Information about Paper Airplane

For the M.I.A. song, see Paper Planes (song).

A paper plane, paper aeroplane, or paper airplane is a toy plane made out of paper. It is also sometimes called aerogami, after origami (the Japanese art of paper folding). In Japanese, it is called 紙飛行機 (kami hikoki; kami=paper, hikoki=airplane). It is popular due to the fact that it is one of the easiest types of origami for a novice to master. The most basic paper plane would only take at most six steps to "correctly" complete. The term "paper plane" can also refer to those made from cardboard.

History

The use of paper airplanes to create toys, is believed to have originated 2,000 years ago in China, where kites were a popular form of entertainment. Leonardo da Vinci is often cited as the inventor of paper planes, although this is debatable since the Chinese invented both modern paper and the kite. However, he did make reference to building a model plane out of parchment. Arguably the father of model gliders was George Cayley, who built hand-launched kite-like gliders made from linen in the early 1800s. Although these can be considered to be evidence for the modern paper plane, one cannot be sure where exactly the invention originated.

The earliest known date of the creation of modern paper planes was said to have been in 1909. However, the most accepted version of the creation was two decades later in 1930 by Jack Northrop (Co-founder of Lockheed Corporation). Northrop had used paper planes as tests of ideas for flying real-life aircraft. There have been many improvements in the designs for velocity, lift and fashion over subsequent years.

Types of paper planes

Traditional

This type of paper plane usually takes a person seven steps (for correct procedure), but can take only five steps to complete without folding a guide to help divide a paper into two parts. A rectangular piece of paper such as A3, A4 or Letter (preferably A4 or Letter) would be used.

Instructions

1. The folder should leave a guide crease. This can be accomplished by laying the paper in portrait position and folding the left part of the paper over to the right so that it overlaps the other side completely. The folder should then crease the fold by running his thumb over the fold. This will make the fold permanent.
2. The folder then should uncrease the sides again and fold the top left corner of the page so that it touches the crease in the middle, and vice versa for the right side.
3. The folder should crease the paper plane back to the position where the folder had left the guide marks, then they should put wings on the paper plane, the most vital part of this procedure.
4. Still in portrait position the person should fold the non-pointed bit of the paper plane (the bottom part) so it creases over the guide part but inverted outwards so that the wings are not internally in the paper plane but externally.

The Classic Dart

The Dart is a classic. The dart is more streamlined then the traditional plane. It is a superb flyer. It flies far and fast.

Instructions

Follow steps 1 and 2 of the traditional plane. Then, the folder should then take the angled side on the right and fold it to the center guideline and crease it. Then follow step 3 and 4 for the traditional plane

The Arrow

A modification of the Classic Dart. Follow the same steps as though making a dart, but fold the angled side again to the center line. And continue by folding it in half, but be careful when doing so as the nose, if not folded properly, will not be straight, so straighten the nose as you fold. Then add the wings. Stabilizers may be added as desired.

DC-03

There have been many people who have claimed to create the "World's best paper plane". One instance of this is the DC-03 model (DC-03 Model paper plane) featuring large gliding wings and an uncommon feature to paper planes, a tail. There is unfortunately no international paper plane federation or association to verify these claims as official or at all true.

White Wings

Professor Ninomoya, of Japan, developed in the late 1970's a type of advanced paper aircraft. These models are available for purchase as the 'White Wings' Series of paper glider packs. Today they are most readily available from online bookstores such as Amazon.com, as well as many others.

White Wings are a stark departure from conventional paper aircraft, in that their fuselages and wings are paper templates cut and glued together. They were designed with the aid of low-speed aerodynamics, and their parts are drafted with the use of CAD software.

High performance gliders have fuselages that are kept rigid by the use of a balsa fuselage profile bonded to the paper components. The paper used is quite heavy, approximately twice that of standard drawing cartridge paper, but lighter than lightweight cardboard.

Flight time and duration are exceptional, as are distances covered. The aerofoil used is a Gottingen 801 (curved plate), and a pattern is supplied as a cutout part of each kit.

Paper Pilot

Professor E.H. Mathews and the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa, developed a more mature form of the White Wings gliders for sale to South African children and teenagers in the 1980's, during the height of Apartheid. His gliders are designed using aerodynamic principles in the style of the White Wings series, they differ in construction, being of all-paper rather than paper-balsa laminate fuselage. The first book of gliders was entitled 'Paper Pilot', and was published by Struik in 1987.

The performance of the Paper Pilot gliders comfortably exceeds those of the Ninomoya gliders by a significant margin - one of the first designs, a profile model of the SAAF C-160Z Transall, has a gliding distance of greater than a rugby pitch.

The early gliders were designed to incorporate a catapult hook shaped from a paper clip. Later designs (And upgraded early designs) incorporated the addition of a bungy hook, permitting extremely long distance flights.

A remarkable characteristic of the Paper Pilot gliders are their ability to be flight trimmed - to the point of being able to fly straight in confined spaces, which few modern paper gliders can do.

E.H. Mathews designs then developed in '12 Planes for the Paper Pilot' (Struik, 1997) into aircraft with three dimensional fuselages - models incuded the J-3 Piper Cub, Beech Biplane and Britten-Norman Trislander (a subject of a high performance flat glider earier in the series).

E.H. Mathews authored a comemorative model of the SAAF Junkers Ju-52/3m 'Johan van Riebeek' in 1999, and an as-yet unreleased model of the Airbus A-320 airliner in South African Airways colours, seen on the SABC youth TV program 'Tekkies' in 1998, as a prototype.

The most astonishing glider developed by Prof. Mathews was the Papercopter - the world's first free-flight paper model helicopter, with a rotationally stablised ring-wing as the flight dynamic element. Three variants were developed - the standard Papercopter of 1991, the Airwolf (1993) and the Stealth helicopter.

Advanced Models

Highly advanced scale model paper aircraft have been built in many countries, but the South African modellers remain the best, chiefly as a result of the Paper Pilot books and associated competitions in the late 1990's sponsored by Volkskus Bank (now part of the ABSA group) with a prize of R10 000 for the longest distance flight.

The prize winner was a 1/20th scale Boeing 747 which was able to fly for the comparative length of 1 football pitch with a glide ratio of 1/15, comparable with a full scale glider. The winner of the scale competition was a high performance model Mirage III CZ, also with a very long glide ratio due to a high wing loading.

The comparative mastery of South African paper modellers is the result of the economic sanctions the country endured through the Apartheid period, where balsa wood became a very expensive resource. Paper was not, and interest in flight remains a strong hobby in South Africa. Paper is very cheap, as are paper clips and pins, the elements of complex paper aeroplanes. South African supermarkets also sell Bostik Clear Glue, which is a high-speed clear-set glue, that allows quick protoyping of comparatively complex forms.

Wing design in South Africa is remarkably mature - corrugated paper spars, and true aerodynamc sections of sizes from the tiny to the multimetric have been seen.

Working propellors, flaps, swing-wings, functional wheels and numerous refined forms have been observed during the Paper Pilot competitions, not excluding biplanes and even triplanes, along with contra-propellors and the like. Rubber band power has also been observed.

The very most advanced aircraft even sport radio control, and the design principles have been seen recently in 'disposable' radio control cardboard slope soarers in recent years, all from South African advances.

World record

There are multiple goals for a flight:

• Distance (javelin throwing).
• Time (javelin throwing straight up with subsequent metamorphosis into a sailplane).
• Acrobatic (looping).
• Stable flight to understand flight mechanics of a good plane.

For every goal there is a typical plane and sometimes a world record.^[1]

There have been many attempts over the years to break the barriers of throwing a paper plane for the longest time aloft. Ken Blackburn held this Guinness world record for 13 years (1983–1996) and had regained the record on October 81998 by keeping his paper plane aloft for 27.6 seconds (indoors). This was confirmed by Guinness officials and a CNN report. The paper plane that Blackburn used in this record breaking attempt was a "glider".

Aerodynamics

Although the DC-03 model has wings, the Guinness world record holder Tim Richardson disagrees with the decision to put a 'tail' on the paper plane. His explanation of paper plane aerodynamics on his website mentions that the tail is not needed. He uses the real-life B-2 Spirit flying wing bomber as an example, stating that the weights along the wing should be put forward in order to stabilize the plane. (Note: paper airplanes do not need a tail primarily because they typically have a large, thin fuselage, which acts to prevent yaw, and wings along the entire length, which prevents pitch.)

Independently, Edmond Hui invented a Stealth Bomber-like paper airplane called the Paperang in 1977^[2], based on hang glider aerodynamics. Uniquely, it has properly controlled airfoil sections, high aspect ratio wings, and a construction method designed to allow the builder to vary every aspect of its shape. It was the subject of a book, Amazing Paper Airplanes in 1987, and a number of newspaper articles in 1992. It is ineligible for most paper airplane competitions due to the use of a staple, but it has extremely high gliding performance exceeding glide ratios of 12 to 1 with good stability.

In 1975, origami artist Michael LaFosse designed a pure origami (one sheet; no cutting, glue or staples...) flying wing, which he named the "Art Deco Wing". Though its aerodynamic form mimics some hang glider and supersonic airfoils, its invention evolved from exploring the beauty of folded paper first. Its glide ratio and stability are on a par with many of the best paper wing constructions that use glue, tape or staples. This design was first published in 1984 in the book "Wings and Things", by Stephen Weiss, St. Martin's Press.

Although it is a common view that light paper planes go farther than heavy ones, this is considered to be untrue by Blackburn. Blackburn's record-breaking 20-year-old paper plane (Instructions) was based on his belief that the best planes had short wings and are "heavy" at the point of the launch phase in which the thrower throws the paper plane into the air, and at the same time longer wings and a "lighter" weight would allow the paper plane to have better flight times but this cannot be thrown hard with much pressure into the air as a "heavy" weighted launch phase. According to Blackburn, "For maximum height and for a good transition to gliding flight, the throw must be within 10 degrees of vertical" — which shows that a speed of at least 60 miles per hour (about 100 kilometers per hour) is the amount needed to throw the paper plane successfully.

After the folding there are still gaps between different layers of folded paper (tearoff edge). These and the kinks transversal to the airflow may have a detrimental effect on aerodynamics, especially on the upper side of the wing. In some models the surfaces are not aligned to the direction of flow acting as airbrakes (notice the airbrakes of the B-2 in the picture above!). Typically the center of mass is at 1/4 and the center of area is at 1/2 of the plane lengths. Two method exist to shift the center of mass to the front. One rolls up the leading edge which then stays unswept. The other uses a swept wing or axial folding to produce something like a fuselage extending out of leading edge of the wing.

If you want to make a more advanced plane, first, fold the paper in the middle. Unfold. Fold the bottom up about 1/2 an inch. Do this until the top is about 2 inches high. Turn over and turn upside-down. Make wings. Add fins.

References

Notable Books

• The Great International Paper Airplane Book, by Jerry Mander, George Dippel and Howard Gossage; 1967,1988
• Whitewings: Excellent Paper Airplanes, by Dr. Yasuaki Ninomiya; AGCO Ltd., Osako, Japan, 1980.
• The Ultimate Paper Airplane, by Richard Kline; Fireside Book, New York, 1985.

External links

• Amazing Paper Airplanes Many paper airplanes modeled after military airplanes.
• The Online Paper Airplane Museum - over 800 free paper airplane designs.
• Ken Blackburn's Website Retrieved Nov. 15, 2004. (Frames Website)
• Joseph Palmer's Airplane Website
• Papierflieger Website in German
• Paper planes in English and in Hebrew
• Paperaircraft.com
• Simulation of aerodynamic of insects. Insects were mentioned by Ken Blackburn as close relatives to paper planes
• Oxford
• Cornell
• Website in English and in French
• Paper plane links With user ratings
• Exploratorium Magazine: Paper Airplanes
• Worsley School: Make your paper airplane go farther or faster
• Aerogami Paper Airplanes - software and Free instructions for folding the Fusion