Axworthy Flying (Ghost) UFOs
Five small UFOs ran on a triangular track around the large UFO. They were made from a CD with Styrofoam hemispheres on the top and bottom. A 9V battery powered, solid and blinking LED's. The string track was driven with a scavenged car windshield wiper motor.
These have amazing torque and are useful for many projects but take 3-5 Amps DC at 12V DC. I attached a V-groved wheel onto the shaft of the motor and powered it with a 12V DC battery charger from Walmart ($20).
We put rubber bands on the metal V-groved wheel to add friction between the wheel and string. The other two corners are just dummy wheels. The first year the string kept losing its tension, so on one of the wheels, we mounted in on a sliding track (drawer slider) and put a weight of the back end to constantly keep the string tensioned (ski-lift technology)
This track was used the first year for a ghost and the second year for small UFOs, but it can be used to drive anything. Reusable for many years to come.
Yard picture of triangular track. Slider provides constant tension to the string and allows for elasticity of line and continual stretching of string due to tension and humidity.
In previous years we had problems keeping string on the track because it lost tension over time. The dummy pulleys have to hang from a bolt, so that as the UFO goes around the pulley it does not catch on anything.
Original author: Scott Axworthy,Chris Olsen
Original URL: http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/csolsen/fly-ufo.html
Five small UFOs ran on a triangular track around the large UFO. They were made from a CD with Styrofoam hemispheres on the top and bottom. A 9V battery powered, solid and blinking LED's. The string track was driven with a scavenged car windshield wiper motor.
These have amazing torque and are useful for many projects but take 3-5 Amps DC at 12V DC. I attached a V-groved wheel onto the shaft of the motor and powered it with a 12V DC battery charger from Walmart ($20).
We put rubber bands on the metal V-groved wheel to add friction between the wheel and string. The other two corners are just dummy wheels. The first year the string kept losing its tension, so on one of the wheels, we mounted in on a sliding track (drawer slider) and put a weight of the back end to constantly keep the string tensioned (ski-lift technology)This track was used the first year for a ghost and the second year for small UFOs, but it can be used to drive anything. Reusable for many years to come.
Yard picture of triangular track. Slider provides constant tension to the string and allows for elasticity of line and continual stretching of string due to tension and humidity.
In previous years we had problems keeping string on the track because it lost tension over time. The dummy pulleys have to hang from a bolt, so that as the UFO goes around the pulley it does not catch on anything.
Original author: Scott Axworthy,Chris Olsen
Original URL: http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/csolsen/fly-ufo.html