These airplanes are an old-school, irresistible way to get kids away from their screens and outside. (And not only kids: they’re fun for seventeen-year-olds and seventy-year-olds, too.) No batteries, electronics, or plastics. Inexpensive. And, as the company who has made them for almost a century reminds us: a toy glider just naturally brings joy to anyone who launches one into the open sky. 

Each set includes parts to make two 12” wingspan gliders, in the style of jets, that flip, turn, and dive. The gliders can easily fly over thirty feet. They can be assembled by children six or older, as the pieces are laser cut and easily removed from the balsa wood sheets. Just punch out the parts and slide them together. Estimated assembly time: five minutes.

One reviewer writes:

“It’s hard to imagine just how many kids experienced their first flight with the simple slide together gliders that have been sold in drug, variety and of course hobby stores over the years, but I’m certain the numbers must be staggering. The hand-launched or chuck gliders are the simplest 'assemble and toss in the air' models available.”

The company was founded by a World War I aviator who first operated out of the barn of the family home before outgrowing that space to occupy the second floor of a service station in town. He eventually built the company into the leader in model plane manufacturing.