Air Surfing Walkalong Glider Kit

 Air Surfing Walkalong Glider Kit

It looks like magic the first time you see it! How does it levitate? Surfing gliders on waves of air is called "walkalong gliding". Although I've made instructions for paper walkalong gliders, I think they are too difficult to start with. EPS foam (the common white kind made up of little puffy beads) is unaffected by humidity, much lighter, therefore slower flying--perfect for beginners. It's also the best for advanced hands-only flying and aerial dog fighting.

I will try to form a club soon where my technology students will manufacture kits with thin-cut foam that will take you from basic to advanced (hands-only) flying. Until then, feel free to watch the videos, and Part 6 shows you how determined DIYers could cut their own scraps of foam from discarded packaging, where to get inexpensive ni-chrome hot-wire for cutting and patterns.

 Part 1
 Introduction to Walkalong Gliding and Why Foam?
This video is an introduction and progress report about walkalong gliding and my interest in it. It answers the question of why I think foam is more suitable to start with than paper.
 Part 2 Air Surfing Kit Overview and Build the Tumblewing 
This video shows the foam gliders you will make with the kit: 7 gliders, 4 different kinds.The second part shows you how to build and fly the simple, auto-gyrating Big Mouth tumblewing. 

 Part 3 "Flying Wings" and Build the Jagwing
This video shows you how to build the Thompson Jagwing glider which uses a unique way to generate lift. It's quite straightforward to build and adjust, and it's very flight stable. 
 Part 4 Build the Baby Bug
The Baby Bug looks like a small, indoor hang glider, and it uses the same kind of airfoil lift as a hang glider. 

 Part 5 Aerial Dog Fighting and Hand Flight 
Once you've built and learned to fly your gliders with a board deflecting the air, a new world of options opens up to you. Careening through three dimensional space, aerial jousting ( "dog fighting" ) is really fun and great exercise, though you will need more floor space than a typical house has. There are also some tips for using only your hands to deflect the air wave to surf on (that reallylooks like magic)! 


 Part 6 Hot Wire Foam Cutting 
So you want to cut your own foam, recycled from discarded packaging? It takes some practice but a simple hot wire cutter is not expensive and pretty easy to make. 

 Part 7 Build the Mama Bug
Amazingly, gliders actually become more efficient as they get bigger. So this video shows you how to use the last two big pieces of foam to make a giant Mama Bug glider that you can still fly with only your hands.

Part 8 More Walkalong Gliding 
So you have built and flown the gliders in this kit and you still want more. There is indeed a lot more! 

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