Bamboo Glider:updated:

This is a DIY for bamboo gliders. This is like a big kite, you jump in the wind and you float down softly(hopefully). you need some pretty intense wind for this. This kite glider has a 15ft wingspan and is 5ft to 6ft wide(depends on what you want to fly like. 90 square ft is not a ton of wing but that's were the wind becomes useful. this is a weight shift. You hold on with your arms on the leading edge, and your feet are held by a bungee cord connected to the trailing edge, so the craft has a good center of gravity. I flew this in 15mph wind, with the longest flight being 2.5 seconds. To get the craft in the air, you first got to get to a decently steep hill on a windy day, once on the hill fly it as a kite and do a few practice runs to get used to it, when you feel comfortable with the glider you can sprint down the hill against the wind. You will feel your feet get light and then your in the air. It will float a little and then set you down(hopefully in a safe way).

The complicated part....

So go to wherever you get bamboo lol, if you have aluminum tubing use that. I got my bamboo from the outdoors near a spring. Get plenty of bamboo, because your going to need it. So at the end of all your bamboo there are going to be the sticks and branches and take them off, you will get thin little sticks, keep them, they will be used for later. Now cut two bamboo sticks into 15ft long poles to act as the spars. Then you will need eight ribs which you need to cut them out to be 5ft long. So lay out your spars and place the ribs on top of the spars. Start off with ribs at the wingtip, place 1 on one edge of the wingtip and place the other one on the other wingtip. Put the eight ribs spaced1.8ft from each other.

Attaching the ribs to the spars: DUCTAPE, ductape the joints together, then put those little bamboo sticks as crossbracing in between the ribs. This makes sure the wings do not twist. Then put ductape In the shape of a x in between the wings for more strength.

Covering the wing. Get a tarp 15ft by 10ft. They cost around 5$, and get zipties. Wrap the wing both sides with tarp, and get your zipties and tie them through the loops on the tarp and make sure the tarp is tight on the covering.

Run off hill in the wind!!!!!