making both types follows almost the same steps:
Find Plans
At first look the free flight models are very simple and you could design one yourself. However if you have no experience, I would recommend you to find ready plans from someone who have more experience than you. The free flight aircraft have rather precise proportions to allow longer and straight flight so just throwing something "as it comes" is unlikely to work well.
Most of these plans are freely available for download. You can check on the following sites:
- Free Flight Model Plans
- Hand Launched Glider Plans
- Aus Free Flight Plans (huge!)
- Free Control Line & FF Plans (all kind)
You can certainly find even more. There are few places where plans are sold for few bucks, so it's up to you which model you are going to choose. If this is your first free flight aircraft I recommend to try some of the free plans.
The model should suit your skills level. If you are a beginner, better choose a simple hand launched gliders. Rubber band powered airplanes require a bit more preciseness.
Spend Some Time To Learn
There is a bit of mechanics involved in building free flight models. You need to learn a bit about the center of gravity, vertical stabilizer, aerodynamics and so on. Some of the plans will have short instructions that will help you learn the basics.
There is no need to become an engineer and for sure you can build models even without having an idea about any of this. But knowing the fundaments helps building amazing and well flying models - and I am sure this is what you want to do. If you really want to master this hobby, check out Scale Aircraft for Free Flight
book.Prepare Your Work Area
It should be smooth, clean and well lighted. You will need a large table. Using the kitchen table or your work desk is fine, but you'd better remove everything from it.
Build The Airplane
Use sharp tools to cut the parts of the airplane. Ideally most free flight models are made of balsa wood, but you can as well use materials on hand. Sometimes even thick hardboard does the work, but of course such aircraft is less durable. Some plans will suggest to use plastic materials for the wings. In general it's better to follow what the designs suggest at least until you gain experience, but don't get obsessed - you can build an airlane even from foam plates.
The parts are typically joined with glue but a lot of hobbyists recommend also to strenghten the wings with clear tape.
Assembling is really not a rocket science. If the plans show the sequence - follow it, otherwise just go as you feel fits. As much as possible, try not to use heavier materials for the fuselage and wings because this will prevent the airplane to fly long.
At the end give enough time for the glue to dry and then you can launch the airplane. The hand launched gliders can be also launched by a rubber-made catapult, which usually leads to better flight.
Are There Any Shortcuts?
Of course you can just buy the ready airplane - free flight models are cheap and often don't exceed $20. Another option, great for starters is to buy a kit plane - where all the parts are cut out for you and you only need to assemble. Finally, you may want to build the airplane yourself, but get some parts ready - for example the propeller.
Here are some good shortcuts below:
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User comments:
Bill Kuhl at Jul, 06 '10 23:56
Thanks for linking to my article and plans for the Foam Jet II catapult glider. Plan to have more construction articles on my ScienceGuyOrg website in the future. Bill Kuhl
Reply to this comment
Bob at Aug, 10 '10 17:48
You welcome, Bill!
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Bill Kuhl at Oct, 24 '11 23:08
I now have a simpler foam glider design on my website I call the "Hammer Down Catapult Glider", the wing is from a meat tray that is hammered in the rear to form airfoil shape.
http://www.scienceguy.org/Articles/HammerDownCatapultGlider.aspx
Bill Kuhl
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