Launcher for a toy glider

Abstract

A method for making an affordable toy glider and launcher with intrinsic cross-sectional strength and extended useful life, each made from a sheet of corrugated paperboard. The sheets have a patterned layout of a complete set of glider and launcher parts that are printed on a printable side of the corrugated paperboard. All parts are precut and retained in place. The central body (fuselage) has two mirror imaged sides foldable along scored guide lines to form a three sided “U” shaped structure. A nose pack with coin weights used for balance, is placed at the nose section between the sides. A wing and stabilizer cutouts are inserted in slots with tabs used to center and fix the cutouts in place. Included is a pistol grip launcher which is universal in its use for launching all types of toy gliders.

Description

[0001] This is a Divisional application of pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10 / 096,977, filed on Mar. 13, 2002, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] (1) Technical Field

[0003] This invention relates generally to toys that fly, and more particularly, to a hand launched gliding apparatus. It also relates to a launching apparatus.

[0004] (2) Description of the Prior Art

[0005] The ability to fly like a bird is an ancient aspiration of mankind. The first person to take a scientific approach to human flight was Leonardo Da Vinci. His designs included three types of aircraft, the omithopter, helicopter, and glider. However, his designs required human power to fly, thus was impractical.

[0006] Building and flying stick models has been and still is an excellent way to learn about glider construction and the basics of flying objects. This is the method used by aviation's pioneers, and the skill is still basic to building free flight and ra...

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