flies sideways · 6 blocks

Once started it flies sideways by itself, one block every 10 ticks (2 blocks a second), until something stops it.

no start lever, 1 block smaller than the main design · starts in 2 ticks (0.1 s) · made of observer, slime block, sticky piston · fits in 2×2×2

flies sidewaysFlat flying machine3D view loading (or not available in this browser)

Try it

Press play under the view: it puts the start block in place and the machine flies off; reset to see it again. In the game, start it the same way: place a block where the view puts its start block, then break it.

How this design does it: Flat flying machine: two halves take turns: one half's piston pushes the other half a block forward, then that half's piston pulls the first half after it; an observer on each half sees the move and fires the next piston, so the machine crawls one block every 10 ticks.

Build it

Download .litematic Download the design as text

The .litematic opens in Litematica (Minecraft 26.3): every block of the design in one region. The text file is the same build written as plain text, block by block.

Blocks used: observer slime block sticky piston

Details: how it works, measurements and properties

In depth

A flying machine: pistons, slime or honey and observers that push each other along. Once started (the start block is placed), it moves itself one block at a time and keeps going until something stops it.

It moves one block every 0.5 s (2.0 blocks per second).

How to try it

The machine starts by itself (its start block is placed when the view begins): press play and watch it fly along its corridor; reset to see it again. Drag to look around, pinch or scroll to zoom.

Inputs and output over time

The inputs follow this schedule (the 3D view's demo plays the same). Lime: an input is on; orange: the output is on (taller = a stronger signal, 1 to 15). Blue: how far the machine has moved along its path, in blocks. Time runs left to right in game ticks (20 ticks = 1 s).

Swipe the diagram sideways: the whole sequence lasts 302 ticks (15.1 s).

MOVED: 1 block every 0.5 s.

Step by step (3 lines)

reached the corridor end at frame 302
first move at frame 2, intact positions seen: 31, farthest 30 cells along [0, 0, 1]
steady from frame 1: period 0.5 s, 1 cell(s) per period along [0, 0, 1] (29 periods seen)

Measurements

metric	value	what it means
speed	0.5 s/block	the time it takes to travel one block
period	0.5 s, 1 cell(s)	game ticks per cycle of the engine (one push of each piston)
latency	0.1 s	game ticks from the start until the machine first moves
ground	needs 1 block of air above the ground

Notes from its designer

Flat flying machine: two halves take turns: one half's piston pushes the other half a block forward, then that half's piston pulls the first half after it; an observer on each half sees the move and fires the next piston, so the machine crawls one block every 10 ticks. Detail: the smallest flying machine (6 blocks; nothing with 5 flies), each half an observer, a slime block and a sticky piston; all slime.

Properties

Study	Flying machines
Kind	Flying machine
Blocks placed	6
Box	2×2×2 (8 blocks of space)
Made of (the blocks that change state)	observer, slime block, sticky piston
Flags	size
Design file	`fly-horizontal-6b-10gt-01ce95`

The design file

on GitHub

Design file (20 lines)

# Flat flying machine: flies sideways · 6 blocks
# https://vjeux.github.io/redstonepedia/circuits/fly/fly-horizontal-6b-10gt-01ce95.html

name: fly-horizontal-6b-10gt-01ce95
circuit: flying-machine
distance: 24
travel: 0 0 1
port start: 0 -1 0 minecraft:stone 1
origin: 0 0 0
palette:
  A minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=south]
  O minecraft:observer[facing=down,powered=false]
  S minecraft:slime_block
  s minecraft:sticky_piston[extended=false,facing=north]
layer 0:
  O
  .O
layer 1:
  SA
  sS