Giant Rubber-Band Plane

Links to plans for rubber band powered plane - store.projectair.co.uk/produc... ... More below!
BUILD THINGS TOO
👉🏼 I sell downloadable plane, car and boat kits on my website.
store.projectair.co.uk/collec...
👉🏼 Build a simple rubber band plane I designed store.projectair.co.uk/produc...
👉🏼 Where to get electronics, cameras and 3d printers (Amazon affiliate) www.amazon.co.uk/shop/projectair
SUPPORT MY VIDEOS
👉🏼 Sign up to my Patreon / jameswhomsley
👉🏼 Follow me on Instagram for day-to-day updates on my current builds / jameswhomsley
Big thanks to Andrew Applepie for the music used in this video - / andrewapplepie
DISCLAIMER: This video is purely for entertainment value. Personal use of video content is at your own risk. Recreations of experiments, activities and projects are the sole legal responsibility of the person(s) involved in replicating them. I can not be liable for any information or misinformation, wrongful use, damage to personal property, death or any circumstances that result from replication of any projects seen. Be safe!

[@TheDodgyEngineer]

You could vary the run times of each rubber band to create a sort of staging for each motor. For example, if the central motors had a duration of a few seconds, they would dump a lot of energy at the start, from which the plane could then coast, running off lower output from the other (longer duration) motors. Kind of like how rollercoasters often add all their energy in one go at the start of the ride! Excellent video as always!

[@stephenhudgins6457]

Love the staging idea! Can't wait to see whether it's incorporated!

[@DiyEcoProjects]

Hi Dodgy Engineer (lol cool name) was thinking something similar. Motors firing off in pairs

[@bsimpson6204]

But he said it didn't have enough power to climb with all engines running (so only just flying really) and props not running are a massive drag and dead weight. Longer rubber motors are the way to get longer flights and maybe over winding...

[@sperzieb00n]

gives me an idea, what if he could vary the stretch lengths with a servo, maybe that could be a simple way to have some control over thrust without too much loss due to friction. or even better, use another elastic band to keep tension on the twisted one while it is unwinding!

[@bobmvideos]

All too heaving and overly complicated. The key is to build it light. Use a longer motors and bigger rubber cross sections does essentially the same thing.

[@richardsweet5068]

As a 77 year old I well remember rubber powered planes, I also remember my dad telling me about lubricating the rubber with BANANA OIL ! yes there is or at least was such a thing. I tried it and it as I remember worked really well. I suppose it lowers the internal friction between the bands.

[@Captain_Yodelstein]

I used baby powder on mine.

[@gryfandjane]

I used to use green dish soap. But I’m sure banana oil smelled better. ;-)

[@BogHopperFPV]

Or silicone

[@kenpickett9317]

Glycerine is best. It reduces the friction between the strands of rubber allowing them to slide over each other. You’ll get more winds on too. Keeping the rubber cool will give better performance also. Leaving it in the sun to get warm reduces its performance.

[@superdupergrover9857]

Just don't use mineral oil or cooking oil of any kind. they will soften and weaken natural rubber. Castor oil is fine, though. It is chemically different than most plant oils.

[@Nerdforge]

Fantastic video 👏

[@txma.]

hello other diy youtuber i love watching

[@Project-Air]

Thanks guys!

[@abinayasriabi4821]

@@Project-Air vjr

[@user-ud4dq6th2x]

You are the best ​@@Project-Air

[@user-ux9sh8oi3k]

​@@Project-Airso what your saying is that all I need to do is say FANTASTIC VIDEO and I,ll get a reply?

[@patgarner]

Super satisfying, well done! I used to build little rubber band powered planes from kits when I was a kid and this is the best possible evolution of that I could have imagined!

[@Project-Air]

That's cool! Yes same here!

[@cancelledby1998]

@@Project-Air a r s e n a l b I r d

[@annputnam9302]

Good comment ❤🎉🎉😊

[@slartibartfast2649]

It always brightens my day when James uploads.

[@CoOkIEs998]

ikr

[@Project-Air]

☺️☺️

[@theanomynusguy]

same

[@redlineracer2752]

Especially after a long day!

[@luscious823]

​@@whitemonk369 he is flying it at a field I'm pretty sure it's not his house

[@properprinting]

This was a pleasure to watch. Also, nice work on the kits, they look very thought out and professional!

[@nWestie]

If you really want to get into the weeds of rubber power, have a look at what some of the indoor free-flight people are doing. Not everything they do would carry over, but a couple things from when I built rubber planes in high school: - lubricating your rubber bands somehow is important, find something that doesn't damage the rubber though. It lets you wind it up much more before they start breaking. - pre-stretch your rubber bands: I would always cut them to ~1.5 times the length of the mounting points, and then before I start winding, pull the rubber bands back until they're stretched to ~3x their unstretched length. This lets you get a lot more winds/flight time, at some reduction in instantaneous power. Really excited to see you continue working on this project! best of luck

[@DanDavisHistory]

Very cool! I'd forgotten playing with rubber band plane kits when I was a kid.

[@bayernbahn1549]

Great project! Great how it flies! Because of the world record, my idea would be that you take the double number of propells with engines, but when starting only half activated and the other half only when the other engines are empty.

[@CNCKitchen]

Awesome work! You really make me want to build one myself and join the challenge.

[@Experimentalhobbyist]

Do it! Try doing a 3D printed rubber powered airplane.

[@DogeMultiverse]

Wow cnc kitchen! Let's gooo

[@Project-Air]

That would be great to see Stefan! I think you should!

[@larrybud]

Somehow I got down the rabbit hole on YT and watching all these model airplane videos. I used to fly 30 years ago, and I noticed that foamboard and hot glue is a very popular manufacturing method. Surprising. Hot glue seems REALLY heavy vs CA glue and foam board is heavier than balsa/tissue.

[@zogworth]

The upside is it's really really fast in comparison.

[@larrybud]

@@zogworth for sure initial build time is quicker, but if you're doing repair after repair, might not be as efficient as it first seems.

[@sufysprojects2689]

Cool video! A couple of thoughts : -Depron is waterproof, you may consider using it in the future (but it's expensive -using thinner foamay lead to a lower all up weight and therefore more performance, at the department store I've found a very thin type of foam that it very brittle used to insulate floors, but laminating it with some packing tape solves it.

[@wideyxyz2271]

Brilliant. Great work. I love to see how you work through problems. Great British engineering is alive and well. I also love that Tom Stanton is one of your supporters. Keep it going and smash that record! Maybe if your viewers have some similar projects you could have a "Fly off " day and smash some records between you ? The Great British Rubber Band Fly-Athon! TGBRBFAT.....

[@bknesheim]

A standard trick to increase the runtime taken from rubber driven boats is to make one of the connection point flex so that the tension in the rubber band stay more constant.

[@spencerbrady2425]

That’s genius

[@braedenfischer6018]

as an engineering student thankyou for the website! always need more CAD files and interesting designs!

[@LemonSqueezy_i]

DIY is my favorite form of art. That's why I love these your excellent videos. Keep up the good work James👍

[@MikeStallone]

Had to watch this again man. Your storytelling is really impressive and keeps me engaged throughout the whole video

[@Roadrunner_official]

I guess you could say it wasn't *plane!*

[@twist6124]

Have you thought about stretching the bands, rather than twisting them? You could connect it up to a 3D printed gearbox, getting more power and runtime with only a single prop. You might be able to use much stronger bands, and also have a faster reset time between flights.

[@doverivermedia3937]

Your vids always put a big grin on my face. Love em. Reminds me of Sunday morning meet ups on the weaver Hills where we used to slope soar our sljngsby capstans. Happy days ... 🇬🇧

[@tealruby582]

Met you in SF at a hostel 6 or so months back, and now you're in my recommended feed! Congrats on the huge success of this video.

[@JoelCreates]

Rubber band airplanes were a childhood favorite, I liked the prop release system

[@Project-Air]

Thanks Joel

[@RideAcrossTheRiver]

@@Project-Air Have you thought of part two with a catapult launch? Use surgical tubing.

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic work, James!!! 😃 Looking forward to see what you do next! Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@tubois2025]

This is the best time to log on ! James upload!!!

[@timtaylor1365]

The key is the rubber band tension... you're on to something with making your own but can you make them stronger? Congratulations on your great achievements.

[@plaetzchen86]

Could you do a staged approach? So like 4 engines start immediately and 4 to increase endurance?

[@runforitman]

those virtual kits look really cool definitely gonna see what you have

[@masboyrc]

Awesome project, really nice 👍

[@bob2859]

Can't wait to see V2! Hoping to see a fusee or some other clever solution.

[@bry29bry]

Minimize friction! Add bearings or save weight with bushings and graphite lubricant. Love this project! Great video as always!

[@gryfandjane]

Fascinating stuff, James! As a flight-mad kid in the 1960s, I went through a pretty fair batch of rubber-powered balsa aircraft, which no doubt planted the seed for my later RC activities. There’s a lot of enjoyment in extracting maximum performance from minimal equipment. And yeah, when I saw the thumbnail for this vid, my first question was, “How is he going to release all those motors at once?” Nice solution! Now you can attack the issue shared with EVs… maximum range with minimum charge time. ;-) Cheers as always from Missouri, USA.

[@g54b95]

The first model airplane I ever built that actually flew (and amazingly, I might add) was a very primitive kit for a rubber powered parlour plane (or penny plane) when I was about 13 years old. The kit was very crude. I had to not only cut the wing spars from a solid block of balsa, but then cut the airfoil into them. I had to fashion the propeller out of thin balsa stock using an aluminum can as a form for the contour. The covering material wasn't tissue, but more closely resembled the skin you get in the pan after you boil pasta. When it was all finished, it weighed just a few grams. It was an indoor - only plane, obviously. It flew fantastically! Probably at less than 15' per minute, and the torque from the prop shook the whole airframe as it crept along. A sneeze would have destroyed it.

[@whoever6458]

Always remember that any landing you can walk away from is a good landing, therefore all unmanned aircraft landings are good landings. I think this project is awesome!

[@JohnTelford1]

This reminded me of The Great Egg Race (BBC Two TV show in the 1980s). The original challenge was to make a wheeled contraption powered by a standard rubber band to transport a hens egg as far as possible. From memory, the key to great distances was using a fusee to even-out the release of energy from the rubber band.

[@littlehills739]

fusee to even-out the release of energy from the rubber band more info if you could please :)

[@JohnTelford1]

@@littlehills739 When a watch spring is tightly wound, or a rubber band is tightly stretched (or twisted), they want to release a lot of energy in a short time at the start. Mechanically, this is because the exert a bigger force when tightly wound, compared to later when they are partly unwound. The fusee is like a kind of continuously variable gearing that slows down the release of energy at the start, and then make the release of energy easier (through mechanical advantage) later on.

[@littlehills739]

@@JohnTelford1 fusee in clock making nice thank you for helping

[@markusmacdonald5647]

Rather than twisting the elastic bands around, it may be more effecient for the elastics to pull and use linkages to get the pull to a rotational motion. However, I dont know how the extra weight would affect its flight time. Nonetheless, cool project-keep the work up!

[@server642]

The elastics could be wrapped around a small drum on, or via a simple gear reduction to, the prop shafts and anchored to a point somewhere beside the drum. Fairly lightweight and directly translates the linear stretch into rotational motion. I think this would be neat because a person can vary the tension that gets wound onto the drum with each turn, too!

[@cayenne7792]

every conceivable design has been tried and tested over and over nothing is more effective and efficient than this design

[@viasevenvai]

the twisting is pulling it.

[@MangeSoderling]

@@cayenne7792 true but my 600mm single F1B prop would destroy those puny little things

[@b9y]

It actually sound like an old prop plane because of the rubber hitting the struts. Amazing!

[@mrsmith4662]

Great project. I can't believe the record is only about 30 seconds. A bit of inovation and I'm sure that Project Air can win it.

[@RazShifrin]

Brilliant!!! Come on guys let's smash that like button and comment on this video, if we support this brilliant creator, he will have the financials and freedom to create more epic content for us..win win:)

[@julianlauterfeld6273]

Thank you for making the Website with the plans 😊 now I have a good project to build with my little brothers 😁

[@Project-Air]

That’s awesome to hear! I hope you have fun with it!

[@Swaggyswisscheez]

what the heil. I was literally just searching for this kind of video yesterday. This is amazing!!!

[@afwalker1921]

There is a fine line between genius and madness... then again, some things are just crazy!

[@thomaslincoln401]

It shouldn't be too hard to add pushher motors to the nacelles too. Also maybe consider thrust lines and a staged motor release. (Could have initial motors set for climb, and others for sustainment.)

[@Mike-oz4cv]

Staged motors would only help if he has excess thrust/power.

[@bobdobalina5552]

7:05 ProjectAir: we didn't have a helper on this day for the wooden chucks Cameraman: Ummm, maybe I can help Camera tripod: Sorry, this is my day off. I'm not holding the camera for you 😂

[@andymuzzo8568]

Awesome work. It looks wild

[@nithikasandinu9034]

long awaited video🙂

[@volofly2011]

Nicely done! Love your persistence and adaptability. Try, determine result, adjust, try again until you succeed. That's how the Brothers did it. Many of us have continued this engineering method and you are doing well too. Keep up the good work and inspiring others.

[@madeintexas3d442]

You should try counter rotating props for each side. That seems to be a simple mod that might improve stability.

[@Anto-ro6ru]

It would be cool if you made a video about what’s behind the design of simple plane as the first one. Im talking about all the shapes and geometry required. Keep it up

[@Hondanissanman]

An absolutely brilliant experiment with rubber power NICE 1👌.

[@peterjarnes25]

You get 10000 thumbs up on this one buddy! Terrific engineering!

[@Greywillson58]

Had a random thought about rubber band planes. Could you try attaching a band to an adjustable rail or screw shaft, geared up to the rotation of the prop and use the rotation to stretch the band as it unwinds? The purpose of this would be to increase the efficiently at which the planes uses the stored energy, perhaps extracting a little more than it otherwise would and maybe increasing the time a loft.

[@sperzieb00n]

a much lighter way to do that would be to use a second elastic band set up to just provide linear tension, or even an alternative setup of the rubber band, where the loop forms a triangle with one point on the prop and 2 on the body, so winding also makes use of linear tension.

[@MangeSoderling]

@@sperzieb00n or have a longer single band it is more efficient

[@RCPlanesAndTravels]

This system with 4 servos is great idea!!!

[@o0o-jd-o0o95]

That was an awesome. I would have been so elated about that flight

[@BritishBeeMan]

Would 4 much larger slower turning and thus longer running proper be a better option?

[@MangeSoderling]

Yes

[@drsinfre6028]

Awesome dude!! Im thinking about increase the flying time, so, could that plane flight with only 4 propellers? cause alternating the propeller block when the first 4 run out of energy, release the other 4... Could work? Hugs from Canary Islands!

[@benjaminmiller3620]

Drag from the stationary props could become a problem don't you think? Longer elastics would help, but the ways he runs them currently, he would have to add longer spars, which adds more weight. I wonder how much a tiny 90° bevel gear at each prop would weigh? It would let him run a much longer elastic under the wing, and if it's a torque reduction, he could beef them up as well, and get longer runtime that way too.

[@walk4718]

Love your amazing and very amusing content. Time for more of the Stripol collaboration 👍👍😂

[@joshyeliezondo3299]

THIS PROJECT IS SOOOO COOOL!!!!!!!

[@youkilledtony]

Really cool! How come you're not using a single servo for pin release? I imagine you could have one servo for the pins, and use two more for control surfaces (rudder and elevators, or even elevons) for a total of three servos, to add some control and potentially increase fight time.

[@Solve_sphere_technologies]

I love rubber band plans, but could you make a plane that is powered with cpu fans plzzz

[@alwayscensored6871]

Peter Shirol? Has made one. Made man carrying EV plane too.

[@Solve_sphere_technologies]

@@alwayscensored6871 Project air could make better version of it

[@mjproebstle]

top plane design and flight! propellors that fold back would reduce drag at the end of the flight, and might lead to a more smooth landing. cheers!

[@paperplanestutorial]

Amazing design. Thank you

[@Project-Air]

Check out my new Project Air kits here! store.projectair.co.uk

[@StrikeEagIe]

Oh hell yeah i’ve been waiting for this

[@veyrenwolf6530]

hell yeah! this sounds really cool (also maybe pin the comment? :) )

[@niclash]

GutFeeling(tm) says that pulling (rather than rotational) tension is more energy efficient, and can easy add more stored energy into the system.

[@corbinschuster2664]

Awesome video, well done!

[@Alan_Hans__]

Link returns to this video :(

[@JulianMakes]

Oooh a challenge! Love it. Great video!

Congratulation!!! This is fantastic!

[@bingus6854]

Straight up some of the best content on youtube right here. Amazing video like always.

[@pinoyrcmaker72]

That is awesome build

[@ethereal_ar]

Very well done bruh 🔥

[@raffyturc]

kudos for the effort dude. keep it up 👌

[@smb5655]

you can alternate the power by making the propellers turn at different times. by having the propellers start at different times you can make it fly longer.

[@Idk_________]

Finally another airplane video, ngl it's pretty good 👏👏

[@TechsScience]

Excellent video 👏

[@theballoondr]

Really great job done dude !!!😎

[@DIGITALRC]

Insane build 😎👌🔥

[@diavol2432yeahh]

Verified comment

[@MikeStallone]

So cool!

[@robertkbrooks951]

Great Job Young Man. Thumbs Up to You.

[@pams.307]

Fantastic video

[@s.m.aggies7220]

Outstanding :) I thank you for the Entertainment and the wishes to assist others such great work. I know plenty of other comments, so I thought, the Propellers on one side rotate Counter Clockwise with other side Clockwise. Thanks :)

[@MrNickGascoigne]

Best upload yet, content was spot on!🙂👍 and very interesting

[@fingergunpewpew760]

this is literally a rubber band powered arsenal bird, awesome!

[@air-headedaviator1805]

This was actually quite impressive! I wouldn’t have expected such a flight from a rubber powered bird

[@hobbespremium8762]

This KZbin channel is the embodiment of because I can

[@segue2ant395]

Wahey! One of the first things I ever built from a kit as a wee chap was a rubber-band plane.

[@benamadmi1459]

Perfect example of never ever giveup🎉👏👏

[@FarmerFpv]

Lol, I thought I was dreaming. Turns out it's real. I love the NASA hat. So sick!

[@portlyoldman]

Hurrah. James again 😁😁

[@Humble_Electronic_Musician]

Nice flight, graceful landing!

[@engineeredlifeform]

Brings back memories of making Keil Craft rubber powered model aircraft with my dad, we made a Piper Comanche, a Piper Grasshopper, and of course, a Spitfire.

[@tonywright8294]

Never heard of Keil craft . It’s Keil Kraft.

[@appalingbehaviour]

Sounds like a spitfire!

[@scott_forgot9875]

I love the way it sounds.

[@CapTheNPC2]

8:48 That flight was absolutely BEAUTIFUL

[@allanapel123]

You're a star. The build process is great and your explanations are perfectly paced. From the start my only thought was 'how will he start all the props together?' I did wonder if your camerawoman could have been the chock puller but then you wouldn't have moved to the servo solution and end up electrifying the plane which turned out to be a good move. For the 30-second challenge, couldn't you servo operate a 2nd batch of props to increase flight time or is that not allowed for the GB of Records? In fact do they even allow electronics at all?

[@klassisch3039]

This dude needs more subs!! Love your videos!

[@theawesomer]

Very cool build. Good luck breaking the official World Record!

[@_spartan11796]

I’m always pumped to see you post!

[@billytisme]

Great video! glad to see my load cell PCB get some use!

[@Project-Air]

Thanks again Will! Top bit of gear that!

[@Rfernandes.]

Something I've noticed is that, bigger props with lower rpms are usually more efficient... instead of moving a bit of ar at a high speed, moving a bigger mass at lower speed should increase the runtime...

[@-mystic-93]

Yes, you have to balance it with the kind of rubber you have, though. Thickness/linear density, length, and quality all play a big roll. The condition's this rubber were being subjected to were not the best, no o-ring, no lubrication, and poor weather. What you are describing if perfect for F1D where it can take thousands of winds, but those planes are build for only the most controlled environments.

[@peterwatkinson4656]

Brilliant, it reminds me of Howard Hughes' 'Spruce Goose' !

[@OzAndyify]

Nice! I reckon a stiffer stab with just a bit more decolage would fix your COG issues. A wedge that lifts the wings LE a few mm would be an easy way to test. For FF gliders, it's always best to have a bit fwd COG and some decolage, cos you can't correct for gust stalls. Too much will lead to oscillations but too little will give you squirrely pitch. (Congrats on your store. Plans look great!)

[@PeterKNoone]

I love seeing my name on your projects. Clever way to keep me as a member. I'm still waiting for the bold font ;)

[@langbo9999]

So cool 👍🏼

[@FreeFlightDigest]

love it!