My husband works in aviation and as a result, our family falls prey easily to any aviation related toys. Paper airplanes, gliders, remote control planes, airplane models, we have tried them all many times over. My children especially love to fly airplane gliders, though we have yet to find one that has held up to the hands of our kids for more than once session. Well, that is until we tried the Firefox Hand Launch Glider.

The Firefox Hand Launch Glider is made of compact styrofoam and comes with three main pieces plus stickers to decorate. It can be assembled and decorated within 10 minutes. There are some tight-fitting pieces, so I would recommend that a parent assists in the assembly. Once it is assembled, let the fun begin! It may look and feel like other gliders you have tried in the past that leave your kids crying because it broke on its first dive, but it is not the same. It is much higher quality.

These planes can really take a beating. It is designed to have a beefy, reinforced nose that takes the punishment when it crashes. There is no need to put a weight on the nose tip, it is designed with great aerodynamics that allow it to fly in circles, do flips, and fly higher and farther than any other gliders we have ever bought. Within minutes, there were several other kids from our area gathered to watch and begging to have a turn. Everyone wanted to know where we got these, because they were just too fun.

The Firefox Hand Launch Glider retails for $14.99 on their website and is recommended for ages 6 and up. I think that is a reasonable price just for the fact that it is built to last and provides hours of fun. There are multiple models for easy choice design. They are also designed with bendable wings and tail for the making of straight and level flights. The tail is definitely the weakest point of the airplane, but even so, the nose is built so tough, that the weaker tail doesn’t take away from the experience at all.

From a family who takes aviation fun pretty seriously, we whole-heartedly recommend these gliders as a fun addition for your whole family. We will definitely be purchasing some to have on hand for birthday gifts for friends. We have been playing with ours for well over a month and it is still just as fun as the day we first tried it.

-Product review by Audrey Tolle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, February, 2018