How To Make A Paper Airplane

Learning how to make a paper airplane has to be the most memorable craft a child learns. In this article you're going to learn to make basic and advanced paper airplanes, and have fun doing it. As adults we're also fascinated by them; the way they fly and dart around. And there are few things that parents can do together with their kids that are so fun and so inexpensive. There's something about the flight of these planes, about creating something that defies gravity, that flies further, faster and longer (27.6 second flight is World Indoor Record) than any other.

Making paper airplanes has been around for hundreds (if not thousands) of years. While no one is certain, it's believed that the Chinese likely invented the paper crafts that led to the modern day planes we now make. We know that they created the first kites using paper, and that Origami as we know it, while a Japanese name, originated with the Chinese.

This has given rise to the term "Aerogami" as used to reference building paper airplanes. Whatever the case, we all (young and old alike) love the art of building these fighters and gliders of paper. Let's have a look now at some of the greatest paper airplane designs and then dig into learning how to make them.

Also, if you would share this on Twitter, Facebook or Pinterest it would be cool. Thanks for your support! Learning how to make paper airplanes, the art and craft of origami, has been around for so long that there's a seemingly endless variety of planes you can build, from gliders to trick planes.

Some planes are as quick as lightening and others float through the air like a feather in the wind. The real beauty of making them is that everyone can make something totally unique using a variety of paper colors, pens, crayons, you name it. There are even templates you can download which have logos and instructions printed right on them, making this an awesome craft to introduce to young children.

The first paper airplane is called "HawkAir," and it comes in a printable pdf that makes creating an awesome plane super simple, and lots of fun. Check it out here- KU HawkAir. As you can see, there are simple instructions printed right on the design, and the end result is an awesome looking and high flying plane.

The other airplane design that you can get from KU is the really unique looking "SpaceHawk," shown below. Like the HawkAir, this one has detailed instructions on the pdf, so simply download it and you're ready to make a paper airplane. See the instructions for the plane here- KU SpaceHawk. The fun thing about the SpaceHawk is that while it IS a paper airplane, it actually looks like the Space Shuttle complete with astronauts visible in the front window.

Without getting overly complicated, I'll just say that the most common measurement used to determine the successful flight of a typical plane is the "Glide Ratio". This is nothing more than the distance a plane travels relative to the drop in altitude it experiences during that time. So, for example, a plane that travels 10 feet but drops in altitude only 1 foot, has a 10:1 glide ratio. At best, paper airplanes average no better than 7.5:1 ratios, but there are exceptions and therein is your challenge.

Of course the glide ratio depends on many things, such as winds and plane design (if it was designed to loop it may perform differently than another design). Building paper airplanes is an awesome opportunity to introduce children to physics and flight design, and many colleges use the construction of paper airplanes in their physics or engineering classes.

Following standard principles of flight you'll quickly learn that long, sleek designs tend to fly faster, and further, than the large winged variety that are slow but make great use of their lift. Again, there are exceptions. Often times the large winged planes stay aloft the longest and also manage to travel great distances in good wind conditions. A great resources for anyone who enjoys this hobby and wants to learn more or teach their children, is The Great International Paper Airplane Book. This book has a rare 5 Star rating on Amazon for a reason.