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Remember flying the little balsa airplanes with the windup rubber motors? Wouldn't it be neat if you could stick one of those motors into a Fiddlers Green paper airplane and fly it?? Well you can, sort of.....

The biggest impediment to using a rubber band motor in a paper airplane is, the paper fuselage just isn't strong enough to hold the rubber band when it is wound. Now you can just use the stick fuselage out of a balsa rubber band plane, but the stick would probably need to be shortened to fit in the fuselage. A shorter stick, means a shorter rubber band. That means to get the same power you need to wind it tighter. That can over stress your stick and break it. So now you need a stronger stick.

How about a thin walled plastic (styrene) tube? and since it is a tube, the rubber band can go inside the tube. The front of the tube can be made of balsa model rocket nose cone.

Get a rubber band type propeller from a hobby store. A good rule of thumb is a propeller diameter at least half the size of your wingspan. (with rubber band models bigger is better). Get a rubber motor from the hobby shop too. These are long loops of rubber, chosen for there twisting resistance. Some times they come in strips not loops, which is ok, you just tie a knot in it to make the size loop you want. How big a loop? Twice the length of the tube you use.

You need some stiff wire to make a crank and winder lock, and you need two plastic beads that fit over the wire loosely. Lastly you need a plastic ring.

Just a little bigger diameter than the tube you are using. You can borrow one from your daughter's jewelry box, (which is also a good place to find the beads!)

Assembly instructions.

Using a knife or small saw cut a slot in one end of the tube, (This will hold the ring in place.)

Drill a hole through the center of the nosecone just bigger than the diameter of the stiff wire. Bend a hook into one end of the wire, then measure from the hook enough wire to go through the two beads, the nosecone and the propeller with about inch left over and cut that off. Assemble the propellor as shown in the illustration.

Determine where the hook will be in the tube and drill a small hole through the top and bottom of the  tube so that it would pass though the hook. (This is for the Winder Lock.)

Loop your rubber band over the hook and thread it through the tube. Pass the loop through the ring. Pass the band back through the tube and slip it back over the hook. (If you can borrow a crotchet hook from your wife for this it helps.) You'll notice the ring snaps into place in the slot cut in the back of the tube.

Now build the Fiddlers Green Model around the tube. There are several places you will need to modify the model.

1.You will either need to size the model to your motor or the motor to your model. (a bigger model is easier to fly.)
2.The nose. This is best done by making a hole in the nose, smaller than the nosecone. the nose cone will poke out through the hole.
3.The winder lock, you will need to determine where the winder lock holes are and poke a hole through the paper of the fuselage (and possibly the wing, depending on the model you use.)
4.The tail. In the tail of the model you will need to cut a slot big enough to let the ring pass through.
5.The rudder and flaps. Your model when under power will want to corkscrew. Adjust the flaps, ailerons and rudder to counter act this.
6.Dihedral, Dihedral, Dihedral. Even if your model isn't supposed to have it, put a little dihedral in the wing, It makes for a much more stable flight

Balance your model for flight, (a little nose heavy) With the big propeller on the front it should already be nose heavy. If it is too nose heavy you can replace the light plastic ring in the back with a heaver one.

Get a cordless drill and then make a hook out of coat hanger wire. Fit the hook into the drill. This hook is for reaching into the fuselage and getting the ring. The drill is for winding the motor.

Insert a small piece of wire through the winder lock holes and through the fuselage. (Sometimes it's easier to insert it from the bottom of the fuselage.) With this in place the propeller should not turn.

Use the hook on the drill to reach into the slot on the back of the plane and hook the ring. Hold on the propeller only. Pull the ring out of the plane. There should be no stress on the fuselage at all. Turn on the drill and let it wind the rubber band. (Make sure it is turning correct way.)

Wind the rubber band to double knots and then stop. Using the hook put the ring into the fuselage and make sure it sets into the slot cut unto the tube.

Unhook the winder.

Point the plane in a generally upward direction. Pull the winder lock out and give it a toss.. whoosh, The Wright brothers would be proud.

Things to try later.

· Aluminum cigar tubes might work better than styrene plastic tubes.

· The tube and ring can actually stick out of the rear of the plane a little, if you don't mind it.

· Really short tubes with more loops of rubber.

· Multi engine planes (make sure the props spin different ways.)

· Try flying the motor alone. it just needs fins to keep it from spinning. It makes a great rubber powered rocket.

Matthew Sparks January 2002