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Homemade Model Planes That Run on Rubber Motor

Rubber bands are interesting because of the number of uses that have come from the looped rubber fasteners. One of the things they can do is power small balsa-wood airplanes. A huge number of kits are available, but you can also make your own from a handful of household materials. These planes are fun to build and even more rewarding to fly, and there's a lot of flexibility on the designs and styles.

Things You'll Need

3/8-inch by 1/8-inch balsa wood
Tissue paper
Template (optional, see Resources)
1/16-inch balsa wood or light wire coat hangers
Small nail or tack
Propeller with hook
Elastic band

Instructions

- 1
  Cut the 3/8-inch balsa wood to the length of the fuselage. Somewhere between 10 and 12 inches is probably ideal.
- 2
  Lay out the tissue paper and mark out the dimensions of the wings and tail section. You can use a template from the Resources section for this project. If you aren't using the template, measure out at least 3 inches by 7 inches for each wing, 2 by 4 inches for the stabilizer and a 2-inch square for the rudder.
- 3
  Cut out the pieces of tissue paper and lay them out.
- 4
  Cut pieces of 1/16-inch balsa wood or bend sections of wire coat hanger to fit around the edges of the wings and tail pieces. Cover only three sides on each wing, all but one of the narrower sides, and all but one wider side of the rudder.
- 5
  Glue the balsa wood or coat hanger into the tissue paper, and roll it slightly to wrap the tissue paper around the outside of the frame.
- 6
  Glue the wings to the side of the plane, or attach them to each other and lift them off the fuselage slightly with more balsa wood. The wings should be about 2 inches from the nose.
- 7
  Glue the stabilizers across the back of the fuselage so they are centered across the back.
- 8
  Glue the rudder upright onto the stabilizers. Leave the glue to dry overnight.
- 9
  Turn the plane upside down and drive the tack into the fuselage about 2 inches from the tail end of the plane. Place it at about a 45-degree angle toward the back.
- 10
  Stick the nose propeller onto the front of the plane. It should be attached to a plastic housing which fits around the nose section.
- 11
  Loop the elastic band around the propeller hook and the tack at the rear of the plane. Spin the propeller to load the rubber band up with force and release the elastic band to start the propeller spinning. Launch the plane as you would a paper airplane.

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