Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

How do I get the drone to fly up the two dowels? The drone flies perfectly off the dowels and does well even when it's on one dowel. However, I have two parallel drilled holes in a wooden block and the drone will not go up.

Hi - for this to work on two dowels it's very important that the dowels are parallel and properly spaced to align with the straws, which should also be parallel. You should be able to easily slide the drone up and down the dowels by hand without it getting stuck. If you lift the drone to the top by hand and drop it, it should fall all the way down to the bottom without stopping partway. You may need to adjust the alignment of the dowels and/or straws to make sure this can happen.