Planes, Gliders and Paper Rockets: Simple Flying Things Anyone Can Make--Kites and Copters, Too!

Do helicopters need more or less energy to stay in the sky than an airplane? What pushes a rocket to leave the atmosphere? Why can airplanes have smaller motors than helicopters?

Help your students learn the answers to these and other questions

Written for educators, homeschoolers, parents--and kids --this fully illustrated book provides a fun mix of projects, discussion materials, instructions, and subjects for deeper investigation around the basics of homemade flying objects. With the projects in this book, you can spend more time learning and experimenting, and less time planning and preparing.

Complete with download links to PDF templates that expand your teaching, this is your one-stop manual for learning about, interacting with, and being curious about airflow, gravity, torque, power, ballistics, pressure, and force.

In Make: Planes, Gliders, and Paper Rockets, you'll make and experiment with:

• Paper catapult helicopter--add an LED light for night launches
• Pull-string stick helicopter
• Rubber band airplane
• Simple sled kite
• 25-cent quick-build kite
• Air rockets with a parachute or a glider
• Foam air rocket
• Rocket stands
• Bounce rocket
• Low- and high-pressure rocket launchers

Rick Schertle is a master at the craft of teaching middle school in San Jose and a novice maker at home. His diverse interests include backyard chickens, adventure travel, veggie oil-fueled cars and geocaching - all made more fun with the enthusiastic support of his wife and the crazy antics of his young son and daughter.

James is a writer who lives in Atlanta, GA with his wife and two young sons. He has degrees in Industrial Engineering and English and enjoys making things, writing about those things, and training young makers. He has written over 25 books on a variety of subjects from LEGO robotics to Open Source software to building your own CNC machine and 3D printer.