Catapult plane

The dream of flying ... invent

....invent: From foam stick to a catapult-plane

What makes a piece of hard expanded foam fly? Is it an impulsion, a throwing technique? Maybe additional wings? Or extra weight Test it!

	How to transform a hard foam stick in to a dart? Find a fix target in the room at about 5-6 meters distance. Transform the foam stick so that it precisely hits the target. Important: Your will later need small material from the packets. At the end of this task, it must all be taken apart and put back in the packets.
	Material Piece of hard expanded foam Small strips of hard expanded foam Double-sided tape Adhesive roller Packet of screws (to undo!) Packet of paper clips (to undo!) Packet of elastic bands (to undo!)

...invent: Transform your plane in a aerobatic plane You have certainly already noticed the moving surfaces on a plane's wings. The plane can be piloted thanks to these ailerons.
	Transform your catapult-plane in an aerobatic plane Can you make your catapult-plane realize these figures? ... a curve ... a barrel ... a looping?
	Cut out of the 2 cm width paper a piece of 4 cm. Fix it with adhesive tape and cut the edges neatly off. Test what happens when you slightly fold the pieces of paper (ailerons).

	The rudder If the rudder often falls off, you can fix it with two corners. Take two strips of thin white plastic, fold them and fix them with the adhesive roller. Make sure that the strips are flush against the foam and that there is no resistance to air.

	Build your catapult-plane air fleet! The bottom plane is a copy of a Mirage. The paper-clips are used as weights. The elastic can be fixed in the cut on the reverse side. A screw would be too heavy.

	Build your glider air fleet! To build gliders according to your imagination, you can use strips of foam either thin or large, but not square. Like this, you will be able to build the motor-glider at the next step. You can find this material in building stores. It is a laminate floor underlay.
	Material for trials Thin double strip of hard foam Large strip of hard foam (Careful: No square pieces!) Straws Different weights Small elastic band (e.g. Rainbow-Loom elastic) Adhesive tape
	It is important to be able to change or move the weight. You can see on this picture an example of a solution: An appropriate weight is fixed on a straw with some adhesive tape. The straw is then cut. Fixed to a small elastic, the weight can be easily shifted to the back or to the front.
	Here are two planes built with large strips of foam. What are your ideas?

Schicke uns Fotos oder Videos von deinen Erfindungen, auch wenn sie vielleicht noch nicht so toll gelungen sind. Für unsere Flugzeugmodelle mussten wir auch sehr lange tüfteln.

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