Surf an Origami Tumble-wing on a Wave of Air
Shortcut to the tumblewing pattern (3 different sizes) PDF format.
There have been new developments in getting started with walkalong flight!
Something New in Tumble-wing Design! Just when I thought tumblewings could not get
simpler, a breakthrough in design.
Astonishing! You are flying a piece of paper, surfing it on a wave of air created with
cardboard.
If YouTube is blocked at your school, try this link to the equivalent Schooltube intro video
Here are some still shots from the introductory video.
If YouTube is blocked at your school, try this link to the equivalent Schooltube construction
video
Tumblewing patterns
If YouTube is blocked at your school, try this link to the equivalent Schooltube flying video .
Here is an advanced walk-along glider, called an origami hang glider
Here are some other instructional videos about making tumble-wings. This one is by John
Collins (The Paper Airplane Guy and tumbling wing inventor).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iob8IcbgJ58
and here are some by Phil Rossoni, here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIO4CTpIrb0
and here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVEI9zAkxig
and here http://www.instructables.com/id/Walkalong-Glider-Made-from-Phone-BookPaper/
To see air surfing, (aka walk-along gliding) the first time is breathtaking! As Alan Alda,
hosting the PBS TV program Scientific American Frontiers said, "I've never seen anything like
that!" Here are some short video previews of walkalong gliders, including the one
mentioned.
Encountering walk-along gliding is almost like stepping into a sci-fi movie, or a movie about
magic, with objects hovering through the air without any apparent source of lift. Actually
doing it yourself has the excitement of a video game and aerobic activity besides. Surfing on
a wave of air has a Zen-like simplicity. A piece of cardboard from a pizza box and a page
from a phonebook (are you really going to miss a page from the "attorneys" section?) are all
you need to get into the air.
My daughter using a cardboard "paddle" to create a wave
of air that the the easy-to-make and fly "tumblewing"
surfs on.
That is my job--to get you into the air, to put air surfing (walk-along gliding) within your
reach. The simplest design to start with is a tumble-wing invented a few years ago by a
college student name Michael Thompson. I will try to divide each task of making and flying a
tumble-wing into the simplest steps and warn you about the places that I got stuck. My
step-by-step instructions for making and surfing your first glider are here.
A tumblewing up close. I encourage people to start with a big
one, which I think is easiest to fly
Once you have attained flight with a tumblewing, you will find yourself in a universe of
possibilities to pursue. And with that my job will be almost done. There is a truly wonderful,
non-commercial web site— a labor of love--by the evangelist of walkalong gliders: Phil
Rossoni. Phil’s site can guide you through all sorts of different branches of air surfing. The
home page for Phil's walkalong glider site is here.
There is one more thing I want to do on my site: to document the unfolding story of the
innovators who are lifting this ascending phenomenon to new heights. Who's doing what?
This history of walkalong gliding is, of course, a work in progress because the activity is so
nascent people are discovering new angles all the time. How exciting to live in such a
seminal age! The history and people page is here.
Tumblewing instructions
Who is doing what with air surfing?
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