1903 Wright Flyer Out of Popsicle Sticks

"On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright made the world's first powered heavier-than-air flight at Kill Devil Hills, Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. The Flyer flew for 12 seconds over a distance of 120ft (37m). On the fourth and final flight, with Wilbur at the controls, it flew for 59 seconds over a distance of 852ft (260m)."- (Flight: The Complete History of Aviation by R.G. Grant).

My name's Micah, I'm 15, and home schooled.

1. Popsicle sticks
2. Hobby knife
3. Super or wood glue
4. Black thread
5. Small bamboo skewer
6. Wire
7. Pin vise hand drill
8. Match sticks (optional)
9. Sand paper or sticks
10. Template

First step is to print out the template and cut out the front and back wings. Then mark the spots for the supports with a knife or drill bit. Cut out 18 of the supports but only glue the back row on. Make the motor by cutting a piece of skewer and sanding down a side to make it flat. Then drill a hole and stick a small piece of wire into it. Make the propeller shafts by cutting out a piece of wire and gluing the wood supports on the top and bottom(pic. 13, 14, 15). Add some horizontal spacers for the propeller shafts and glue those in place. Glue the motor on just to the right of the center(pic. 17, 18)(The back support in the picture is centered). Take the thread and glue in onto the motor, wrap it around one of the propeller shafts, loop it back around to the motor, then wrap it around the other propeller shaft back to the motor. Glue on the rest of the back supports and then put the top wing on. Make sure to add two "ribs" to the underside of the top wing(along the dotted lines in the template) before gluing it on. (Optional) Curve the edges of the wing with sand paper.

First step is to start with the side profile on the template, cut out the main horizontal and vertical supports and then glue them together. Cut out two pieces, for the width, and glue one to the front and one to the back. Cut out both of the front wings. Then drill two holes the same width as the frame and centered up and down(pic.4). Glue the wing with holes on first(about half way down) and then the one without holes centered on top. We will add additional supports later.

The tail is really simple but hard to explain. Just cut out the main pieces(pic.1), make a "V"(pic.2), glue on three spacers(pic.3) and then the "V" to the bottom(pic.4), with a slight downward slant(pic.5). Also make another "V" shape for the top(pic.6).

As you can see the propeller is about 6/8in long. I drew the shape on a popsicle stick and drilled out the hole before cutting it out. Then I cut it out but not directly on the lines(pic.3). Once it is cut out sand it down to the lines and then shape it into a propeller.

Align the frame and glue it in place. Then glue on the tail to the ribs on top and the frame on the bottom(pic.2). Add some additional supports to the front to match the template and as seen in the pics.1,3. Last but not least glue the propellers on the shafts.(Optional) Glue some additional pieces of thread to the front for more detail.

For the stand I used some match sticks I had laying around and made a pallet out of them. Then I bent some wire to the position I wanted and glued it in place. You can see in the pictures how it sits on the stand and the position it's in when it's on the stand. Hope you enjoyed!! Let me know down below if you make one yourself:)