Make a Simple Paper Airplane

Paper airplanes have been around for as long, if not longer, as actual aircraft. In 1908-1909, Aero magazine used paper airplanes to explain aerodynamics principals.[1] In 2012, paper planes thought to be over 100 years old were found in the eaves of a chapel in England.[2] This timeless hobby is simple and easy for both beginners or experts.

Steps

Making a Simple Plane

  1. Use a regular A4/letter size piece of paper. This is standard printer paper, and measures 8.5x11 inches. The paper needs to be rectangular, not square-shaped or cut out.
  2. Fold the paper in half. When folding, the orientation of the paper should be vertical, and the crease should be along this middle, longer side. Make sure the corners of the paper match up.
    • Use your thumb or a flat-edged tool, like a butter knife or a wooden tongue depressor, to crease the paper. When making any kind of paper airplane, make sure your creases are sharp.[3]
    • Unfold the paper. Do not turn it over.
  3. Fold the two top corners towards the middle crease. The edges of the paper should be aligned as exact as possible to the middle crease. The two outer edges of the paper should touch each other at the crease line.
    • This should form triangular flaps on each side of the paper. The top should be in the shape of a point.
    • The bottom of edge of the flap should be a straight line.
  4. Fold the flap again towards the middle of the paper. Take the top corner of the outside edge and fold it towards the middle. Just like in step 3, the edges should meet up along the vertical  crease in the middle.
    • The paper should look like a dart, with a much narrower triangular flap on each sides. Most of the paper now will be in the shape of a triangle, with a point at the top.
  5. Fold the paper in half. When folding the paper in half, make the fold along the vertical crease. You are folding one side of the paper on top of the other, so it should match up exactly. Run your finger or a blunt-edged tool along the crease to make it sharp.
  6. Fold the wings down. Lay the paper so that the flat crease is oriented at the bottom. Fold the paper down from the top to make a wing, leaving a few inches at the bottom. Do the same thing for the other side, making sure to fold the second wing at the exact same place as the first. When finished, it should look like a dart plane.
    • To make a slightly more advanced version of this basic paper airplane, just add wing tips. On the back edge of one of the wings, make a small fold. The fold will be in the shape of a small triangle. Bend it upwards so you have a wing tip that points towards the sky. Repeat on the other wing, making sure the creases of the tips match.

Making a Simple Bulldog Dart

  1. Fold letter size paper in half. Using A4, 8.5x11 inches paper, make a crease along the vertical line of the paper. Make sure the two edges of the paper line up exactly. Unfold the paper.
    • When making creases, make sure they are sharp and crisp. Use your thumb or a straight-edged tool, like a wooden depressor or a butterknife.
  2. Fold the top corners down so they meet at the center crease. The edges should meet exactly at the middle crease. The bottom of edge of the flap should be a straight line.
    • The flaps should make two triangles, and the tip should be in a point.
  3. Flip the paper over. Take the outer pointed edge and fold that corner to the center crease. Repeat on both sides.
    • At this stage, you will have three layers of triangular  folds. The bottom corners of the top triangular layer should meet at the center crease. The edges of the paper should be be mostly in the shape of a triangle, with the bottom edge still flat.
  4. Fold the tip down. The pointed tip should be folded to the bottom corners of the top triangular layer that meet at the center crease. The paper now should have a flat, truncated tip where the pointed tip was previously.
  5. Fold the paper in half. Match the edges of the paper exactly, creating a symmetrical fold along the center crease. The folds done in steps 3 and 4 should be on the inside of the paper.
  6. Fold the wings down. The crease should be along the top line starting from the flat nose of the plane. The folds should match on each side of the plane.
    • This plane flies better at a slower speed. The nose will cause it to fall if you throw it too fast.[4]

Making a Simple Kite Plane

  1. Make a 1-inch fold. Using an A4, 8.5x11 inch letter size piece of paper, turn the paper vertically. Make a 1-inch fold horizontally along the top of the paper. Repeat this 8 times, folding each time on top of the previous fold, for eight folds. The paper will now be about half the size it was before.
    • Make sure the folds are lined up exactly on top of one another and tightly folded.
    • The creases should be sharp and crisp. To achieve a sharp crease, use your thumb or a blunt-edged tool, like a wooden depressor or a butterknife.
  2. Fold the paper in half. Before you fold, flip the paper over. The folds should not be visible after you flip it over. Now, fold the paper in half along the vertical, matching the edges of the paper exactly. The folds will now be visible.
  3. Fold the wings. Leaving around 1/2 inch to an inch at the bottom, fold over the top of the paper. Repeat this on the other side, making sure the crease is even along the top of the plane.
    • The folds should be on the bottom of the plane.
    • The kite plane is capable of great distance and accuracy.[5]



Tips

  • Use a crisp, new piece of paper.
  • Don't manipulate it or change it in any way or it won't fly properly.
  • Throw it gently.
  • Do not throw it upside down.
  • When making paper airplanes crease the edges tightly with your fingernail.
  • Point up 2 degrees when throwing.
  • If the plane nosedives, slightly curve the rear edges of the wings upward. If it goes up but

then falls, curve the rear edges of the wings downward slightly.[6]

  • Adding 1cm flaps can help smooth out flight.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://modelsaviation.com/History-Of-Paper-Airplanes.html
  2. ↑ http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/going-deep-with-david-rees/articles/how-to-throw-a-paper-airplane-facts/
  3. ↑ http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/going-deep-with-david-rees/videos/the-suzanne/
  4. ↑ http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/09/16/how-to-make-the-worlds-best-paper-airplanes/
  5. ↑ http://www.10paperairplanes.com/how-to-make-paper-airplanes/02-the-kite.html
  6. ↑ http://www.sciencenc.com/event-help/examples/FirstinFlight/TIPS%20FOR%20FLYING%20PAPER%20AIRPLANES2011.pdf
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Make_a_Simple_Paper_Airplane&oldid=360081"