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How to build the best paper airplane in the world
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Fold
the flap on the red line from point "A" to point "B".
This
is the way the fold should look after creasing. Notice that the crease
does not continue beyond point "B".
The
red arrow shows how the flap is hinged.
Tuck
the paper under the flap just like tucking a bedspread under a pillow.
This
is another view of how to tuck the paper under the flap.
If
you end up with a fold like this, you have done it correctly.
This
photo shows the same series of folds on the other side.
Another
view showing the finished folds.| Note: to see a complete
video of the folding instructions, go to Paper Airplane Google Video. You can start and stop the video as needed to help while folding. The link will open a separate window. |
18. Study photos 18 and 19 carefully. These folds are difficult to describe. Try to duplicate them as shown in the photos.
19. Mirror the folds on
the right.
20. Turn the plane over and fold the point back and crease as shown.
21. Turn the plane over again. The result should be similar to the photo.
22. Crease wing as
shown.
23. Moisten the crease with your tongue. Do this slowly and carefully or you could receive a painful paper cut on your tongue.
24. Carefully tear off strip of paper. Save the strip of paper because you are going to need it to make the tail.
NOW GO TO STEPS 25 to 35
... continued from steps 13 to 24
25. To make the tail,
fold down the center of the strip of paper to form a trough.
26. Tear as shown to form control surfaces. The folds should be parallel with the bottom of the trough.
27. Fold wings up.
28. Fold the right
wing down as shown in photos 28 and 29. Take special care to angle
this fold in such a way so that the leading edge of the wing is
slightly higher than the trailing edge.
29. Study this photo and you will see that the fold is not exactly parallel with the trough at the bottom but slightly angled as described in photo 28.
30. The plane should look like this at this point.
31. Bend the wingtips
up.
32. Insert tail into slot under wing.
33. Finished at last!
34. Aircraft shown with
landing gears down. Note: the craft does not fly as well with the
gears down.
35. Ready to fly! - IMPORTANT: For instructions on how to fly the model airplane, go to How to fly it.
Flight Clinic requires Netscape or MSIE 4.0 browsers.
Preflight
inspection -
Before you fly the model plane for the first time you should examine
it carefully looking directly at the front and the rear. Just like a
real airplane, the left and right side must be the same, that is a
mirror image of each other. If one wing is higher then the other or
the surfaces are not at the same angle, or the tail is crooked, then
the plane is likely to fly poorly. Make any adjustments to correct
these problems now.
Flight techniques -
This is the fun part, learning to fly. The airplane can be launched
with force or softly. Launching it on a windy day directly into the
breeze causes it to climb into a half barrel roll. For a second it
will fly upside down and then flip over and fly a long distance with
the wind. On calm days you can launch it gently horizontally. It has a
long glide path and will generally go in a straight line or go into a
gentle curve.
Fine tuning -
If you find that the plane is banking to the left or right, you can
correct this by experimenting with bends on the control surfaces. To
gain extra control, cut flaps on the rear edge of the wings and bend
the flaps up or down as needed. You can also try bending the wing tips
down instead of up.
The tail flaps can be bent up slightly if the plane tends to dive.
All changes should be made with small adjustments and then a test
flight to analyze the change.