From Childhood Dream to Flight: A Blogger's Round-Wing Airplane Actually Takes Off
Published: 18 August, 21:47
Photo caption: The circular-wing aircraft built by the British YouTuber (Photo: ProjectAir/YouTube)
James Whomsley, a British content creator behind the YouTube channel ProjectAir, has designed and flown a radio-controlled airplane featuring circular wings. After several prototypes were wrecked during testing, he finally produced a version that climbed into the air, remained airborne for a few minutes, and touched down smoothly—while also proving steady in windy conditions.
How the Project Came Together
The venture started with 12-gram models powered by rubber bands. Whomsley spent around a month working on the circular-wing concept. His first step was a lightweight balsa prototype with two rings. The winning layout turned out to be a large lifting hoop in front and a smaller stabilizing hoop behind. For comparison, a standard model with the same wing area weighed about 12 grams and got 150 turns from its rubber-band motor.
In a wind test, the conventional straight-wing aircraft stayed aloft for 7 seconds, while its circular-wing counterpart managed just over 10 seconds. But the first attempt to fly the large version ended badly: the main wing slammed into the ground, snapping both balsa spars. After that crash, Whomsley reused the smaller surviving ring, repositioned the motors lower, and attached a conventional tail unit.
The second launch saw the nose pitch downward, which destroyed the balsa wing. For the third iteration, he swapped balsa for foam and aluminum tubing. This wing held up during flight, though it stretched and warped in the air. To keep the ring from expanding, he added a central strut and moved the motors onto rigid mounts on the fuselage.
The final version lifted off cleanly and spent several minutes circling above the field. When the battery ran low, the plane came down for a successful landing. Whomsley's verdict on the achievement:
"The stability of this thing is just incredible"- James Whomsley.
This build offers a fresh take on aircraft design, showing that unconventional forms can be made to fly with enough persistence. It also highlights an unusual alternative to traditional wing shapes, which may capture the imagination of hobbyists and engineers looking to experiment with new aerodynamic concepts. Whomsley continues to set bold goals for himself, and his work may well inspire others to explore radical designs in model aviation.