File:Kid Flier 6 1 2 made in 15 minutes after show closed (5539485830).jpg

Here's the Kid Flyer 6 1/2. The chord of the wing is a bit large, as is the span. But it flew nice, and this was the first time I've used twist-ties for ballast! Works fine, and you don't have to carry non-drying clay around in your pocket. (well, in a bag, of course...)

Here's the deal: As the sketches show, this can be done any number of ways, there's no magic, all engineering is trade-offs and getting the most out of the materials.

Soooo. Make a pile of fuselages, try different wings, different horizontal stabilizers, different fins & rudders. Balance it different places. Try no dihedral, a single bend in the middle, three bends, middle and ends, Try longer fuselages and shorter fuselages. Put the wing in the back and make it fly as a canard (hint- you'll need the horizontal stabilizer to have its leading edge UP if its at the front instead of down as it is at the back... why is that?)

Do some science. Do some engineering. Build stuff and fly it. Above all, have a great time!