Life-sized balsa wood toy plane fails to liftoff

Filed under: Transportation

For the average child, killing hours on end tossing an easily assembled balsa wood toy plane isn't an uncommon occurrence; for Mark Clews, however, those flat packed crafts weren't exhilarating enough. The 24-year old bloke spent six whole months building a "life-sized edition" to the same exact specifications as the kits he adored as a wee boy. The aircraft boasted a 20-foot wingspan, was 15-feet in length, and was constructed with a slightly tougher wood than balsa. However, his engineering (and physics) skills weren't nearly as sharp as those carpentry ones, as he expected "an enormous rubberband" wound countless times around the propeller to launch the plane into flight. Unsurprisingly, the craft jolted forward a meager five feet, and "even backwards" on another attempt, rendering his project a failure. In an presumed attempt to alert others of how not to get airborne, his impressive (albeit permanently grounded) creation will be on display at the Learn to Fly expo next month in London.

[Via FARK]

 

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments