Bat Wings for Flight
April 11th, 2010 by John WolfeI’ve so enjoyed my prop work on the Angel of Death that I’ve decided to continue building even more flying corpses after Halloween ’10. I’d love to eventually have an entire yard full of winged zombies overseeing my cemetery of groundbreakers. And thanks to my new obsession with flying beasts, I’m constantly on the lookout for all things bearing wings. In that search, I came across this great piece of vintage footage.
It doesn’t appear anyone was injured in these attempts at flying with a pair of wings strapped to their back, so it seemed okay to have a little chuckle. 
Source: YT user, clipcafe
April 11th, 2010 at 9:32 pm
Gargoyles and Dragons lend themselves well too. I keep thinking of the Jeepers Creepers monster–shivers! Something about a huge beast-man with wings that is truly the most chilling to me. I can’t wait to see what you create!
April 11th, 2010 at 10:19 pm
Hahaha man that’s ridiculous. You can’t help but admire their desire to take flight and chase their dreams.
April 12th, 2010 at 11:34 am
autumnforest,
Ooh, yeah–gargoyles would be awesome for the haunt! I like that idea. A big bonus in creating the Angel has been the fact I’ve learned a lot during the process. There are several things I’ve learned that will be applied to the next winged prop I build, hopefully taking it up another notch or two.
Dr. Necropolis,
Very true! So-called “failures” provide us with more insight than our successes. Even though these guys fell down again and again, they no doubt developed better strategies for fine tuning their attempts at flight because of it. I believe desire and persistence will ultimately win out over talent, creativity and genius any day.
April 12th, 2010 at 4:12 pm
Some people’s children, lol….I did get a chuckle out of it…thanks!
April 12th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
You know John, to bad those guys trying out their “wings” weren’t living now in 2010 because they would have LOVED the flying suit!!!! When I think of how simple the flying suit is, similar to the same web-span of the flying squirrels, men back in the early 1900′s would have been in hog heaven. The suit is so awesome because it’s just that; something you put on that is fail proof for you to fly so long as you have adequate elevation and experience with the suit. No cumbersome immense wings that can break and tear apart.
As you already know, I’m totally in love with the idea of more winged creatures for your yard haunt. As mentioned before, your parents are going to quickly run out of room in their front yard so perhaps having some that you could hang would be yet another great way to get around that and yet add more to your yard haunt. I do truly hope that someday in the future I can actually see your haunt in person. For now I’m most grateful for the webcam because it’s the closest many of us can get to your yard haunt. Keep up the great work dear
April 12th, 2010 at 9:40 pm
little chuckle, eh? aha! here I am, rolling on the floor again….thank you for another great laugh, sir!
April 13th, 2010 at 4:20 am
What a funny video. I have wanted to make something winged myself. I think I would like to make a giant bat or vampire. Nosferatu would have looked even more horrific with a big pair of black wings… Mwaahahahaha! To the lab at once! lol
April 13th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Julie,
Thanks! Glad you got a laugh out of it.
Goldie,
You’re absolutely right–they would have loved those suits. I’ve seen some video of them being used by what are essentially skydivers, considering the height of the mountains they jump from, and it’s incredible to watch.
Yeah, the cemetery section doesn’t have a lot more room to expand, so the best way to grow the haunt is upwards. As I mentioned in today’s post, “CREEPY,” I’d like to eventually build a permanent cemetery that would stay in place year round. Then, I could photograph all my props in that location (wherever it would be built) on Halloween night. Just another idea I’m working with.
Pam,
I can always count on you to share my sense of humor!
Thanks.
Ethan,
Man, Nosferatu was already pretty gnarly (in a good creepy way), but you’re right–huge, oversized wings would have made him super bad-ass! Let me know how the prop develops.