New Design: Plane No 2

This is one of my older designs, but recently I improved upon it. My objective in this particular effort to create a refined airfoil. This plane flies pretty well. Its weaknesses are that there is no good place to grip it for launching it and that it requires patience to adjust properly. This is an attractive and neat plane to fly. It seems to have a good bit of lift and to be more stable than I expected given that it is a pure flying wing.

This plane was folded from standard 8.5 by 11in. office paper, which seemed to be about the right weight for this design.

I have included a crease diagram based on disassembly of the original plane. Some of the creases appear to be interrupted because I could not draw over the tape, but note that one set of creases - the mountain folds along the top leading edge of the wing - really are discontinuous.

Plane No. 1

My Dad recently recently reminded me that I used to like to fold paper airplanes, which got me started again. Now I am folding paper airplanes over lunch breaks at work and in the late evenings at home.

In grade school I developed paper airplances that incorporated a single crimp that at once gave the impression of a cockpit and lent the aircraft a curved shape. This became my signature style, with which I produced many designs and refinements over the years. I have since forgotten most of the designs, but I am working on it again now.

This is the original paper airplane design I created when I was in grade school. I had been inspired by a similar looking design that I had seen in a book. I do not now know how similar my design is to the design that inspired it. I made many variants of this design over the years, but the original is still one of my best.

To make this glider, you will need a standard 8.5" by 11" sheet of paper and celophane tape. Sturdy paper, such as card stock, works best. It flies beautifully if proportioned and adjusted correctly.

Directions

1. Make a crease down the center of the paper (shown as "1" in Fig. 1).

2. Fold the two top corners down to the center line ("2" in Fig. 1).


3. Fold the top corners down as in Fig. 2.


4. Fold as in Fig. 3. This is a subjective fold.



5. Reverse fold what will be the tail. Pull out some paper from underneath what will be the nose.

6. Tape all the spots labeled "1" in Fig. 5.

7. Open up the model ("2" in Fig. 5)

8. Flatten the wings.

9. Tape the underside of the wings so that the wing surfaces are flat, then bend the wings up slightly, about 10 degrees from the horizontal.