Balsa wood airplanes can be simple gliders, but can also be rubber band-powered or even overhauled to correspond with remote-controlled devices. Robison may be contacted at 509-534-2205 for ...

Many readers may fondly recall building rubber-band-powered balsa wood model airplanes. While the things were kinda cool, they didn't fly for long, nor could they be remotely controlled. Such is ...

Balsa wood has long been revered for its strength and lightweight composition, two properties that make it ideal for building model structures and airplanes.

Advanced models came with rubber band powered props and landing wheels which never worked. The prop model was OK but kids around the old Carrigan school grounds favored simple glider flight contests.

It's a balsa-wood "Flying Machine" with the rubber-band engine. I didn't know they still made those. When I was a kid, we lived on Mill Street in the parsonage beside West Albemarle Baptist Church.

Sold by the millions, these ready-to-fly gliders and rubber-band-powered airplanes have captured the imaginations of generations of children (and plenty of adults).

Lots of kids wish they could build an airplane and fly away, but Dutch teenager Jesse van Kuijk has become one of the rare few to make it happen with his pedal-powered plane made out of balsa wood ...