Launchable Drinking Straw Planes

Fun, very easy to make, for all ages. Launch them, race them, and attach a paper pilot if you want.

You will need the materials shown.

Step 1 Step 1:

Cut off the end of the straw with the bendy part.

Comments

[NICOLE925]

OK what am I doing wrong??? My plane goes down like a dud! How do I get it to fly ... atleast past my kitchen table!?

[RSV26]

there too havey

[ZouBCivil]

[elecsl]

Wow its really cool. Here another project rubber band powered airplane you can try.

[axelson360ontherun]

its kind of awesome

[mrmath]

What does the straw do for it? I see how it's used at first, but what does it do when you put it back in? Do you blow through it to launch it?

[mynameischeese]

Yes, if you blow hard enough your plane should fly away.

[chazepping]

Thanks ! I knew I was missing something. I'm going to edit it now.

[mynameischeese]

Thank you so much for this! I needed a project for school ( like Pro ) and this was perfect! 5*s!!

[iluvrunescape]

um.....this instructable is so hard p.s. paper is too light for the straw.

[Pro]

Hello I have a project to do and I was wondering if someone could help me make a plane that flies but it can not be simple and cannot be a paper planes someone please help me Thank you And P.S.: this project needs to be done by Thursday, March,27,2008 Whenever you send it please try to send it before friday.28 of march and please hurry

[jinjaboy]

cool

[dhruvgaara]

wow! I knew if you just had a bit of knowledge and a lot of creativity you can create the best of things!ill just go and show this off in my friends face!you rock

[Patrat]

Where did the wings come from? did I miss something? I've been looking for a project my Grandsons and I could do so could you answer this for me? it looks kind of fun yet real simple.

[chazepping]

I just cut some shapes out of paper and then I drew some snazzy squiggles, that´s all. They´re meant to be designed how ever you like. I don´t think the shape will affect the flying too much. :)

[Patrat]

Thanks! I'll give it a try!!!

[joedacoolguy]

how far does it fly

[threecheersfornick]

I used to do something like this in grade 2 or so. I'd take an empty juice box and put tape on the end of the straw. Then I'd blow into the juicebox untill it bulged a bit, and stick the straw bach in (with the taped end out). Then you could squeeze (or jump on) the juicebox and the straw would shoot away! On another note, if you fill an empty juicebox with air and then jump on it hard, it will make a nice loud bang!

[westfw]

There's a an interesting hierarchy of drinking straws. A McDonalds straw will JUST fit inside a Jack-in-the-Box straw (or the other way around), and they're both larger than the average grocery store straw. Starbucks shows up somewhere, and the fattest I've seen are the ones sold in some asian markets for "bubble tea" (at about 1/2 inch diameter.) At the bottom end are straws that only claim to be "stirrers." This might enable you to use one brand of dtraw for your plane body and another brand for the launcher. You can make rockets from drinking straws as well. Just put fins on the back end instead of wings in the middle...

[pooboy]

i made the rocket thing and it works much better than the plane , well my plane at least

[Joe Lombardo]

My kids and I take the large starbucks straw and tie a knot in the end. We then slide it over the small straw. A good puff will launch the large straw 10 feet. It's a good quick diversion for the kids as you grab an energy boost for the rest of the day playing with them :-)

[bluesky]

Do you have any instructions for making the main wing and the tail wing? This looks like a quick and fun project.

[chazepping]

Not yet. I may post some soon.

[jongscx]

i think the only instructions he means to give for those ares are 'if it looks right use it"...

[bostrees]

I've made things like this before but I never worried about cutting off the end... Partially because I never had bendy-straws but also because I don't think they'd get in the way if you kept the bendy-end outside the paper tube.