Scouts and Explorers: Fantastic elastic flying machines

Stretch yourself and spring into action as you build and fly a rubber band-powered model aircraft.

You will need

• Drawing pins
• Craft materials (for example, tissue paper, pipe cleaners, stickers)
• A4 paper
• Scissors
• Sticky tape
• Rulers
• Elastic bands
• Pens or pencils
• Coloured pens or pencils
• PVA glue
• Paper clips
• Pliers
• Cotton bud
• Plastic drinking straws
• PET plastic (for example, a two litre drinks bottle or disposable cup)

You will also need to print copies of the ‘Propeller pattern’ sheet. This one has been created by Science Toy Maker and inspired the activity below.

Propeller pattern

Instructions: how to make the model

1.      Cut the top and bottom from a PET plastic cup or bottle then cut down one side of the cylinder. Unroll the plastic and lay it flat.

2.      Draw the outlines of two propellers with rounded edges using a felt pen. You both need to be about two centimetres wide and nine centimetres long. Cut out the plastic propellers.

3.      Take a cotton bud. Remove the cotton swabs from the ends, so that you’re just left with the stick. Cut a section about one and a half centimetres long from one end and put it to one side for now.

4.      Mark the centre point on the longer piece of plastic stick. Use glue to attach the propeller blades to either end of the stick, leaving a small space in the middle. Attach one of the blades tilted at a 45 degree angle and the other straight.

5.      Take the hollow one and a half centimetre piece of stick from step three and glue it to the centre point, in the small space between the propellers, to make a T-shape.

6.      Take a paperclip and pliers. Carefully bend the clip into a hook to hold rubber bands.

7.      Take some A4 paper to make your wings. Fold it in half lengthways. Unfold it and use the ruler to mark the middle of the page.

8.      Take a straw and use the ruler to mark the middle. Use tape to attach it to the paper so that the two marks line up, with the straw running parallel two to three centimetres from the fold line on either side of the page.

9.      Add some glue along the top of the taped-down straw. Re-fold the paper and stick the other side down on top of the straw. Glue or tape the corners and edges of the sheet together to complete your wing.

10. Take four more straws to make the main body of the plane, the fuselage. Insert the ends of two of the straws into the other two, to make two double-length straws.

11. Take a fifth straw and cut two centimetre pieces from it. Dab some glue on the sides of each piece and use them to connect your two doubly-long straws together at your ends.

12. Take some leftover PET plastic, and push a drawing pin through it. Cut a one centimetre square out with the drawing pin hole in its centre. Glue this to one end of the fuselage, without blocking the hole.

13. Take the paperclip hook and push the straight end out through the front of the plastic square. The hook should now be between the two long straws. Take the straight end and rotate it clockwise and anti-clockwise to see that it turns easily, without the hook catching on the straws.

Adjust the width of the hook if necessary, to make it fit.

9.      Dab some glue on the straight end of the paperclip, and slot the one and a half centimetre piece of hollow plastic stick at the centre of the propeller over it. Make sure this is securely glued in place.

10. Tie three rubber bands together. Check the length of your bands pulled taut against that of your fuselage. If you match, attach one end of the band to the propeller hook and squeeze the other end through the small connecting piece of straw at the back of the fuselage. Pull through the end of the taut band and place a small piece of paperclip or similar through the loop to hold it there. You should further secure this with glue or sticky tape.

Keep the tension in the rubber bands as you do this. At the same time, don’t pull them so tight that you bend the fuselage out of shape. If your bands are too short or too long, you may need to use a different number.

11. Mark the centre point on the wings you made earlier. Line up the centre precisely with the fuselage and glue the wings to it. Try to fit them about 12 centimetres from the propeller, for the best balance.

12. Take another sheet of A4 paper and fold it in half lengthways to make a tail wing. Cut a rectangle of about 16 by 8 centimetres from the folded side of the paper. Mark the centre of this and fold the short edges to meet in the middle.

13. Glue the tail wing to the back end of the fuselage to complete the build.

 

14. Once you have your finished model you should decorate and personalise it.
15. Tidy up and recycle any leftover materials. If you used PVA glue, you should put the model to one side and only move on once the glue is dry. 
16. Have a test flight of your model – you’ll need a large indoor or outdoor space. You should wind up the tension in the propeller and throw the model into the air. 
17. As the models soar through the sky, look for any design flaws. Do you need to change the position of the main wing to improve balance? How many times did you rotate the propellor? Could you tweak the shape or size of the tail wing? 
18. Once you’ve made any adjustments you should try to let your aircraft fly again. You should try to time how long your aircraft stays in the air and how far it travels so you can compare results with your friends. 

 

 

 

Reflection

This activity involved making lots of components from plastic. This included straws, plastic cups and plastic bottles. What other repurposed materials or other alternatives could be used to replace each component? Can you think of viable alternatives, with the same or similar properties, to all the plastic parts? What else might you need to change if you’re using denser or weaker materials instead? Can anyone come up with a design that’s entirely eco-friendly?

Like plastic, air travel has a bad reputation, as it’s a key contributor to our carbon footprint. Burning jet fuel for thrust creates carbon dioxide, which when released into the atmosphere can increase global warming. What are some other ways we could travel that have less carbon output? If flying’s unavoidable, how could you make up for the carbon emissions from the flight? A clue: some organisms like to eat carbon dioxide!

 

This activity completes:
Air Activities Badge stage 6 – requirement 1
Scouts Model Maker Activity Badge – option 2

Safety

Glue and solvents

Supervise young people appropriately when you’re using glue and solvent products. Make sure there’s plenty of ventilation. Be aware of any medical conditions which could be affected by glue or solvent use and make adjustments as needed.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when you’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people

Sharp objects

Teach young people how to use sharp objects safely. Supervise them appropriately throughout. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.