Does this take you back?  It was Philip W. Swift’s entry in the famous Scientific American Paper Glider event of  fifty some years ago. It certainly found a home  in my brain bone.

And  37 years later, while listening to some unnecessary person on the phone  I made these doodles of an imaginary airplane. I don't know how well it would fly. . .  perhaps as a NoCal . I filed it in the musty and cluttered “one of those things I might try someday” drawer in my brain .I even ran up a glider. Despite its messy aerodynamics, it glid very well, thank you.  But I failed to follow up and into the drawer it went.

I have made 2 or 3 of these depending on how you count the first one with the small rings. (“I met a man of whom it was said  “he had had 5 wives “not counting the one in Isreal”). They all flew a minute or so with a minimum of fuss and they look striking in the air. I was showing off  the one in the picture at a party in the field behind my house when it drifted off  into the woods. By the time it flew away, it was loaded down with Cya and no longer was very round.  They will fly quite well even when they look impossible.

I am puzzled as to why they fly.  Where do the circulation vortices go?. How does the Prantl Lifting Line Theory apply?. Another mystery

I named it “Ezekiel” after the vision the Old Testament prophet  saw in the sky.

Ezekiel 1:16 The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and . . . their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

1:18 As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful

1:20 Whithersoever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them: for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.

My dictionary tells me
beryl:     the chief source of beryllium. Transparent varieties in white, green, blue, yellow, or pink are valued as gems. Its prevailing color is green of various shades, but always pale.

Mine is covered with white tissue perhaps light green would be more appropriate.

In any case I think they will make good George Armstead Memorial models and you can find rules, advice and instructions below

Building an Ezekiel  I make no claims that this is the very best way to build an Ezekiel, but it works.  The 4 rings are made of 1/8”x 1/16” fairly hard balsa. I made a 6” disk from some 1” construction foam and wrapped a 1”x 1/16” strip of  wet balsa around it. When it was dry I removed the wood from the mold and stripped off the 1/8” rings. I drew a 6” circle on my building board and glued  the ends together.. Each pair of rings is made into a hoop on the pictured set up. The three “ribs” are installed here.. Each hoop was covered with preshrunk tissue.  The motorstick is a piece of  1/4 x 1/8”. My hangers were bent aluminum strip and the props were carved of soft balsa.  NOTE:  The props have opposite pitches to neutralize the torque. Glue everything together as best you can. My Ezekiels weren't sensitive to small amounts of crookedtude. Don't forget the  3/16” shim under the leading edge of the rear hoop. There isn't much to trimming these. You fix the stall and dive just like a normal plane, by messing with the incidence and the CG.  You might want to adjust  the  CG  by moving the front wing forward and back. I just added a glob of clay to the nose  You will need  serious thrust line adjustment to keep the nose down under power. .  Mine flew well outdoors on a strip of 1/16” Tan II. No doubt yours will have a turn of its own. Mine all did.  Otherwise mess with the thurstline.