
There are two main components of slime block flying machines:
Slime blocks bounce entities away from them, while honey blocks drag entities along with them (and prevent players or mobs atop them from jumping). Slime blocks are solid blocks, which can take and transmit a redstone signal, while honey blocks are transparent blocks which cannot. Slime and Honey blocks are similar - both can "stick to" other blocks at their sides, carrying those along with them when pushed or pulled by a piston. Observers are sensors for both the environment and adjacent parts of the same machine, which can also turn a change in one part of the machines into power elsewhere. Redstone Blocks: The key point here is while most other redstone power sources are partial blocks that get broken by pistons, this one can be pushed or pulled by pistons, so a machine can carry its own power source. Various immovable blocks (notably obsidian and tile entities such as furnaces ) provide limits and frameworks. These can simply be arranged in a line in front of the piston, but slime and honey blocks allow carrying along blocks placed to all sides of that line. Pistons are capable of pushing or (sticky pistons) pulling up to 12 blocks.
The key blocks for flying machines, more or less in order of appearance: 2.3.6 Driveable flying machine E, 4-way, compact.2.3.5 Driveable flying machine D, 4-way.2.3.4 Driveable flying machine C, 2/4-way.2.3.3 Driveable flying machine B, 2-way.2.3.2 Driveable flying machine A, 2-way.