ELASTIC BAND AIRPLANE

Experimental activity

Families

Forces | Flight | Airplanes

1 hour

Airplanes are an efficient mean of transport and, statistically, the safest in the world! In this activity, we will
explore how an airplane works and create one that flies using only the strength of a rubber band. Like a bird,
an airplane needs wings to fly, but in addition to the wings the airplane also needs a little extra help ... an
engine! Let's find out how a rubber band can work as an engine, and how shapely wings can fly it far.

• A4 paper sheets
• Hot adhesive (hot glue)
• Glue
• Scissors
Materiais • X-Ato
• Straws
• Rubber bands/Elastics
• Skewers sticks
• Stopwatch
• Clips

BACKGROUND

Have you ever seen a plane take off or land? One of the first things we might notice is the engines noise. These
engines are long metal tubes, with large turbines inside, which burn a lot of air and fuel. They are much louder
(and much more powerful) than a car's engine. However, these engines are not the key for an airplane to fly.
Birds and some insects do not have engines but, they are able to fly, gliders also have no engines and can
soar the skies... wings are the fundamental part, either on birds, insects, gliders or airplanes. The wings
responsible for keeping the plane flying and they able him to maneuver in the air: going up, down and making
turns in the sky.
The engines of an airplane help him initiate its movement and achieve high speeds. The horizontal movement
of the plane enabled by the engine, makes the air blow quickly over the wings. The pilot is able to control this
flow of air in the wings, making the plane go up or down.

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 QUESTION

 How does the shape of the wings influence the flight distance (reach)?
 How does the rubber band is able to move the plane?

EXPLORE

How does the shape of the wings influence the flight distance?
1. Grab a sheet of A4 paper and make a paper plane (figure 1).
If you don't know how to make a paper airplane, try looking for someone to help you at home, or explore the
following website for some suggestions: https://bit.ly/2V8mzoK

2. Try to throw your paper plane and see how it flies.

3. Try changing the shape of the wings and try again. As an example, make small cuts on the back of the wings
and fold the cuts up or down. Observe how the plane behaves in each case.

Figure 1 – Paper plane example

4. Perform several tests with small changes in the wings to understand which option works best. You can even
explore other models. Keep a record of your results in the following table:

Wing type Fold Flight distance (meters) Flight time (seconds)

(up or down)
Example: elongated Up 2.5 m 6s

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How does the rubber band is able to move the plane?
1. Gather the necessary material to build an elastic airplane. Detailed instructions on how to build a simple
model can be found in Appendix 1.

2. Make a first test of your plane. Does it work? Are all the parts of the plane fixed? To be able to fly, an airplane
must have stability. Check if there are no loose components.

3. Try to launch it several times and try with other paper plane models. Think about the following questions:
a. Which model flew the furthest?
b. Which model flew for the longest time?
c. Does stretching the rubber band/elastic more or less (applying more or less force) make the plane's
fly in a different way?

EXPLAIN

For an airplane to fly it needs an engine and wings. But what task does each one perform?
First of all, we have to talk about Forces. For an airplane start its movement, a force must be applied to it (Newton's
first law), this force is given by the initial thrust of the engine. This impulse pushes the plane forward. But there is a
force that opposes this: drag (or friction), caused by air resistance. Drag resists the movement of the plane, and if we
want it to move, we must overcome this resistance. If you put your hand outside the window of a moving car, you will
feel the air moving and a force in your hand to counter your movements - drag. The resistance your hand feels
depends on some factors, such as hand size, car speed and air density. It also depends on how you place your hand:
if you place your hand horizontally, like a wing, you feel that the resistance decreases because you have made your
hand more aerodynamic (easier to move in the air).

Figure 2 - Force diagram of a plane in flight.

Just as you change the way you place your hand, the wings can also be moved slightly, depending on whether you
want the plane to go up or down in the air. When you are creating folds (either up or down) on your paper airplane or
changing the shape of the wings, the aerodynamics of the airplane (the way it moves in the air) is also changed. So
it is important to realize that depending on the objective we want to achieve the shape of the wings might differ. A
passenger plane has a different wing shape than a jet plane, and these differences will have an influence on its speed
and load capacity. In figure 2, several forces are represented. Each of them has a meaning:
- Thrust: is the force that moves an airplane forward through the air (the engine is responsible for this
movement);
- Drag: is the air resistance that tends to slow the forward movement of the plane;

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 - Weight (gravitational pull): it is the force that pulls all objects towards the center of the Earth;
- Lift: this is the upward force created by the movement of air passing over and under the wings.

In our elastic model (figure 3), the momentum is given by the strength applied on the elastic, which in turn, launches
the plane forward. Like a sling, let's pull the elastic forward and give it tension (accumulate energy). By releasing the
elastic, the tension is released, and it transmits movement to the plane.
In our model, the elastic is the engine that causes the initial impulse (thrust) for the airplane to start moving. After
the launch, the wings will allow it to keep flying.

Figure 3 – Elastic airplane model.

LEARN MORE

This and other activities related to Space, can be found on the ESERO Portugal resources page at
https://www.esero.pt/.
ESA articles about airplanes and aircrafts:
https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Keywords/Description/Airplane/(result_type)/videos
Additional resources:
Portuguese:
https://constancia.cienciaviva.pt/1215/fisica-do-voo---aviao-a-jato-t33
https://museudoar.pt/
English
https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/more_to_explore/Airplanes-and-Flying.html
https://www.museumofflight.org/Explore-The-Museum/Virtual-Museum-Online

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 APPENDIX I

The following pages will help you build a model of na elastic plane
1. Check if you have all the necessary material (Figure 1 A1). You will need: 1 rubber band/elastic, 1 straw, 3
skewers stick, 1 sheet of A4 paper, 1 rubber band and 1 clip.

Figure A1

2. Insert 2 of the skewer sticks into a straw. This step will depend on the thickness of the straw you are using.
If necessary, you can remove or add sticks. The goal is for the straw to stay firm and not to bend even if a
force is applied (Figure 1 A2). With the help of scissors, pliers or x-ato cut the excess (Figure 1 A3).

Figure 1 A2

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 Figure 1 A3

3. Unfold a clip (Figure 1 A4). Place an elastic “inside” the clip and insert it into the straw so that it looks like
Figure 1 A1. To better hold the clip inside the straw, try to put crystal glue or hot glue in the hole. If you do not
have access to any of these glues, secure it with tape. What matters is that the clip is securely attached to
the structure.

Figure 1 A4

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 4. In this model the wings will be created as follows: fold an A4 sheet in form of a book, as you can see in Figure
1 A5. Use glue to prevent the sheet from opening during the plane's flight.

Figure 1 A5

5. Cut 2 small sections of skewers with the same length. Glue them on the sheet of paper to provide stability to the
wings (Figure 1 A6). Glue the structure that has the straw perpendicular to the paper sheet on the opposite side
of the previous step (Figure 1 A7).

Figure 1 A6 Figure 1 A7

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6. At this stage, your plane should look like Figure 1 A8. If you want to give it stability, add a small rear wing
(Figure 1 A9). Cut the wings in a shape you like (Figure 1 A9). Now, your project is ready to be tested. Before
you go, do a preliminary test to make sure everything is glued together.

Warning:
This project has a clip on one end. Do not point it at anyone's face and try to fly it in a wide space: like the
living room, balcony, yard or garage.

Figure 1 A8

Figure 1 A9

* Resource produced under the ESERO Portugal project, supported by the European Space Agency

(ESA).