Styrofoam gliders from the 70's?

October 25, 2004 10:05 PM

Any children of the 70's on board who remember those wacky styrofoam gliders shaped like hot dogs etc? A spoof on the traditional balsa wood version. Fuselage, wing and tail in a simple paper package. There were several different ones besides the hot dog.

I'm feeling nostalgic and Google's not helping.
posted by davebush to sports, hobbies, & recreation (8 comments total)

I remember gigantor styro gliders, but not in novelty shapes. Usually they were about a 4' wingspan and 3' fuselage and couldn't fly for shit, the exception being the most killer "Batwing," a one-piece flying wing with heavy black rubber nose counter weight.

And for a while either West Bend or Gulliow released the traditional small balsa gliders with delicately formed press-styro wings and tail surfaces. These gliders slew so well that it it was not uncommon to simply lose them the first time you tossed 'em.

Hey, are you talking about the awesome nerf gliders? I had a bunch of those too, and they rocked.
posted by mwhybark at 10:19 PM on October 25, 2004

er, "flew so well."

sri.
posted by mwhybark at 10:20 PM on October 25, 2004

I've had both the "large" styrofoam gliders and the tiny foam ones. And I'm a child of the 80's.

The things are still sold. I could probably dig up the link where I found them, but only just lately I saw some in a minimart. Can't remember where, sorry.

Plenty of fun for $0.99, though.
posted by shepd at 10:52 PM on October 25, 2004

I definitely remember the funny styrofoam gliders, but my childhood was in the late 60s/early 70s, so perhaps you're just hearing from the wrong age group here.

I don't know any details, but I do remember the one you describe as being like a hot dog, and some others. For some reason I can recall thinking they were somehow related to "Wacky Packages", but that may have just been my imagination from the time.

Sorry I can't offer any info, but I'm right there with you on the nostalgia part.
posted by briank at 4:45 AM on October 26, 2004

I remember owning a glider shaped like Snoopy on his doghouse. This was around 1975-76, and if I'm not mistaken, there were other kits resembling Superman, the Concorde and even a hot dog. They were fashioned from really thin foam, not unlike the material used in fast food containers and the liners on (non-recyclable) glass bottles.
posted by Smart Dalek at 7:19 AM on October 26, 2004

Smart Dalek, I now recall that Snoopy glider too.

There are also thin-foam gliders made in China in a bewildering array of designs including birds and butterflies.
posted by mwhybark at 7:36 AM on October 26, 2004

i'm sure i had one too..definitely a 99-cent thing tho...you punched out the pieces and joined them together. (i would have had it bet. 71-76--elementary school years)--simpler versions of these
posted by amberglow at 11:23 AM on October 26, 2004

I remember them and I was born in 1963 in the UK. No luck with my feeble google fu though.
posted by squealy at 4:07 PM on October 26, 2004