People : Places : Planes

Competitive indoor, free-flight duration aircraft. 

FLOAT is a documentary currently being filmed that explores the fascinating world of indoor rubber powered model airplanes. A hobby that is pursued by people from all walks of life and many countries around the world has never been captured before in such remarkable detail. This little known hobby involves the design, construction, and flying of ultra lightweight airplanes powered only by a wound rubber band. The planes are free-flight, meaning that they do not use any manual controls to fly, relying only on the skill of the builder and the design in order to stay aloft. This hobby is responsible for many if not all of the current technologies used in modern civil aviation, as the first powered flying device was in fact the Planophore model airplane by Alphonse Pénaud built 1871 and powered by rubber.

Current designs of these airplanes can fly for over 30 minutes on a single wound rubber motor, and the world record for time aloft is over one hour. These planes fly indoors, in large open spaces such as sporting arenas and aircraft and blimp hangers. The majority of participants in this hobby are over the age of 50, and the hobby itself is aging. As the digital age envelopes the younger generations, this hobby is becoming a lost art.

The goal of FLOAT is to document the hobby in its current state, and most importantly bring much needed attention and an injection of new and excited participants to help perpetuate this beautiful hobby.