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Photograph by Mark Kocina
Dan Savage, who teaches in Los Gatos and lives in Willow Glen, displays the characters that are part of the toy he invented, the Flipaloft.
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Local teacher invents and markets educational toy
By Rebecca Ray
Los Gatos teacher Dan Savage assumes another title when he's not running the Gifted and Talented Education program at Lakeside Elementary School: inventor.
In 1995, Savage, a resident of Willow Glen, received a patent for an invention that he eventually converted into a toy. He is now trying to sell it through local stores and museums.
The toy, called Flipaloft, is a slingshot-type device that launches thin, plastic characters into flight. A person who is experienced at using Flipaloft can make the characters fly hundreds of feet.
Once the characters--which weigh less than 2 grams--stop spinning due to air resistance, they flutter to the ground, spinning a different way. According to the toy's website, www.flipaloft.com, the character "flips aloft" on its way back to earth.
Savage designed Flipaloft, which sells for $14.95, as a specialty toy. Locally, it is available at The Wooden Horse in Los Gatos and Hicklebee's Children's Books in Willow Glen. Seventeen stores in California carry six to 12 Flipalofts at a time, said Savage, who added that all the places that carry Flipalofts have reordered them.
Savage has a toy representative in Malibu trying to place Flipaloft in 300 more stores in Southern California. Once this is accomplished, Savage said he hopes to expand into other areas, including other countries. Flipaloft is patented in the United States and internationally. Getting representatives interested in a toy is a challenge, he said, since they usually want to sell more than one product to stores at a time.
Savage, a graduate of Willow Glen High School, said he has invented products his whole life. When he was growing up in Willow Glen, his father, Gene, would fix devices and take them apart to see how they worked. Once, Gene fixed a car heater by inserting a garden faucet into the line. When people wanted to activate the heater, they turned on the faucet.
Savage also learned to solve problems by using objects meant for other purposes. He discovered how to stop air from leaking through a broken valve on a basketball by plugging the valve with a piece of raw spaghetti.
Savage made the first Flipaloft after he saw his students throw playing cards to learn about aerodynamics. By using paper and rubber bands, he discovered how to launch super-light objects such as playing cards. He sells plastic characters with the launcher, instead of cards, because the cards' sharp edges are unsafe, he said. The characters, however, have soft, safe edges.
Savage has about 100 ideas for new toys and activities. If he makes enough money from Flipaloft, he said, he plans to develop one of his other ideas. Other product developers made super-light objects fly and overcome air resistance by increasing their weights.
The Flipaloft characters are colorful butterflies and fish that Savage designed to appeal to boys and girls. He chose butterflies and fish because their shapes allow them to acquire the spin needed to fly.
Flipaloft comes with a "fun book" that has games and science activities. The games and activities, which Savage designed, help children learn about aerodynamics, terminal velocity and G-forces. Savage included questions such as, "Would it be fun to parachute to the moon?" He wrote the book so children would become interested in flying objects and engage in scientific thinking. But although Flipaloft is an educational toy, Savage has never used it in his classrooms. He doesn't want to create a conflict of interest, he said.
Savage said he hopes Flipaloft, made for ages 9 and up, will activate children's imaginations and encourage them to play outdoors. He also hopes parents will use it with their children.
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Los Gatos, California Since 1881
