Next Best Thing to Having an Expensive Hobby

Hand Launched Gliders (HLG) are so cool. Sometimes they have wings that are solid wood (balsa with a harder wood for a leading edge). Sometimes they are made with a bunch of "ribs" made of balsa glued to a leading and trailing edge and then covered with a tight tissue or mylar skin. There are HLG used for indoor events and outdoor events. The point of these events is to test your building skills and to see just how long these gliders will stay aloft. The first bit is about skill but the staying aloft has a lot to do with luck.

I found a bunch of places that sell kits. I also found places that sell tools, materials and plans. I had no idea there were so many cool little tools. One of the cool things I found is a razor plane called the David Combi Razor Plane. It's like the bigger hand planers for wood working but it's little and uses a razor to plane balsa or foam. I noticed that they are pretty popular for surfboard shapers as well. So cool.

I've built quite a few model airplanes. Most of them were plastic. however, I've done my share of balsa planes. Some were powered by rubber bands. The biggest were rope towed gliders that had wingspans over 6 feet. Both were cool for different reasons but they both lost my interest because one was too little thrill for the work and the other was too much work for the thrill. I think these HLGs might just be a good balance.

And, if I'm lucky, I can sever one of my fingers with an exacto knife like I almost did as a Cub Scout.

GF