Comments | jeff_duntemann: Glites, Gliders, and North Pacific Products

jeff_duntemann

Glites, Gliders, and North Pacific Products

Feb 22, 2009 14:06

When I was a freshman in high school, I remember picking up an odd paper kite at Walgreen's. It was called a Glite, and was billed as a "gliding kite." I was intrigued, and as it might have cost as much as 35c, I was willing to try it. The instructions indicated that even on a completely calm day, you could pull it aloft on a string, let the string ( Read more... )

toys, kites

Comments 4

anonymous February 23 2009, 02:09:32 UTC

As a kid I had several of those balsa gliders with the wings attached by a (red?) plastic extrusion. As I recall the nose had a band of metal clamped across it for weight.

RH in CT

alanajoli February 23 2009, 21:16:53 UTC

If you track it down, I'd love to see a photo. :)

Gliders and rockets royatl March 7 2009, 15:31:06 UTC

Here's another use for a North Pacific product.

Back in 1970, John Langford (now CEO/Chairman of Aurora Flight Systems - www.aurora.aero ) showed up at our model rocket club launch with a North Pacific Strato glider hooked to a rocket and proceeded to amaze us.

read about it here: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/ModelRocketry/Model_Rocketry_v03n02_11-70.pdf

I've tried recently to replicate this with currently produced hand tossed gliders, but they 're either too big, or one of the surfaces gets knocked out of trim by acceleration or drag.
I think the key was definitely that little extruded plastic wing mount.

North Pacific gliders and rubber powered planes anonymous April 24 2012, 23:45:40 UTC

I think you and I are about the same age. I was born in October, 1955. I played with North Pacific gliders and rubber powered planes, too ( ... )