![Flashback to the '70s [587x640 - 485KB]](https://pic8.co/sh/IKXUAN.png){kind=link}
I had the propeller model with the rubber band. Bad ass.
I had the propeller model with the rubber band. Bad ass.
These lived into the 80s at least. I used to get them in my Christmas stockings.
These lived into the 80s at least. I used to get them in my Christmas stockings.
Great times!
Great times!
Hell yeah!
Hell yeah!
The trick with the gliders was to take pieces of scrap balsa wood and glue them on to reinforce the wing/aileron junctions - or use thin strips of duct tape. After they'd been used/abused, we'd add lead foil to the nose to make them dive and try to make caps stick to it. Every now and then we could get one to pop on impact. Mostly it was a fools errand, but there was the possibility of an "explosion" so...
The trick with the gliders was to take pieces of scrap balsa wood and glue them on to reinforce the wing/aileron junctions - or use thin strips of duct tape. After they'd been used/abused, we'd add lead foil to the nose to make them dive and try to make caps stick to it. Every now and then we could get one to pop on impact. Mostly it was a fools errand, but there was the possibility of an "explosion" so...
I used to experiment too. My Dad was a contractor so I had access to lead flashing, wood glue and an assortment of other things to experiment with, and Mom had a small bag of fresh assorted elastic bands and Scotch Tape in her desk. My balsa airplanes were usually a pile of patched up rubble by the time they got tossed in the trash. I used them hard! I don't recall trying to place caps on the nose, I grew up in a rural area and pavement (to pop the caps) was pretty much limited to the road. It was always a good day when Mom let me get a new balsa plane at the store!
I used to experiment too. My Dad was a contractor so I had access to lead flashing, wood glue and an assortment of other things to experiment with, and Mom had a small bag of fresh assorted elastic bands and Scotch Tape in her desk. My balsa airplanes were usually a pile of patched up rubble by the time they got tossed in the trash. I used them hard! I don't recall trying to place caps on the nose, I grew up in a rural area and pavement (to pop the caps) was pretty much limited to the road. It was always a good day when Mom let me get a new balsa plane at the store!