Plane Simple Fun

Not too long ago in my youth, almost every grocery store and 5 and 10 cent store carried toys. Rubber and plastic creations often claimed my attention, but one toy always lined a shelf, wooden balsa airplanes. There were several models to choose from, depending on how much money I had at the time. The most simple was a single piece of wood for the body with insignias and the pilot inked on its side. There was a through and through slot to slide a thinner balsa wood wing into, pushing the wing halfway. There was a slit in the rear to slide another much smaller wing into for the tail and a slot on top to receive the upright tail of the plane. A weight already attached to the front helped the plane to glide when it was tossed. By moving the main wing foreword or backwards, I could regulate the path the plane would fly, even loop-de-loops.

There were several other models, more complicated and also more expensive. It had wire landing struts that extended from beneath the wings and had two bright red landing wheels. Instead of the heavy weight in the nose, there was a red propeller. The propeller was attached to a rubber band that was also fastened to the rear of the plane’s underbody. By twisting the propeller, the rubber band increased in tension, winding it into coils. When the propeller was released, the plane would fly, pulled along by the moving propeller. It was cool to watch it swoop along until the energy of the rubber band lessened, then it was great to see the plane land on its wheels and bump along the ground carried by inertia.

 Believe there was another brand that a kid could fasten the two pieces of the wings to the body of the plane with slotted plastic. I’m not positive. I think I only saw it once and never owned one.

Another plane was made entirely of plastic with fixed wings. It came with a heavy rubber band and a thick plastic stick. The rubber band was fastened to a loop at one end of the stick. At the front of the plane was a notch. I could place the open end of the rubber band into the notch then pull back on the plane. The stretched rubber band would slingshot the plane into flight. Later in the evolution of toys, the plane became super characters, Batman, Superman, and possibly some others. I imagine they were lost to children because they were as dangerous as Clackers or Lawn-Darts.