Ultimate Paper Airplanes for Kids: The Best Guide to Paper Airplanes: The Best Guide to Paper Airplanes!: Includes Instruction Book with 12 Innovative Designs & 48 Tear-Out Paper Planes

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Now that you have made some paper airplanes, you child may be interested in trying to fold other origami models. There are several easy origami models for kids including the cat face, sailboat, and flapping bird. Selig, M.S. and Donovan, J.F. and Fraser, D.B., "Airfoils at Low Speeds", H.A.Stokely, publisher, 1989 Its important to realize the basics of why paper airplanes fly, and why full size airplanes fly, are identical. They create lift and drag, and are stable or unstable for the same reasons. However paper airplanes look different than most airplanes. The reason they generally look different is for very practical reasons, but not necessarily due to aerodynamics. There are also some definite aerodynamic differences between paper airplanes and full size planes. These difference are not so apparent, but do affect how paper airplanes fly.

First you fold the paper in half lengthwise, and then unfold. This initial crease is simply a guideline for the next folds. On that basis, I was looking forward to folding some of the paper airplanes in this book with my youngest son and I thought it would be a fun thing for us to do together. If I’m honest I was a bit excited myself too – who doesn’t love a good paper plane? A collection of easy-to-fold paper airplane designs and innovative theories of flight, including the author’s Guinness World Record-breaking airplane. I currently live with my wife and two dogs in Fort Walton Beach, FL where I work as an aeronautical engineer for the Air Force doing research on all sorts of air vehicles. Previously I worked for Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis on jet fighters and other military vehicles.Differentiate, set equal to zero, yields Cl=sqrt(3*Cdo*pi*e*AR) and therefor v=sqrt(2*wt/(rho*S*sqrt(3*Cdo*pi*e*AR))) The tail of a real plane usually also has a vertical tail. The vertical tail acts like the fins of an arrow to keep the nose of the plane pointed in the direction its headed, this is called positive directional stability. The Fuselage (center body of a plane, on paper airplanes its the part you hold for throwing) acts like the vertical stabilizer of real airplanes. Sometimes bending the wingtips up on paper airplanes also helps to add directional stability. The combination of the fuselage and wingtips on paper airplanes allows them to have positive directional stability without a vertical tail.

I’m not sure he had a clear favourite of all the planes in the book. I think the one I like best was the Carnard plane – more because I’ve never folded one with carnard wings before! If you’re not sure what carnard wings are, they are small extra wings on an aircraft in front of the main wings. Thanks to Stef for the explanation – I didn’t know. The goal for gliding flight is to descend vertically as slowly as possible. This represents the lowest rate of change of potential energy(power) which is the minimum product of drag times velocity. Generally the minimum sink rate for gliders is just above stall, and that's true for paper airplanes as well. For those interested in the details and math, finding the minimum power required involves taking the equation for powered required, differentiating with respect to velocity, and setting this equal to zero (standard calculus procedure for finding the minimum or maximum of a function. Starting with the basic parabolic drag curve; Fold in half, but make you sure you fold it outwards on itself, not inwards. You want the previous triangular fold to be visible on the bottom edge. If you are ready for more advanced paper airplanes, you can try this origami airplane or this origami F16. Get Involved Written and designed for younger paper pilots, it has simpler planes with brighter, bolder graphics; games, activities, and fun aviation facts (the "A=Alpha, B=Bravo" pilots' alphabet, for example); and everything kids need to fold and fly. They will learn how to design their own planes, do stunts, and build a 3-D airport with stuff found around the house, and they'll discover that the largest aircraft ever flown wasn't a plane at all. There are 16 models and 76 full-color planes in all, a full-color poster of an airport, a pilot's license and flight log, and a field guide to common aircraft.It’s the classic, world’s bestselling paper airplane book, grounded in the aerodynamics of paper and abounding with fun.The World Record Paper Airplane Bookraises paper airplane making to a unique, unexpected art. This new edition boasts four brand-new models:Stiletto,Spitfire,Galactica, andSting Ray. Added to its hangar of proven fliers—includingValkyrie,Hammerhead,Vortex,Condor,Pterodactyl, and, of course, the famousWorld Record Paper Airplane—that makes twenty airworthy designs. Each is swathed in all-new, attention-grabbing graphics and is ready to tear out, fold, and fly. There are at least five models for each design and all-important instructions for how to adjust and throw each plane for best flight. Low aspect ratio wings are easier to fold. One of the reasons we make paper airplanes is because they are fast and easy to build (gee, is that two reasons?). While there are far more advanced paper airplanes, this one, in my opinion, is the perfect balance of complexity and accessibility for the Average Paper Airplane Joe. It has far more folds than the previous two models, and also flies the best and farthest. Pay attention with this one, folks, and the payoff is well worth it.

Substituting the minimum sink results into the power equation, and knowing that vertical velocity is power/weight, gives the following: The airfoil of the plane also affects the launch. I have tried using highly cambered airfoils optimized for slow gliding, but they tend to degrade the ascent. I wrote a computer program to reproduce the flight of the world record paper airplane to learn what parameters were most important for a long flight. One of the most important things I learned was that Cdo, zero lift wing drag, is more important in the ascent than it is in the descent. The airfoil optimized for slow gliding is not optimized for zero lift, and produces extra drag during the ascent. What is needed is an airfoil which produces low drag during slow, high lift flight, but more importantly has low drag during the ascent. I believe a nearly flat, uncambered airfoil does this. Certainly a flat airfoil is ideal for low drag at zero lift, but it can work at higher lift coefficients also. The flat wing at high lift results in a steep pressure gradient near the front of the wing on the upper surface, which likely aids transition to a turbulent boundary layer which is needed for low drag at high lift. I plan to do more airfoil tests during the spring of '97 to help find the best airfoil for long flight. The finished Harrier shown below. It has cool pointed wings and has great stability because of the triangle on the bottom. First, fold the top left corner all the way down so it meets the right edge of the paper. You’ll then unfold, as this will be a guiding crease.As I mentioned above, not all my world record planes can set a record. Most have flight times from 10-14 seconds. Maybe 10% can get to 15-17 seconds, and about 1% can get to 20 seconds. One of the goals of my research and testing is to be able to make the "good" planes on a repeatable basis. The best way I know to do this is to understand the physics involved, and then work on solutions. I have found that the physics involved can get quite complex, and it is difficult to get definite answers from my tests. I do think I am making progress, and hope to continue to improve my understanding and ability to consistently make good planes.

This paper airplane is a warm-up of sorts. It’s simple, requires few folds, and flies well. It’s just not going to win you any contests or style points. If it’s your kid’s first time making a real paper airplane, this is a good place to start.

How did we get on?

As mentioned in section 2.2, where a paper airplane balances is called the Center of Gravity (CG), and there is a specific CG position known as the Neutral Point which provides neutral pitch stability. If the airplane has a CG ahead of this point, the plane is stable, if its behind this point its unstable. Naturally all airplanes without computer assisted flight controls need a CG ahead of their neutral point. For rectangular wings the neutral point is ¼ of the distance from the nose to the tail. For delta wings (such as the common dart paper airplane) the neutral point is ½ of the distance from the nose to the tail.