Comments on: Flying Contraptions

By: Michelle Hughes

Michelle Hughes — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:08:56 +0000

This was fun! My kids were so thrilled that it worked, even though I had a hard time explaining the “why”, but now they are experimenting with combined ones, different lengths, etc. Thank you!!

By: Suna Price

Suna Price — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:59:13 +0000

Wow! I can’t believe this goofy contraption really worked! It flew across our room really far! (Tyler- age7)

By: Aurora

Aurora — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:09:57 +0000

Which part did you have trouble with?

By: denisoncrew

denisoncrew — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:44:19 +0000

I could not get it to work….

By: Aurora

Aurora — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:42:14 +0000

Yes, it could be!

By: Lydia Fancher

Lydia Fancher — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:53:37 +0000

try it with the small part in front, it will have a better chance of flying far!

By: Lydia Fancher

Lydia Fancher — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 19:04:21 +0000

THIS COULD BE THE NEXT TYPE OF PLANE!!!!!!

By: Aurora

Aurora — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 05:29:53 +0000

Yes, all the experiments are performed on the videos. And yes, the flight lab is being worked on now for release this summer.

By: Ann Frazier

Ann Frazier — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 00:51:49 +0000

I have a suggestion for anyone who is having trouble with the glider falling apart when it lands. I found that masking tape worked better for me than regular tape in keeping the circles on the straw. This was a very fun experiment!:) -Madeline (Ann’s daughter)

By: Cheryl McDonald

Cheryl McDonald — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:45:03 +0000

We just joined up and I can’t wait to try this with the kids! Time for a trip to the $ store for straws. Two questions:

Do you ever perform the experiments on the videos?

I clicked on the link you have for this experiment and received an error message that the file no longer exists. Is it being updated or is this an old link?

Officially, it’s located here in the Flight Lab:
http://www.sciencelearningspace.com/summer-camp/flight-lab-experiments/

By: Iris Ensley

Iris Ensley — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:13:26 +0000

My 7 year old daughter was excited when she saw her
plane fly…and I was too!

By: Mia Curlin

Mia Curlin — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:00:57 +0000

interesting! they dont have these in paper airplane books

By: Aurora

Aurora — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:30:52 +0000

This is one of small handful of quick-start experiments we have under the ‘Getting Started’ menu that uses everyday stuff from around the house.

Officially, it’s located here in the Flight Lab:
http://www.sciencelearningspace.com/summer-camp/flight-lab-experiments/

The video streaming will depend on your internet connection. Here’s something you can do if it’s slow: click PLAY, then click PAUSE and wait for it to load completely, then hit PLAY again. We’re currently working on getting all the videos to stream smoothly, but it takes awhile to update 700+ videos! Let me know how it goes so I can help.

By: Sue Ishak

Sue Ishak — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 17:00:25 +0000

Am I missing something? Can’t find materials list for this experiment, video starts mid-way and is choppy (all other videos on this site play fine). I can figure out what to do from the partial video here, but we’re new to e-science and I prefer my kids to view the whole experiment from prep to finish. Sadly, we’ll have to skip this one until we’re able to view it all
Also, what unit of study does this experiment go with? Where can I find similar activities, further explanations? Thanks

By: Aurora

Aurora — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 19:11:14 +0000

Yes, give it a GOOD hard throw… and see how it works!

By: billy coleman

billy coleman — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:31:34 +0000

Do you just throw it?

By: billy coleman

billy coleman — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:30:33 +0000

How does the Flying Contraption Work????

By: Aurora

Aurora — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 19:23:42 +0000

Did you find it in the previous comments?

By: Joanne Trewick

Joanne Trewick — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 23:37:30 +0000

Where do we click on to read the explanation of why this plane can fly when it shouldn’t be able to?

By: Abby Edmunds

Abby Edmunds — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 23:26:22 +0000

Hey! This is a pretty cool looking paper plane! Now I can show it off to my friends and watch their mouths drop open in awe! Yay for science!

By: Aurora

Aurora — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 13:48:04 +0000

The four forces are lift, weight, thrust, and drag. All airplanes and flying objects have these four forces acting on it. Lift generated by the wings counteracts weight, thrust from the engines (or from a good throw from your wrist) counteracts drag (the friction from the air).

By: Helen Morton

Helen Morton — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 04:05:17 +0000

Aurora – What are the four forces that you are referring to in your explaination as to why these flying contraptions should not be able to fly mathmatically?

By: Athena H

Athena H — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 06:56:59 +0000

Another great flying contraption. We have a collection now. Thanks!

By: Rajkumar Chakraborty

Rajkumar Chakraborty — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 11:49:53 +0000

This one is a wired one but still good.

By: Karen Yanes

Karen Yanes — Tue, 31 May 2011 20:59:08 +0000

This is our very 1st experiment and it works so well! Very excited about this program. Thank you!

By: Katherine Kryger

Katherine Kryger — Mon, 23 May 2011 19:33:44 +0000

We didn’t have straws so the kids decided to use bamboo skewers! (the pointy end was covered by a loop anyway)
They are experimenting with various loops, widths, etc. and are having fun! Thanks for the fun science adventure!

By: Rachel Hearn

Rachel Hearn — Wed, 11 May 2011 15:25:06 +0000

i gust dont get it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hymmmmm,……. lol!!!!!!! now i get it!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: Aurora

Aurora — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:44:16 +0000

Did you see the hints in the other comments? Tell me what YOU think!

By: Melissa Beck

Melissa Beck — Mon, 09 May 2011 21:08:58 +0000

Very fun experiment, but we are looking for the “why?” …..”Why isn’t it supposed to fly (mathematically speaking)?”
“Why DOES it fly?”

By: Jinky Kieft

Jinky Kieft — Thu, 05 May 2011 13:45:43 +0000

My son (6) made 3 of these already on his own. He loves it!

By: Aurora

Aurora — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 20:07:17 +0000

You’ll find direct links to online suppliers (like Radio Shack) on the main shopping lists for the items. Look above in the main bar that says “Shop List” and click on the unit you are working on. If there are items not easily found at the grocery store, then they will have an appropriate link. If you have trouble finding an item, please let me know so I can direct you.

By: Shieron Phillips

Shieron Phillips — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 16:34:34 +0000

My daughter was able to get the first project done and loved it. I am glad that she can do this with you.

We would like to find out where or order form is for some of the things from Radio Shack. We need to order some of the main components. Thanks

By: Carrie Lorfano

Carrie Lorfano — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 17:51:31 +0000

Thank you! This will be our first official experiment on your site. I just previewed the video, but I’m going to allow my oldest to take the reins for the actual assembly.

By: Aurora

Aurora — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 21:00:46 +0000

You can vary and change the flying contraction by: placing a paperclip at the bottom of the small hoop, building a really loooong one with multiple straws, make a double or triple (or more) by placing the small hoops side-by-side and the large hoops side-by-side and taping them together (you can also create a pyramid stack of these – I will post a photo soon.

Read over the previous comments for ideas on how we think they fly… I’ll post more with the photo.

By: Kelli Simonds

Kelli Simonds — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:16:21 +0000

My kids were able to make this all by themselves with me just supervising (They are 7 & 8 years) so they were really impressed that they were able to fly and and figure it out themselves. We only had “bendy” straws so I assumed it wouldn’t work, but it did!

By: Carol Comanse

Carol Comanse — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 20:00:24 +0000

very cool

By: Sherrie Swerbensky

Sherrie Swerbensky — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 18:32:35 +0000

Would you explain how to attach more than one? I tried a few different ways and it wouldn’t fly. Is there also a description on why/how they fly? My children are trying many variations trying to figure it out.
Thanks!

By: Kristy Holhos-Vaida

Kristy Holhos-Vaida — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:37:02 +0000

We were out of straws but we had CHOP STICKS and it worked! Ha – great fun – Thanks Aurora! – Mom
I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY LIKED IT! – Hannah age 11

By: Aurora

Aurora — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 03:15:41 +0000

Try it! And then let me know about it…

By: Danielle Elizalde

Danielle Elizalde — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 23:26:47 +0000

Hey this looks awesome! Can it work with a wood securer instead of a straw?

By: Kristine Besic

Kristine Besic — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 18:30:07 +0000

socool

By: Ekaterina Belousova

Ekaterina Belousova — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 01:37:22 +0000

This is AMAZING! I’ll be trying this as soon as I have the chance!

By: Linda Usita

Linda Usita — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 02:32:52 +0000

I can’t believe this!! My mom had alot of fun doing this and so did i. – Tara [ daughter of Linda]

By: April Poley

April Poley — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:02:34 +0000

Great experiment. We experimented with the different ways to throw it. My daughter, who is more into art than she is science, is having fun decorating her card pieces with drawings and my son has moved onto experimenting with changing the sizes of the hoops and the length of the straw. He is also going to attach several together to see how they fly.

By: Molly Marlow

Molly Marlow — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 17:27:55 +0000

so cool trying it now

By: Holly Loussaert

Holly Loussaert — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 02:12:40 +0000

This Is Cody. We made a flying contraption. We used three pieces of cut paper, then we used a straw, and two pieces of tape. When I threw my contraption, It spins in the air. whoo!

By: rebekah

rebekah — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:14:25 +0000

We redid the experiment with a super size drink straw and it FLEW! our index card (4 x 6) was too heavy for a normal straw. That was why it didn’t fly the first time. What a great experiment! Rebekah say’s that she can’t believe she actually made an airplane that flies.

By: rebekah

rebekah — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 14:57:25 +0000

OMGoodness what an awesome first experiment! We had the best time doing it together and then trying to fly it together too! What an afternoon.

By: María Zamparelli

María Zamparelli — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:19:46 +0000

Fantastic!! Aurora. My son is working on several paper airplaines to see if it makes a diference to use a shorter straw or a thinner paper ring. Great project. Thank you, María Z

By: Sara Walker

Sara Walker — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:52:18 +0000

IT WORKS! My boys doubted you! Not anymore…thanks for making science super fun!