How to Make a Squadron of Fly-Powered Airplanes

Malcolm Keithley
3 min readSep 21, 2021

A classic prank for back-to-school kids.

Fetterman Fly Powered Airplane Kit

It was Billy who came up with the idea of fly-powered airplanes. However, it is Thomas Fetterman who is cashing in on it. It costs $6.85 on Amazon to buy his Fly Powered Airplane Kit that builds two paper airplanes. Billy and I made them for free, using school glue and paper – and strands of Sally’s blonde hair.

The one-room school we attended was the best location for our squadron of paper airplanes — there was an abundance of flies that hovered near the windows. And, they were big and strong, judging by their constant buzzing and banging on the windows.

Stehekin Log School in Stehekin, Washington

Fetterman’s planes look like actual gliders, while ours more resembled sleek jets. But then, we didn’t have the Internet to discover what Thomas Fedderman was selling. Besides, we needed more planes. We needed an entire squadron of fly-powered jets to send into battle. Our history class taught us there are twenty-four aircraft in a squadron, so we worked until we had that many glued up and held for take-off in Billy’s desk.

Billy caught the flies. He didn’t seem to mind touching them, even before lunchtime. Sally, a fellow…

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Malcolm Keithley
Malcolm Keithley

Written by Malcolm Keithley

Writer and documentary producer. My writing often reflects my roots in a remote Cascade Mountain village.