Please note that the Super Protege is NOT legal for AMA Standard Catapult glider. For those events, please consider building from Bill Gowen’s WIF series plans available at indoornewsandviews.com or the Protégé Lite from our kit.

Download the complete plans to build your model. You will need a 0.050″ diameter carbon rod or a piece of hard 1/8″x1/8″ balsa for the fuselage. Use product build video to complete your model:

Latest trimming instructions:

Trimming instructions for the 2019 version:

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Build the world’s smallest airplane!

April 19, 2019 Joshua Finn 4 Comments

Josh built this ridiculously tiny airplane. Here are the specs, so you can try to beat his 10 second record!

The wood sizes are as follows:

Motorstick: 0.020″x0.045″
Wing posts: 0.020″ sq
Tailboom: 0.020″ sq
Bearing, hook, and shaft: 0.006″ spring steel
Wing spars: 0.020″x.015″
Ribs: 0.020″x.010″
Stab spars and ribs: 0.020″x.015″
Prop spars: 0.020″ sq
Prop blades: 0.010″ sheet
Covering: OS film

Fact check: despite the claims of some, the matchbox flyers were NOT smaller than this airplane. The internet literally being forever, we can still access this important historical information:
https://web.archive.org/web/20090107142510/http://home.att.net/~mybeasts/matchbox.htm

Build video, Part 1:

Build video Part 2:

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We unofficially broke a rocket record! + free plans!

February 13, 2019 Joshua Finn 4 Comments

I’ve had this glider for a long time, but never really flew it that much. One overcast day recently, Caleb and I put it to the test, and we got the event on camera. And it performed wonderfully.

I was going to draw plans for it, but then I had a better idea. Here are plans for a revised version that flies even better:

All fuse/pod parts are 1/16″ balsa, the boom is a 0.039″ carbon tube, and the flying surfaces are 1/32″ C grain balsa. You can build one of these in under an hour, and they fly great!

And you can get a .pdf of the plan that prints on an 11×17 sheet of paper. Enjoy, and let us know how it flies for you!

Flight video of the old model (new one coming soon!):

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Build the Super Protégé for 2019 Science Olympiad Elastic Launched Glider competition

February 9, 2019 Joshua Finn 3 Comments

Download the complete plans to build your model. You will need a 0.050″ diameter carbon rod or a piece of hard 1/8″x1/8″ balsa for the fuselage.

Use our product build video to complete your model:

And use our trimming video to get your Super Protégé flying correctly:

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F1N-150 Catapult Gliders

January 28, 2019 Joshua Finn 1 Comment

F1N-150 is a nifty contest class for indoor catapult glides under 150mm wingspan (roughly 5.9 inches). These models have become popular in Europe and often classes feature many young people flying these easy to build, nice flying airplanes.

Some of these models fly remarkably well, especially considering their diminutive size:

We at J&H Aerospace can’t let Eastern Europe have all the fun, so we designed a Micro Protege to help popularize this class in the US. Josh’s model came out at 0.65g balanced for flight, and Hope’s is around 0.8g. Both fly nicely in the 24-25 second range in a 24′ ceiling. These models fly suprisingly easily. We should also note that J&H Aerospace sponsored pilot Ross Clements is getting into the low 30’s in a 40′ Cat II site.

There’s a kit too!

Here’s Josh’s flight demo, showing flight times in the mid 20’s under a 24′ ceiling:

Build instructions for the Micro Protege:

Trimming instructions:

Successful F1N and F1N-150 plans collection: http://s43.photobucket.com/user/watt1992/library/F1N%20models?sort=3&page=1

Another plans thread (not in English): http://aeromodelarstvo.net/Forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=2678&DisplayType=nested&setCookie=1

And even more not-in-English: http://aeromodelarstvo.net/Forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=2292&start=1

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Sky Slash II Boost/Glider plans

December 27, 2018 Joshua Finn Leave a comment

Note from Josh Finn: The Sky Slash II was was a free plan in an old Estes publication, originally submitted to an Estes design contest by Larry Renger who went on to a very successful career at Estes. It was the first widely known front engine boost/glider and completely revolutionized the sport of rocketry following its dominating successes which began in 1962. Sky Slash II was my first introduction to gliding rockets when I was 9 years old. I would like to thank Mike and Angie Spohn for building out several 50% scale versions of the model and sacrificing them to introduce me and their boys to a sport we had never seen before. That day we launched the first one changed the entire course of my life.

The plans provided here are for the benefit of the rocketry and model aviation communities. Please use them to excite another generation of pilots, engineers, and astronauts.

Original plan/article

Original plans