How to build a flying machine
If you look CAREFULLY at the photos, you can see that there is a mirror running diagonally through
the frame. The person who is flying is actually straddling the mirror. From most angles in front
of the mirror, when the person lifts the 'front' leg, it appears that both legs go up. You do not
need a broom (but it enhances the effect) and might just try to 'lift yourself' off of the ground
by the back of your collar. Doing a Michael Jackson 'moon walk' with small steps also looks real
strange.
The frame consists of two squares made from 1"PVC pipe cut into 30" pieces held
vertically apart by
3/8"x36" threaded rods. The corners of the frame are standard 1"PVC elbows but they
are not glued, they are drilled and pinned so the entire frame can be taken apart and
stored easily.
The 8 elbows are bolted to the threaded rod with nuts from both above and below to
hold them in place after the first assembly and alignment.
The mirror support is a wooden 1"x2" (the length of the diagonal) with a
notch cut along its length to
support the mirror. The mirror support is bolted to the threaded rods on each end
and provides a rigid diagonal for the frame. The mirror is a standard 1/4" thick
plastic mirror 24" high cut
to fit the diagonal of the frame. The threaded rods are allowed to stick out above
the frame so that they can be used as supports for the person entering (the PVC is a
bit weak for that purpose).
This demonstration was originally seen as a demo at a Virginia Military Institute Summer
Workshop hosted by Rae Carpenter and Dick Minnix
many years ago and brought to SMILE by Peter Insley who, at that time, was
at Whitney Young High School. Peter is currently teaching Physics at Colombia
College in Chicago. Adaptions and alterations, including the
use of PVC pipe to make the machine more portable and assembly quicker and easier
were done by Roy Coleman from Morgan Park High School in Chicago.
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Last update Friday, November 14, 1997 at 22:45 CDT