Super Hooper Glider Flyers!

Make Together

Have you ever wondered how planes can fly? What does a plane look like? What shapes can you see on a plane? The jets on airplanes have cylinders under its wings so it can fly, triangles as wings, and a cone-shaped front to cut through the air. 

Let’s try to copy how a plane moves through the air by making a super hooper glider!

A hoop glider is a paper aircraft that uses the four forces of flight to fly. These four forces are lift, drag, gravity, and thrust.

A super hooper glider is made up of two paper hoops and a straw. The curved surfaces of the hoops help generate lift. The big hoop creates “drag” (or air resistance) which helps keep the straw level while the smaller hoop at the front keeps your super hooper from turning off course. Gravity pulls the glider toward the ground and your arm provides the thrust.

• Cut the paper into 2 separate half-inch strips. Cut your first strip along the long side of the paper and your second strip along the short side of the paper.
• Decorate the strips of paper for their glider with color pencils, crayons, or markers.
• Loop the strips of paper into circles, overlap the pieces about half an inch, and tape the ends together. You’ll have two round hoop shapes.
• Line the straw so that each end is sitting on the inside of each hoop.
• Tape the paper hoops to either end of your straw.
• Now hold the straw in the middle with the hoops on top and throw it in the air similar to how you might throw a paper airplane. How far did it go? 
• With some practice, you can get it to go farther than many paper airplanes.

Can you change something about your glider to make it fly further? For example:

• Add an additional straw on the opposite side
• Make the straw/s shorter
• Attach another hoop
• Fly it backward