Paper airplanes are an inexpensive hobby for all ages. With a little knowledge, a simple airplane can perform several stunts.
You followed the pattern and every crease was carefully laid according the directions by your somewhat skillful hands. You smoothed out the folds and drew a flag on the side and wrote your name headed with the title "Captain." With your paper flier ready for flight, you threw it with great gusto only to see your creation take a nose dive toward the ground. Mayday!!
What happened? Weren't the instructions followed? Is this the extent of paper airplane fun? No. In fact, the secret in making a good paper airplane starts before a single crease is made. Once you have mastered the making of a basic paper airplane, with a few modifications, you can perform tricks with the best of them.
Choose Your Paper Wisely
So what type of paper makes a good airplane? A heavy stock paper is difficult to fold, maintain a consistent shape and generally too heavy to fly; also thin paper makes the plane too flimsy and susceptible to wrinkles which hinder performance. A medium type of paper is best and ranges from 20-60 lbs. For comparison's sake, office copy paper is a 20 lb weight and manila folders are a good heavier stock paper without being too difficult to manage.
Advanced Airplane Design
Once your paper has been selected, it is now important to choose an airplane design. What will it be? The Dart? The Sabertooth? The Eagle? What are these names? Don't worry, there are dozens of different airplane designs built for different maneuvers involving complex paper acrobatics - leave them behind. Fun is the issue here, not whether one can assemble paper turbines. The basic shape of the standard paper airplane can be customized to do many different tricks and stunts without needing a degree in aerospace technology. Many illustrated guides can be found easily online or at the library for different designs.
The Basic Airplane Fold
The following steps will help you create a basic airplane design. Make sure the creases are done well; this will make for a better flight.
1. Fold a standard 8½" by 11" inch piece of paper in half, across the width of the paper. Then unfold it back to reveal the crease.
2. Fold the upper right and left hand corners of the paper so that they align with the middle crease.
3. Fold the left side of the plane so that it also aligns with the middle crease. Do the same for the right side.
4. Now fold the plane in half keeping it even.
5. Fold the left wing down so that it aligns with the bottom part of the plane or a little further. Do the same for the right.
The important part here is to keep the wings even. A greater wingspan will decrease the glide time of the plane, but this can be experimented with the size of the body.
Tada! You now are the proud owner of a basic airplane of paper. Go ahead and color pictures on it, you've earned it.
Trial & Error & Error & Error
There are three main areas of good paper airplane flying; wing position, flaps and nose weight. Keeping the wing tips up in more of a "Y" look will help the plane be more stable. This can be experimented with easily. You can add flaps to the back of your plane by cutting a 1/8" deep by 3/4" long flap on both sides of the rear. This gives more lift to the plane and will greatly help in performing stunts later.
The great secret in plane design, metal or paper, is weight in the nose. Putting extra weight in the nose will help it fly fast and more stable. To do this, simply add a paper clip to the nose of the plane. You can add one or two and see what a difference it makes. The flight will be straighter and smoother and more balanced. Adding weight to the tail of the plane will make it less stable and not fun to fly. By understanding how a basic plane flies correctly with small adjustments in these three areas, you are at a great starting point in making your airplane do crazy stunts.
Here We Go Loopty-Loo!
To make simple turns, the tail at the bottom end can be made into the rudder to turn the plane. Make a small cut near the top of the base and bend it slightly to the right to go right and left to go left. For loops, bend the back flaps up a lot and throw upwards, or more level with a harder throw. To do barrel rolls, fold the tips of the wings with the right one down and the left wing up. This will make the plane spin and tumble when thrown straight. Reverse the folds for the plane to spin in the opposite direction. Do not be afraid to adjust the flaps. Turn one back flap up and one back flap down, alternate these adjustments with different wing heights and you will get a wide range of stunts. Keep track of your adjustments and try not to adjust too many flaps at once; otherwise you won't be able to recreate the death-defying snake barrel upside-down loopty-loop for your friends.
The Throw
Last but not least we have the final variable in paper airplane flying - The throw. How hard should you throw a paper plane? On most occasions, the plane does not need to be thrown like a javelin but simply just tossed in a slight upward angle. Practice to keep your throws even, this way you will be able to make proper corrections to your flaps, wings and rudder to achieve the stunt you want. Remember, with enough practice the captain won't have to radio for help too often.
