Office Heater/AC Vent Helicopters

When I moved into my new office, I found that the climate control blower stays nearly 24 hours per day. My inner Scot was offended by the wasted energy. I fugured that even if I couldn't harness the wind power for anything useful, I could at least use it to power a piece of kinetic art.

Now, when I was a kid, I learned how to make paper helicopters. One of my great joys in life is to make paper helicopters and drop them off of tall buildings. At work, I have a beautiful 5 story drop inside an atrium. Unfortunately, there is a priceless piece of art (a mosaic floor from a Roman bath) at the bottom of this drop. So I haven't tried to drop any helicopters.

I wanted to put my lack-of-helicopter frustration to good use in my office by somehow tethering a paper helicopter of over the constantly-blowing vent.

The solution I came up with was to tie a piece of fishing line from the vent up to the ceiling, stringing it through a tube (from a Bic pen or from a mechanical pencil) that would act as the body of the helicopter. I then made wings to attach to the tube. I have built three helicopters now, each with a different design that gives it unique flying characteristics.

One has paper wings (printed with a faux wood grain). The other two have plastic wings made from overhead transparency plastic. I printed them with interesting colors. People who come to my office are always amazed. Sometimes they don't see them until they sit down on my couch and see them out of the corner of their eye. They invariably flinch because they think it is a giant dragonfly or a very quiet hummingbird.

The wings have been flying now nonstop for about a year, and show no signs of mechical wear.

I made the wings by printing out the wings and then cutting them out. I bend them to give them a downward angle of attack, and I shape them so that they have a bit of airfoil shape. Below is a photo that should work for this if you click on it and blow it up.