The materials used in the construction of those wings reminds me of the time when my brother was nine and I was five when he decided to make a hang glider. He came up with a rectangular framework of sapling wood with cloth from an old sheet between them. There was absolutely no airfoil shape, but when he tried jumping off the low edge of the garage roof, about four feet off the ground, he discovered it was a passable parachute.
Some of his friends came over and we all took turns jumping off the roof, working our way farther and farther up the gable end until we were eventually jumping from the very top, a full two stories above the driveway.
It was all great fun until our mom looked out the living room and yelled "What the hell are you doing?!?" She may have prevented one of us sharing Eilmer's fate, but it was disappointing at the time.
ETA: Thinking about it, I'm pretty sure Dad must have had a hand in building that thing. He was really good at stuff like knots and lashing, while my brother is hopeless. Then he would have left us to our own devices without oversight, which was totally in character for him.
